The premiere performance of my new children's theater musical "No Time for Monkey Business" happened yesterday. I count it a success when the audience goes home singing the songs. As well-wishers came up to me after the performance, that was practically all they would say, or sing rather. "What a beautiful day...the sun is shining..." or they'd say, "Those songs were so catchy!" Many literally said that they couldn't help themselves, they just kept singing the songs. They were stuck in their heads.
We tried to construct a jungle set with craft paper vines and tissue paper flowers made by the kids. We were lucky. We only had one minor disaster during the show. Partway through the first big number a blast of wind came up and blew down the drapes in the back. They didn't fall far, fortunately, and my daughter jumped into action along with another tall friend to fix the problem. Apparently, they were so discreet that many in the audience were unaware of the situation. Another of my daughters who was the Stage Manager on that side of the stage found herself too busy calling cues and handing out props to do anything about the set problem. She was thankful that other people swiftly acted. So was I!
The flats were painted by Tiffany Lee and her two daughters Indie and London.
When you consider that the set was held together mainly by masking tape, cotton string, and safety pins, it is amazing that it held together at all. To think that a set built of styrofoam, bed sheets and construction paper had the hope of lasting through a day of wind, heat, and sun on an outdoor patio is actually pretty presumptuous, I admit. We knew we couldn't risk setting anything up the day before and leaving it over night, so we got up at the crack of dawn to build the stage with great hope that it could last until noon when the show would be over. And most of it did just fine.
These are the drapes that blew off the pipe that was holding them up. With the real possibility that many things could go wrong, I am just glad that so many things went right and that the audience seemed to enjoy the show. They told me that the show was delightful and the songs were so catchy. They said that they appreciated how it had such a great message of learning to take responsibility. They were happy that the children would have such a wonderful memory to take with them through their lives.
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