Ahh, perspective

So, when you're worried that your kids still have a fair bit of polish to put on the show before opening night next week, it helps to go to a show put on by another school that isn't quite at the same level as your school's. Or, in other words, makes your show look like it could open on Broadway next week.

Now, am I saying my show is perfect? Nope, far from it. There are a few times the audience is going to wish they were deaf. There are a few times the audience is going to laugh at something ridiculous happening that we've overlooked. Or, more than likely, something we've seen, but all we can do is laugh about it too (like the very shy kid who, for some reason, keeps doing a fake faint throughout the show).

However, some tips for our fellow middle school's performance:

- Flicking the lights on and off is not really considered a "special effect". Especially when you do it several times. God help the epileptics.

-If you're going to sing ALONG with the guide vocals on the CD, it helps if you actually sing WITH it, to cover it up at least somewhat, instead of racing ahead three bars. Every. single. song.

-Did you hire that woman behind us to sing along with all the songs? She seemed better rehearsed than some of the kids onstage.

-Ok, in theatre? There's this really neat trick called a "black out". Say it with me now - "black out". This is something you should look into for a set change, instead of having your main characters halt all dialogue, wait and watch for 45 seconds (an eternity on stage) while your crew sets up something mid-scene. Especially if said "something" is supposed to "magically appear".

- Speaking of magic....if one of your characters is supposed to all of the sudden disappear, and you decide to turn the lights off and then back on (Wait! You DO know what a blackout is!), then at least make sure that character is OFF stage when the lights come back on. It really ruined the effect for me. Otherwise, I would have been AMAZED at how he disappeared like that. My god, where DID he go????

-If you have spent god knows how many hours on an AMAZING set piece made out of gold-covered yogurt containers (no seriously, it was really really neat), at least push it ALL the way on stage. Don't hide the best thing about the whole show off in a corner. I would have carried cast members out for the curtain call in that thing.

-Kids, this one is for you. Personal conversations? Best NOT to do it on stage. Shockingly, there IS an audience out there. And while we may not be able to hear you at all times, because none of your microphones appear to work, we can still see you.

-Also, if one of your cast mates forgets a line, for god's sake, SOMEONE cover it up. And no, poking each other in the ribs and whispering "it's your line" is not sufficient. I will give half points to the kid who continued to repeat his original line until the other character came up with the correct response.

- Angry mob scenes. How I love them. Especially when your angry mob is actually giggling while pumping their fists up and down and/or pointing accusingly. It was so moving. I really felt the intensity. At one point, I was fearful for my own safety.

-While we're talking about angry mob scenes, your "choreography" kinda looks like that as well. Simple choreo is fine, but everyone must be doing approximately the same thing for it to work. It was kind of a "choose your own adventure" style of choreography.

Amazing though, how good your show made me feel about ours. Ahh, schadenfreude