Thanksgiving Weekend

It's can be rejuvenating to gather with family and participate in traditions - even if it's a quick visit! Joey, Christine, Caleb and Emily, as well as Steve made the trip to SWMI for Thanksgiving at my parents. It was a delicious meal, and I'm so grateful we were able to gather. 

filling plates

all the desserts

Ryan enjoying a toy I got for my 1st birthday way back in 1977 from my Grandpa & Grandma Ponka.

Steve & Emily on cleanup

The Grands

Since family was in town, we celebrated Evan's upcoming 16th birthday the next day!

That same evening, Evan joined a group of friends for Cotillion. Cotillion is historically some sort of joining-of-society event, and it seems there are still some elements of that in this event. I have some critique, but nevertheless Evan was invited so he went. He reports it was like a school dance, but better. 

Emma had a "bid" and invited Evan as her guest. They were both in Cross Country (XC) and Grease, so that's how they know each other. 

The group has a lot of XC/Grease overlap.

A good time was had by all.

We love our handsome big kid!

We definitely could have done with the confusing tux jacket mix up the next day. Sorting that out was not fun, and driving around in a snowstorm to straighten it out was Burke's heroic endeavor of the day. It worked out, and is now an amusing (slightly annoying) story.

 

Grease

 These school musicals are a big event for our family. Burke and Ryan are in the pit, and Evan on stage. We discuss and dissect as rehearsals progress over the course of about eight weeks. Then it's showtime! I am an enthusiastic, dutiful audience member for all three shows, enjoying every minute, as I spent my fair share of time performing on stages in past eras. 

This year's musical was Grease, which I didn't love. Grease's misogyny and crassness did not really age well. The stage production is quite different from the movie. and there are a lot more songs and featured roles to showcase the depth of talent that SJ has at the moment. Once you sort of let go of the occasionally gross dialog and lyrics, the fun music, humor, and teenage camaraderie win you over. 

These are the boys' headshots for the program. 

I stopped by a rehearsal to bring the boys food, and caught them running Evan's song.

They had a photographer come capture some show moments, and he got some good ones. I think this is one of my favorite moments. I love Evan's pose and the dramatic lighting. It set the tone that these boys were tight - the Burger Palace Boys (or T-Birds as they're called in the movie).  This song "Grease (Is the Word)" was written by Barry Gibb for the 1978 movie, and was not in the original stage production. It had a confusing 70s vibe, considering the setting is the 1950s. It was a good, catchy tune though.

Evan was cast as Doody - he's the youngest of the Burger Boys, is boyish, and has an innocent crush on Frenchy. It was perfect for Evan. He got to sing "Those Magic Changes" - a really swayable song. He played the guitar, which added depth to the performance. He basically knocked it out of the park. We love that he enjoys performing. 

In the beginning of the song, he talks about how he's new to the guitar and just learning. Then he sings a bit, and he does it poorly. You can see the expressions on his friends' faces that it doesn't sound good. 

The rest of the scene is a dream sequence of sorts, where he can sing well and his friends are singing along with him. Needless to say, we love these pictures so much!

This was his favorite moment of the song to perform, but he's critical of this picture. Burke and I love it, however. I think professional musicians would want photos that show this type of performance energy.

We also love this one. 

ending pose

"Greased Lightnin'" - Everyone knows this song!

Trying to get the courage to ask Frenchy to the school dance, but he just couldn't do it. This was one of his favorite moments.

"We Go Together"

chang chang changity chang sha-bop

"Hand Jive"

Asking if he can come down to her beauty school sometime to get a Coke or something...

"Rock 'N Roll Party Queen" duet

Rizzo might be pregnant and word spreads at the party.

"You're the One That I Want"

 

Grammy & Grammy came to see the show!

Ryan's senior poster in the lobby - I can't believe it's his last musical. It'll be weird to do all this without him next year. I don't love that.

Evan with some castmates

Ryan and his friend Lucas who was in the show

They've been good friends since 2nd grade.

The photographer took some posed pics of the cast in character/costume.

Cast - Crew - Pit

(minus Ryan because he didn't arrive by call time, and minus Burke because he didn't wanna)

Thankfully, everyone is in this picture though...