Once Upon a Mattress

Cora played Lady Merrill in her college production of Once Upon a Mattress, a musical take on the Princess and the Pea fairy tale.

She's front right in this photo. 

And she's in the center front, here. 

It was entertaining, with great singing. We could hear Cora in many places! A family-friendly musical, Ellie especially enjoyed watching it.

 

For the Friday night show, Violet's friend Sofia came with us, and Lucas and Mackenzie came as well.

These forever fans also came - Mrs. Hawthorne, Jen and Sue! Auntie Mel, Ellie and Grandma also were there. And on Saturday, Christina and her girls attended.

And this was from Opening Night.

Days Out: Carpinteria and the Theatre

 This summer week's highlights were two special trips, one with each daughter.

On Wednesday, Violet finished up her schoolwork for her summer class, so we celebrated with an afternoon in Carpinteria. 

We didn't make it a "beach day" with bathing suits and towels, but we did end our evening with a lovely stroll on the sand. 

We came across this struggling butterfly that had gotten wet. We tried to help it out.

After getting tacos, we found boba and a coffee at Reyes Market, a Hispanic market that had really good drinks from the counter. We'll return when we come back to Carp!

We started our afternoon walking around the downtown boutiques, galleries and antique shops, where we saw this wall of old glassware we knew Cora would have liked.

Another highlight: on Friday evening, we met up with Cora's friends and one of the moms, and caravaned to North Hollywood for a musical. 

This one, called The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals, was put on by a group that is a favorite of all these teens - Starkid Productions. Cora has loved their work for several years, and this was the first time she's seen them in person.

I'm glad she wanted me to go along, and I enjoyed it very much. The best part was watching Cora have such a great time.

I'm thankful to Heather for inviting us! And it was great for these teens to hang out, as Heather's daughter Rowan will be going back East to college later this month.

Chicago!

 Cora's acting, singing and dancing abilities continue to grow and develop, and she was blessed to play the lead, Velma Kelly, in her school's production of Chicago (Teen Edition).

When Cora performed All That Jazz on opening night, I got teary. She's fabulous, truly professional quality. I don't say that solely of my own opinion... so many people asked me if she's pursuing acting as a career, including the vocal director for the show, who didn't know Cora previously. Another man who works in the industry tried looking for her IMDB profile, certain she must already be working.

More from All That Jazz, Velma showing her vaudeville singing and dancing moves.

This is from Cell Block Tango, the song where we learn about how it is that Velma is in jail. She walked in on her husband and sister "doing No. 17!" and, well, she blacked out! Didn't even know they were dead until she was washing blood off her hands! Mmm hmmm. 

The Cell Block Tango number was amazing. Very talented girls, great choreography and lighting, catchy song. Cora really shone here, too, growling her way though.

Here, we meet Matron Mama, who holds the keys, and the access to Velma's post-jail connections. Cora had some nice acting moments here.

As Roxie - Cora's friend Dani - starts to claim all the spotlight after shooting her lover in cold blood, Velma begs her to take her sister's part in their doubles act. 

In "I Can't Do it Alone," Cora shows off her newly honed dancing ability. 

This scene is from "Velma Takes the Stand," where she describes to attorney Billy Flynn how she wants to approach her upcoming trial. 

This is from "Razzle Dazzle," the big number with Billy Flynn and Roxie. I am so proud of all these kids, and Jarod the director, for how this whole show looked and sounded. It was so much fun to watch.

After our stars bamboozle the juries and get away with murder, they do in fact perform as a doubles act. 

Hot Honey Rag! A great dance number, totally vaudeville style. 

And the finale - All That Jazz!!

The theatre had such a successful show - bringing back quality musicals for the first time in years, and selling more than 460 tickets for the four shows. We are so, so proud of Cora.

Oh! I nearly forgot the actual star of the show - Stace's mock piano! Gotta love it! 

Closing night final bows, with roses on the floor, from Melanie, thrown from the wings during "Hot Honey Rag."

Dani gave Jarod a bouquet (made by Mel) and a lovely speech of gratitude, and Kyle is handing him a rose.

Violet's Musical

Another huge part of Meadows returned this year, much to our joy and gratitude. The Musical run by Mrs. Shafarman was Cora's favorite part of elementary school, and Violet was set to take part when the world shut down in 2020.

This year, we were able to pull it together again, even though Mrs. Shafarman has retired. She returned for weekly rehearsals, and on Wednesday, about 50 kids put on "The Greatest Americans of the Twentieth Century."

The play is basically an awards show, for the 20th Century great Americans, and Violet had a lead role as one of the show hosts.

In this scene, the girl playing Ernest Hemingway VERY much wants to come up to get his award.

It's a cute show, and a few years ago Cora and her friend Violet played the Wright brothers.

This year, Cora helped out when she could, with working with the kids on their choreographed dances.
 

It was so wonderful to see Mrs. Shafarman again, and have Violet get to work with her!

Ms. Sheen always assists Mrs. Shafarman.

Here is Violet with a couple of her costars. No, they weren't told they had to wear black, but they apparently all got the memo!

Cora and Mrs. Shafarman enjoyed seeing each other again, too. 

Final GATE Musical for Cora

Cora was very excited for her day of performances in the school musical Wednesday! I thought she looked so grownup and pretty when she was ready to leave for school.

She performed twice in the school day, once for the younger grades and again for the upper grades. We returned to school in the evening for the performance for the families.

Cora was one of four "delivery people" in the play, which was called "The Great Western Movement." The Delivery People were the main roles, appearing throughout the show. Once again, Cora starred next to Violet, her sweet longtime friend.

At the climax of the play, Cora and crew are delivering the "Golden Spike" to Promontory Point, Utah, where newly built railroads are about to connect the East and West Coasts in 1869.

But, inside the package was... the Famous Golden BOWLING BALL?!? Um, oops!

Cora, as always, was a great little actress, delivering her lines loudly, clearly and with great expression.

Here's video of the exciting moment and song...

Sophia played Daniel Boone, and song his/her song very well. In fact, all the songs were sung well, and all the parts were well-acted.

Charlie had a role too, for the first time. (Jake wasn't interested in taking part.)

We're so proud of our girl! Who knows if she'll be on stage again, but she certainly thrived in her time with Mrs. Shafarman and the three GATE musicals she took part in.

Cora with Charlie and Cami, who played a pioneer girl.

Mrs. Shafarman has made clear that she is going to miss these sixth graders! Many of them have performed together all three years they were eligible. They presented Mrs. Shafarman with flowers and a special card.

I also gave Mrs. Shafarman and Ms. Sheen lovely bouquets and gift cards, through money I collected from the parents.

Cora, Cooper,Trent, Ryan and Christine goofing around after the show.

Cora and Sophia

Violet can't wait for her turn to be in the musical next year!

Cora will miss these ladies, but she says she's going to be back to help out next year!