Last night I visited the Mesa Palms SDA Church to take in a Christmas play presented by the eight students at the Red Rock SDA School housed in the local church. It was an event filled with all the unexpected and unprepared for twists and turns which children’s choir directors dread, yet the very same events that make children’s programs of any kind memorable and fascinating.
First, I must say that the kids sounded great considering they were such a small contingent of singers. There was significant doubling up of speaking parts which required quick changes of accessories. I am not sure the sound was all theirs, since I can almost say with certainty that I heard a professional sounding adult voice behind the childlike sounds emanating from the visible singers. Regardless, they did a fine job.
Yes, there were forgotten lines, exploding and malfunctioning props, and even exchanged lines between the teacher and her son at a critical junction of the play which brought the production to a dramatic pause, as if the child was telling his mom, “How dare you take my lines, I refuse to say my next line until you fix it!” She did. The teacher calmly went back into the script and recited the correct line leading into his rehearsed response. Classic! The point of all this imperfection is that it didn’t matter.
This was not a professional performance at the Pantages Theater. The actors were not paid. There was no director other than the teacher who was also an actor in the play. It was done for the joy of it…and it showed. Parents, grandparents, friends and family clapped and smiled every time the group sang a song. And after the performance, they got together for refreshments. I can almost imagine God smiling down at this unadulterated simple gift offered up by His kids. Not a bad evening, even for a Grinch! May we all have a moment of childlike joy every day of our life
No comments:
Post a Comment