A Night at the Theatre.

It's so dreamy, oh fantasy free me.



So you can't see me, no, not at all.In another dimension ...~ Rocky Horror Picture Show.
 
We all remember Riff Raff.  Unforgettable.  Just one of those characters but not someone you want your 16 year old daughter emulating.  Well I don't.  So my eyebrows rather went up when a delighted Star arrived home & announced she had landed this starring role in her drama group's up & coming production.  OK, I have a sneaking enjoyment for the Rocky Horror Show but it hardly seemed the sort of production suitable for the under 18 crowd to put on.
 
"Oh Mum!  It's nothing like the original! "  You can say that again!
 
Last night this rather short & bizarre show had its one night stand.  Dino & I dutifully toddled down to the community hall for our Friday night entertainment, dropped our  $2 donation in the bowl, found ourselves seats up the back & prepared to be generous & encouraging.
 
The drama group has been rather a thorn in my side since its inception, mostly because so few of the kids take it seriously enough to actually learn their lines in time for any production & several things have been scuttled because they just couldn't do it.  It is disheartening when, like Star, you have been word perfect for weeks & able to focus on actually acting rather than just delivering your lines.  Granted Shakespeare is difficult ~ but hardly impossible & I tend to think if Star, who is very ADD, can manage to learn all her lines & deliver them with aplomb, so can everyone else.
 
Anyway, the last production, which was to have been a heavily edited Dream was scuttled.  I felt for Star who had wrestled manfully with the Shakespearean English until she could deliver her lines intelligibly.  This year the drama was a combined dance/drama thing & they spent several workshops coming up with a plot & dialogue.    The younger ones are about grade 4/5; the older ones upper high school age but even so very few of the kids are able to successfully brain storm that sort of thing.  [About here we sing the praises of a homeschool education because Star is the exception!] 
 
The finished product bore little resemblance to the Rocky Horror Show ~ which is indisputably a good thing!  The younger girls gave a most wonderful rendition of the 3 weird sisters' speach from Macbeth.  Star proclaimed one of the balcony speeches from Romeo & Juliette.  She is a ham & dressed as Riff Raff, brought the house down.  And we got a version of The Time Warp.  There is something to be said for being performance hardened.  Star knows how it should be done so even though this was her first year of dance all her movements were clear & well defined.  Besides, she loves an audience!  She was having an absolute ball ~ & it makes such a big difference. 
 
The island is a very small duck puddle so it is very easy to make a huge splash & Star got plenty of accolades for her performance.  She lapped it all up; why not; it was lots of fun, but tonight we are back to the real thing: 3/4 boredom for a hap'ny's worth of notoriety & the choir doesn't even get recognized.  I am taking Star's dance/drama teacher with me to tonight's performance as Qld Ballet gave us complimentary tickets.  I was absolutely delighted ~ especially seeing it is my birthday & Star has been feeling terribly guilty about me spending my big day holed up in the Green Room!  Ma is taking herself to the matinee & we will have lunch together so it should be a pretty good day all round.

It's just a jump to the left.

And then a step to the right.

Put your hands on your hips.

You bring your knees in tight....