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Well, we weren’t quite in Oz and it was more a case of “Panthers and tigers and bears, oh my” last week.
You see, we had our first Jungle Book costume run through on Wednesday night, so our panther Bagheera, tiger Shere Khan and bear Baloo were all looking the part.
In a madcap couple of hours, we had parents painting faces, sisters braiding hair (including my daughter’s because as you all know I can’t style hair to save myself), volunteer dressmakers fixing costumes and other helpers doing make-up and putting final touches on headpieces and the like.
And with 25 youngsters climbing over one another to tell me, “my trunk is falling off”, “I lost my tail”, “this branch is digging into my eye”, “my monobrow makes me look weird”, “what costume am I wearing?” and “I forgot my black shirt”, it was almost an hour later that we finally managed to take that obligatory cast photo, where everyone was looking at the camera with their eyes open.
Photographers are always told never to work with children or animals and poor Tam Cadd had to work with both.
But, as usual, she worked her magic and snapped some fantastic photos of our terrific cast which you can all see if you come along to the show, which opens in less than three weeks.
A very scary thought.
It only seems like yesterday Lesley Summers asked me to be her assistant director for the show and I laughed at her.
I’m so glad I eventually agreed after much thought and coaxing by my friends and co-workers.
Yes, it’s a hard slog, especially at the start when there’s more mucking around going on than actual work.
When the vision you have in your head doesn’t translate to the stage.
When you’ve watched the Bear Necessities dance for the 78th time and it’s still wrong.
When one of the kids manages to remember everyone else’s lines except their own.
When you wonder if you’re going to have a show come opening night.
But when you finally start to see things come together, like I did on Wednesday night, you feel a real sense of achievement.
At what you and a small group of volunteers can do if you put in the work, sing the same songs over and over and repeat the dance routines until they drive you crazy - all the while making it enjoyable for 25 hyperactive and easily distracted children.
Things always step up a notch once dress rehearsals start because costumes make you feel the part, making it easier to get into character.
And the look on the kids' faces is just priceless, making all the mayhem worthwhile.