Ella's Acting Debut in Robin Hood

After Ella learned that I signed up Lia and her friend this past fall to participate in "The Little Mermaid" production at the local children's theater, she immediately declared that she wanted to try it out, too!  Luckily, the theater was also offering a production of "Robin Hood" for ages four to eight years old that Ella was super excited about doing.  After reaching out to the moms three of her friends from school, I learned that all of these little girls wanted to participate and so we quickly signed up all of them.  After months and months of waiting, Ella's turn finally arrived this past week.  Unlike Lia's production where they practice almost every day for two weeks, Ella's play rehearsed for only one week.  After tryout last Saturday, we found out on Sunday that Ella was assigned the role of Katherine, one of the ladies in waiting for Maid Marian.  The other lady in waiting role was assigned to her closest friend, Elise, which made it even more fun for the two of them.  These girls had such a great time carpooling together and spending 1.5 hours at the theater every day after school this past week. Today, we all showed up early to attend their one performance scheduled for 10:30 this morning.  We were first in line, so we got great seats on the front row and had such a fun time watching these darling children act, sing, and dance out the Robin Hood story in an abbreviated, 20-minute long performance.  It was just about the cutest thing I have every seen.  Although Ella didn't want any help from me this week memorizing her lines or learning her songs because she wanted to surprise me, she did such a great job.  She knew all of her lines and was one of the best dancers out there.  I was so proud of her!  If it weren't for the fact that this wonderful children's theater announced a few week ago that they are closing this month after 12 years, I would say that this was the perfect beginning to a wonderful acting adventure with this theater for both Lia and Ella.  But, sadly, I will have to look elsewhere for these girls to continue to have acting experiences in the future.  Sigh...

Elise, Madelyn, Ella, and Ainsley all lined up and ready to head into the theater this morning before their show started.

The small cast of Robin Hood posing for the audience at the end of the show.  Ella an Elise wore matching, pink shirts with darling straw hats as part of their costumes.

A close up of the two ladies in waiting, Ella and Elise.

The girls after their performance was over!