Lia's Acting Debut in The Little Mermaid

Lia has had a love for acting and a flair for the dramatic ever since she was a little girl.  But due to always having too many other activities and sports on the calendar, I never really looked into it and just assumed that she could get involved with the drama program at her junior high and high school when she was older.  But after being enrolled in drama class her entire 7th grade year and not being able to perform in the spring play (thanks to Covid), I started to think that it might be nice for her to actually have the experience of being in a play this school year.  After she went from running in cross country five days a week to absolutely nothing with the exception of her weekly, YW activity at church, I decided to look into the children's theater downtown that I have known about for a few years.  After calling the theater, I sadly learned that she had just missed a 10-week rehearsal schedule for "The Sound of Music" which took place during her cross country season.  This was such a bummer since this musical has been Lia's favorite for years!  But I was also so happy to hear that their next production scheduled for the winter was for "The Little Mermaid" which has been Lia's favorite Disney princess since she was a toddler.  So talk about perfect timing!  The only difference was the theater was changing from a lengthy rehearsal schedule of one to two practices a week for 10 weeks to a condensed and intense version of rehearsing 5 days a week with the performances at the end of the second week.  So although I had hoped that this would keep her busy for a few months this winter season in between cross country and track season, I was grateful for what we could get!

After first presenting this idea to Lia and receiving MAJOR resistance from her due to being too scared to try something so new alone, I was luckily able to convince one of her good friends, Rian, to participate with her.  Once Lia learned that Rian was willing to sign up, Lia was all in.  So, I quickly registered Lia back in November and then waited two months for the try-out to be held.  Needless to say, Lia was so nervous on try out day as she was asked to sing a solo and act and dance in front of the entire cast.  After a few days, we learned that she and her friend had received the roles of Ursula's eels, Flotsam and Jetsam.  In addition, they were both assigned the small parts of being sailors in the opening scene and jellyfish in a few of the singing/dancing scenes.  Once daily practices began a few days after the tryouts, Lia quickly fell in love with being in this musical like I had hoped she would.  She absolutely loved going to practice, learning her lines, singing the songs, and having this overall experience.  She would talk about it every day and look forward to the rehearsals every evening.  It was so fun to see her be so enthusiastic about something again!

As the performance weekend arrived, Lia was so nervous and also so excited for opening night.  My mom and Ella joined me for her first show and we were able to get seats on the front row.  We had such a delightful time watching this 50-minute rendition of this favorite, Disney classic of ours.  It was so fun to be so close to Lia and the rest of the actors and to marvel at what an amazing job they did after only practicing for two weeks!  Lia sang, danced, and acted her heart out and it was such a joy to watch her enjoying this first time acting experience.  Although no one from our family attended the Saturday morning performance, Ron and Logan went to the Saturday afternoon show and had an equally great time.  Rian's family then cheered the two of them on at the Sunday afternoon performance.  When Lia came home on Sunday evening, she told me that she was going to really miss it.  I am so happy that she had such a positive experience being in a theatrical production for the first time in her life and hope that she has many more to come!

Due to copyright laws with Disney, we were unable to take any pictures or video during the show.  I was able to get one of Rian and Lia after they came back out onto the stage after the musical was over.

Grandma, mom, Lia, and Ella.

We asked the girls to stay in costume the next day after the show so that Ron could get a few photos.  Here are Lia and Rian in their Flotsam and Jetsam costumes.

Lia striking a pose with Rian photo bombing in the background.

A picture we got from Rian's dad of the entire cast of the "The Little Mermaid" after their final performance on Sunday.