A Doozy of a Month

 

Whew! January was a doozy over here at Chez Shaw! 

After the chill (figuratively, not literally, surprisingly enough) days of Christmas break, we dove into school again, online for a week (waiting/hoping for covid germs to clear out of the general school population) and then in person. And then...

we jumped into full-on musical production mode. If you have ever been part of a musical theater production - at ANY level - you know how crazy those last two weeks are, and these were crazy. Particularly so since we went from zero to a hundred miles an hour in about a day's time! 

Typically, our school musical is cast in early September, rehearsed throughout the fall, and performed the weekend before Thanksgiving. It gradually builds until it hits its crescendo in November. Then, we have the next week off to recover and stuff our faces with turkey and pumpkin pie before we are back at it, auditioning for the next production in early December. 

This year (darn covid), we made the difficult decision to postpone the performances. I won't go into all the reasoning, but it seemed like a prudent and necessary decision. We rescheduled for the second week of January and then set rehearsals to simmer throughout December. 

The musical we did was Working. We chose it on purpose for this year because it is basically a series of monologues and solo and small-group numbers. It is based on a series of interviews conducted by Studs Terkel in the 70s and explores what it means to work a job. Doesn't sound very interesting, does it? Well, of course, the focus is on the people who work those jobs: how they feel about the job, how they got there, what they could have done with their lives instead of what they're doing now, etc. Some of the songs are laments, some are manifestos, some are exuberant expressions of a career well-suited to its worker. Actually, quite timely for this year of job insecurity. 

The episodic nature of the show meant that if someone had had to be out for illness or quarantine, we could relatively easily eliminate that number and keep moving with whoever we had. (Providentially, they were all healthy for the performances.)

As that January date approached, our team of directors met (on Zoom) to discuss the pros and cons of moving forward with that date. The pros outweighed the cons, so we plunged into rehearsals that first week, even while school was still virtual. 

Now, as you may know, if you have reluctant or ill-prepared performers, no amount of excellent direction can make a good show. Well, our performers came back ready. to. go. They had lost almost nothing in their memorization of lyrics and choreography AND they were eager to make this performance happen. 

And it did. Beautifully. 

We had to curtail the performances, leaving off the usual Wednesday morning matinee for homeschool families and local elementary schools (aka guinea pigs!) as well as the Saturday matinee, but we had the usual Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night shows, with Friday and Saturday being shown on live-stream. 

One thing that amazed me was how uncomplaining the kids were about wearing masks. Early on, we had some hope of performing without masks, but we all know how those covid numbers have ruled our lives, so masks were required, except for soloists who were able to socially distance on-stage. Through it all, the students kept their eyes on the goal and just carried on, masks and all. In fact, I think the masks forced some of the ones who resist our constant exhortation to "speak to the deaf old lady in the back row" to actually speak up and articulate better than they normally would have. 

Mixed up with my assistant-directorial pride in our students was a good bit of motherly pride in Sam. He had a couple of big solos and did wonderfully, if I may say so. It is so wonderful to see one's children work hard and really nail something they love. Great job, Sam! 

So, after a crazy, exhausting, exhilarating weekend, we had Monday off for MLK, Jr. Day, and then we were back at school. No time to slack off, either, as midterms were the next week (this last week). 

As we close out January, I am so thankful. We always end January with birthdays for two of my favorite people, Micah on the 29th and my dad on the 30th. Ending the month with cake is always reason for rejoicing, right? But in addition, I am thankful for three amazing musical performances, a healthy family (not taken for granted these days!); for uninterrupted employment for John and me (again, not to be taken for granted!); for a new job for our son, Will; for a meal around the table with all of my kids home; for co-workers who make me laugh when I want to cry (looking at you, Katie Trego!); and for so much more. Not gonna lie: there have been plenty of moments of discouragement and frustration, but by God's grace, I choose to focus on the joy. 

On to February!