Letting Your Freak Flag Fly And How Teenagers Can Surprise You!

Young Shrek and Fiona, Some really cool cast members,
Me as Humpty Dumpty & A couple of adorable fans!

If you know me you know that I am a grade A nerd and if you don't, well, now you do. I like all things geeky and if it has a cult following then its probably on my top 10 list. While this is all true, I have never been a big Shrek fan and neither have my kids. Though it seems Shrek isn't just for the young at heart, it has a full blown adult fan base. Search it on Pinterest and you will see what I'm talking about. So even though we aren't huge fans of the series in our house and have watched it minimally, that didn't stop Gabby from trying out for the part of Young Fiona at our local high school. 
As we rehearsed the week prior to auditions, I realized quickly that this was her forte! She is definitely in her element when it comes to musical numbers. Could it be the years of cheerleading and countless individual competitions I have stuck her in since she was two? Possibly... Although, I will tell you that after she walked out of auditions she was less then confident. She thought she blew it and was bitterly disappointed. So when I received a call from a friend the next day telling me to check the school's website, to find Gabrielle Dunn displayed as a cast member, I may have shed a tear or two and she may have been just a teensy bit excited.

Gabby and her AWESOME music teacher, Colton and his "Fluffy" friend
& some wild and crazy second graders!

Now I don't have that much experience with participating in Musicals. I went to Stritch, which was an extremely small HS and we did not put on yearly Musicals like most high schools. OK, sure I may have played dirty laundry in the Oregon Children's Community theater when I was ten, but donning a sweat suit with socks safety pinned to it doesn't exactly scream "experience" on my acting resume. There was that middle school production of Oliver too, but it was all chorus for this girl. I don't exactly have a great voice, unless you count my one hit wonder "Teach You How To Potter". So having Gabby join in the local production of Shrek has been an introduction for the whole family to musical theater.

 

 

Little Kid Cast Party @ McDonalds

In Gabby's eyes she has become one of the high school students. I don't think it even fazes her that the seventy some students involved in the production realize she is only in second grade. She just hangs out backstage like she has known them her whole life and sits with them everyday. In fact last night was the cast party, which started after the show and went till 1:30 am and by God if she didn't think she was going to go and ride along with the high school kids. "But Mom, everyone is going, pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeee." In the words of one Jaynann Huss (my mother), "I don't care if Jesus Christ himself is going, you're not"! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS, I have been waiting for years to use that line on my own kids!  She has always been above her years, so connecting with the older kids comes as no surprise to me. Yet, through all of her networking and through watching the rest of the cast grow and come together over the last couple of months, I have seen so much more.

Hanging Out Backstage

Diva Alert!

OK, OK, OK... has it all been a smooth experience, maybe not! You can start with my laundry pile for starters. I haven't folded a single towel all weekend, Gabby and the musical has taken precedence over the last 4 days. So the pile just keeps growing on the couch. It was a sectional built for 6 and we are down to maybe enough room for 2 people. I'm choosing to look at it as a romantic loveseat instead of a pile of crap that I need to deal with on Monday. Then there was that moment of horror on Friday when I picked Colton up from daycare and took along his nice clothes to change into for the show. When we got to the school I pleaded with him for 45 minutes to please let me help him change. He refused... I got irrated. Finally, I dragged him to the locker room and made him take off his sweats to find that he had gone commando all day. Hey no parent is perfect and sometimes in our haste we forget to put underwear on our children. Luckily it wasn't a breezy day. Did I mention that he kicked a remote control car that was being used as a prop and broke it... yep, $20 down the toilet! Then there is the week that we missed half of Gabby's homework and I had to send an email to the teacher explaining that I am basically at fault because I trusted my 8 year old when she said she didn't have to do it. #parentingfail! Despite all the running back and forth and late nights leading to early morning chaos and a very crabby Gabby running to the bus just in the nick of time, with half brushed hair, here is what being involved in a high school musical has taught me...



Daddy!

1) TEENAGERS WILL SURPRISE YOU. In a world of Teen Mom and Buckwild type shows, its easy to forget that they are still just kids. As a society we tend to expect so much from high school students and they are often handed too many responsibilities too fast. It's nice to see them in a creative environment where they can just enjoy being young. Sure a pig may have forgotten her ears or someone missed a note, maybe the inflatable deer did get kicked in the gut one too many times and popped twenty minutes before showtime but through all the little mistakes here and there... those kids were resilient, nice, funny, witty, polite and entertaining!!!

2) THERE ARE NO CLICKS IN A MUSICAL, EVERYONE WORKS TOGETHER! Nothing blends clicks together like a Musical. Where else do you see jocks, cheerleaders, band members, emo kids, beauty queens, brainiacs and geeks dressed up in crazy costumes, doing each others makeup and dancing on a stage together? Hey who needs Anti-Bullying programs in school, just have more MUSICALS!!!


Gabby and Her Godparents!

Gabby and Grace

3) LET YOUR FREAK FLAG FLY!!! Now I'm not saying I was the coolest cat in high school but I was definitely a popular kid, I had a lot of friends, was a cheerleader, prom queen, student council, etc. but at the time I would not have considered myself nerdy. I neverrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr would have put myself out in the public eye as a "Harry Potter loving, smut reading, vampire obsessed, Goodwill hunting, Bigfoot believin', I think Mermaids are real," kinda girl. As I have gotten older I have realized that I really just don't give a hoot about what others think of me. God made me ME for a reason and I have thouroughly embraced my inner nerd. I also try to pass that on to my children... just be yourself, no matter what that is! Shrek and the entire message behind it, to LET YOUR FREAK FLAG FLY, has really confirmed that belief. Not because the characters on stage are singing that line over and over, but because backstage the cast members are sitting around the gym (some in full blown animal costumes) laughing, singing, hopping around like rabbits with my 5 year old, asking each other to prom in donkey suits and really just showing their diversity.

4) FRIENDSHIP IS POWERFUL! I question how Gabby will feel on Monday when she has no rehearsal to go. She has made some wonderful friends and it will be hard to not see them everyday! I wonder how many friendships have been forged through musical theater in general? Not only did Gabby acquire new friends over the last 2 months, but so did I! Sure the other Mom who helped me ogre up Fiona, and I, have permanently stained our hands green but we had fun and bonded while doing it!!! 

5) EVERYONE DESERVES A HAPPILY EVER AFTER... no explanation needed!


Gabby & Grandmothers, THE Donkey & A Very Silly King!


A hugeeeeeee THANK YOU to the entire cast and crew for making Gabby's first musical at GHS such an amazing experience, Mr. Ed for helping to direct and nurture her very patiently through the last 2 months, the WONDERFUL orchestra who kindly put down their instruments when her mic went out... you rocked this weekend & all of our amazing friends and family for coming out to support Shrek The Musical!!!