Am-Dram: Junior Edition -- Ad-libbing Addiction

The second production of The Borrowers is over and the kids did very well tonight. The crowd wasn't as large and there were the rude ones who wanted to talk all through the performance, but the actors and crew did a great job of keeping everything going as smoothly as they could.

Youngest Son, however, did get a talking-to on the way home. He did a really good job and is one of the few actors who doesn't have a microphone but you can hear him throughout the theatre. Sadly, he's got too much of Husband and me in him. We both get bored easily when things are too easy and we both have a very dark and dry sense of humor. That being said, Youngest Son almost doesn't stand a chance. He has friends at school and hangs out with some as much as possible. Most of them are in band and/or theatre as well. But he is known for being annoying. I even saw a post on his Facebook page that said she thought he was nice but that he's too annoying and too much of a smart aleck in band class. And some teachers report that he can be irritating in class when he gets bored. I tell them to keep him busy and they won't have a problem with it but they never listen to me.

One bad habit he's picked up is ad-libbing when something isn't working right. He doesn't go way off on a tangent that isn't related to what's going on, but he's quick with a response or, especially onstage, ready to grab the spotlight until whatever is causing the problem can be remedied. For example, in class one day his teacher was upset at the amount of noise the students were making. She asked, "Why do I hear talking?" and Youngest Son, without missing a beat, said, "Because you have ears!" (For the record, he didn't get in trouble for that -- just told to "shut up.") During the performance tonight, I could see the wheels of his mind turning when one character skipped a section in which Youngest Son was supposed to exit the stage. He stayed out there trying to look like he belonged in the scene until he finally heard a pause long enough for him to yell, "Yes! I'll be running away, and with this wooden spoon I don't know where it came from!" as he grabbed a prop another actor had dropped and made his way off the stage.

During a scene change, he and another actor were bringing out one of those wooden cable spools that they decorated to look like a spool of thread. The other boy started arguing over which side went up when, a little to loudly, Youngest Son said, "It really doesn't matter what side goes up! No one can tell. Now make yourself useful," as he handed the boy a basket to put onstage. I was embarrassed. Husband was laughing himself silly. The audience thought it was funny, too. Great. That's all he needs -- positive reinforcement from total strangers.

At least last night and tonight another actor made his entrance on-time. Youngest Son told me that if he'd have had to wait a while he was trying to think of something to do to fill the quiet space and all he could think of was reciting Eddie Izzard's "Bees and Wasps" bit from his stand-up act. I told husband this and he, of course, laughed hysterically as he imagined our 13-year-old onstage reciting a monologue asking questions like, "Do earwigs make chutney? Do spiders make gravy?" And, yes, in a way I'm glad he was thinking of something to do -- but this is a kid who once he gets started has a hard time stopping. He loves the limelight and isn't afraid of too much when trying to get it.

So, I can't say that all of this comes as a surprise, but after the ad-lib last night and the continuation tonight, I'm almost afraid of what will happen tomorrow night on their last performance.

Almost....but I'm still going to watch.

Am-Dram: Junior Edition -- Opening Night

Youngest Son is performing this weekend in his junior high's production of The Borrowers. He and most of his friends are all in the show and tonight was opening night. One of the actors had been sick during the day and missed school. School policy says that if you don't show up to school, you can't participate in any after-school activities (games, dances, performances, etc.). Poor guy wasn't feeling too great when I saw him this evening and another actor took over the part. He had to come out with the script in his hands because he didn't know the lines but did a really good job as a last-minute stand-in.

I was asked by the drama teacher/director to do some old-age makeup on one of the girls so that she'd look like the mean old lady she's supposed to play. I agreed (in exchange for free tickets) and enjoyed showing the kids how I could take one of their friends from a fresh-faced young lady and make her look old and grouchy. I wasn't as pleased with the makeup once I got out into the audience and I discussed with the director about changing it and making it more noticeable for the last two nights. She agreed and I'm looking forward to seeing the look on her face tomorrow night when she's made-up. She was shocked tonight -- so tomorrow could be horrifying for her. But, I made sure to give her a good pep talk before the show because she was so nervous. She'd played the Genie in last semester's production of Aladdin and was worried she'd set the bar too high for herself since this is a drama and not a musical. I told her not to worry and to remember that the audience may have read the book or seen the movies but they don't know the lines for the play. All she'd have to remember is to get out there and have fun with her part and she'd be just fine.

And she was. Actually, they all were. Oh sure, there were forgotten lines and cues and props that went missing. That happens in any show. What I was worried about was Youngest Son. He has a habit of ad-libbing when something's not quite right or if he sees something wrong. Did he do it tonight? You betcha he did!

It was funny that Husband, one of the other actor's father, and the junior high assistant principal were there for the performance tonight. They were all major characters in our recent Am-Dram production of Arsenic and Old Lace. When one of the Borrowers suggested reviving Mr. Clock with some elderberry wine, we all thought it was kind of ironic since that's what killed the 12 men in the cellar in our play. I was praying that Youngest Son wouldn't say something like, "No! Not that! It's from the Brewsters' house!" and, fortunately, he didn't. But, when the Borrowers left a "sugar cube" onstage during the scene change to Youngest Son's scene, I could hear Husband laughing because we both knew he'd never let it just sit there.

And he didn't. Youngest Son is playing Gypsy Boy, a Romanie Traveller, and is decked-out in a horribly mis-matched outfit which is perfect for his character. Mid-scene, he walks over to his "caravan" to get a boot and stops to pick up the "sugar cube" asking, "'Ow the 'eck did this get out 'ere?" After going to get the boot and not finding it, he comes back out and says, "Well, there's supposed to be a boot but I canna' find it and it's supposed to be in me caravan but it's not so why don' ya' sit down an' I'll tell ya' about it?" I heard from him after the show that some of the kids were thinking about throwing the boot over the set and hitting him with it. I'm glad they didn't -- it would have just made him improv even more. Fortunately, the other actor onstage remembered his lines and kept the scene going so that Youngest Son could recite all of his lines and didn't have to ad-lib anymore.

It was a little rough in places, but all-in-all the kids did a great job. Looking forward to seeing what happens tomorrow night!

Am-Dram: Junior Edition

Youngest Son has a play in rehearsal this week with performances scheduled for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. His school is producing The Borrowers and he's playing the gypsy boy that comes out near the end of the play to say something prophetic but it's usually lost on the audience because of the strange Romanie/Cant accent he has to perform so that he doesn't blend in with the rest of the characters. However, after listening to him this afternoon, I'm not sure we'll be hearing much of the accent.

It's not that he can't do it. He and I have practiced and I've shown him a lot of information about the Travellers and how to create his character. It's just that he said that most of the other actors don't know their lines or aren't doing a British accent, so what's the point of him doing one? I asked what his teacher said about it and how she likes his performance? He said that they haven't gotten to his part in the other rehearsals and when they finally did today, the teacher had left and someone else he didn't know was in charge of feeding lines to those who couldn't remember them.

Poor kid. He really, really wants this to be a good, standout part for him because he's only been in musicals until now. He wants to show that he can do drama and be a character actor so that when he moves up to high school and begins the drama classes there, maybe he'll have an advantage of getting some of the bigger parts and learning more along the way. He's already decided that he's going to major in theatre when he goes to college. I'm trying to convince him to double-major in acting and technical theatre because there are tons of actors out there waiting for their big breaks but you can always put your technical skills to use even in a small theatre company.

We'll see how the rehearsals go for the rest of the week. Fortunately, he's acting with a lot of his friends (and girls that he likes but won't tell them, too). Even though he won't be onstage much, at least he'll have fun hanging out in the wings.