Lia Starring in 101 Dalmatians!

After two marathon weekends of performing a total of seven shows, Lia hung up her Cruella de Vil wig today and called it a wrap.  Overall, performing in her second, NWTL production was a very positive experience for Lia.  She absolutely loved playing the role of Cruella and it was so fun for her to have the lead in a play for the first time in her life.  Although Lia didn't have to juggle 101 Dalmatians rehearsal with any other afterschool activity for the first six weeks, it all changed the end of February when she started running track five days a week.  And, then three weeks ago, things really got busy when Lia's directors started rehearsals for their Spring play (Footloose) before the winter play ended.  As a result, Lia was required to run five afternoons a week at her high school and then go to five evening rehearsals a week between her Dalmatians and Footloose schedules.  As always, she had to juggle all of this with seminary, school, and hours of homework.  The poor thing.  I seriously worried every day how Lia would survive these grueling, three weeks without crashing.  Luckily, Lia was able to make it through her first weekend of three performances (March 25th and 26th) without a hitch.  I was able to watch her dress rehearsal on the evening of March 24th and then watched her first show from off stage since I was helping out in the lobby.  I bought Ron a ticket for the first show, so he was able to watch it from inside the theater and I then brought the three other kids to watch her second show that evening.  Lia did an amazing job and just nailed the role of Cruella with her singing, dancing, and acting.  It was so fun to watch her throw tantrums and scream at her two henchmen, Horace and Jasper, over and over again.  I seriously was smiling or laughing the entire time!  

However, everything changed the Thursday before her second weekend of shows when Lia woke up with a sore throat.  Ella had caught a cold the week before and had past it first to Emmett and then me.  We had managed to keep it away from Lia for 1.5 weeks before her luck ran out.  This was such a bummer as the exact same thing happened in November when Lia woke up with a sore throat the morning of her two Descendants shows.  To preserve her voice, Lia skipped track practice and play practice Thursday evening and seminary, school, and track practice on Friday so that she could stay home, rest, and not talk.   After a lot of tears and prayers and a father's blessing, Lia managed to make it through the second weekend with ample water bottles full of hot lemon water and throat coat herbal tea and a seemingly endless amount of cough drops.  Her voice held up through the first three shows pretty well and only started to sound a bit strange by her fourth and final show on Sunday, April 2nd.  I was able to see her perform on Friday night with my parents, Eric and Rebecca, and Ella, and again on Saturday night with Ella and my friend, Kristina, and her two daughters.  Even with her sore throat, I really could not tell a difference in her voice and thought she did as great of a job as she did the weekend before.  Overall, Lia pulled through and did incredible and I am so grateful that our prayers were answered and that her voice did not go out before the show was over.  Well done, Lia!  We are so proud of you!

Since Lia's show was a double feature of Aristocats and 101 Dalmatians, Lia's entire cast had to switch sides of the theatre with the Arisocats cast after the first half was over.  Since they performed this show in their tiny theater where they practice each week, there was not enough room backstage to make this transfer.  As a result, Lia had to lead her entire cast around the building to enter through the back door of her theater when it was their turn to perform each time.  Since I was watching from off stage for the first show, I was able to chase down Lia and the rest of the cast to get them to stop and pose for a picture since I just thought it was the funniest thing to see Cruella leading this parade of children around the building!

The awesome silhouette of Lia with the two actresses who played Horace and Jasper standing behind the curtain before the show began.

The darling Dalmatian family in Lia's play.

Lia arguing with Roger and Anita Darling at the beginning of the play.

Lia driving away her car after Horace and Jasper stole the puppies.

Lia singing with Horace and Jasper about her beautiful, new coat.

The evil threesome being caught at the end of the play.

Lia being dragged off by the dog catcher while screaming "Watch the hair!"

The final pose with the entire cast of 101 Dalmatians.

Lia posing with Olivia, her good friend, who played Perdita in this show and Mal in Descendants.

Ron and I posing with Lia in the lobby after her first show on March 25th.

The three kids and I with Lia after her second show on March 25th.

My parents, Ella, Rebecca, Eric, and I standing with Lia after her fourth show on March 31st.

A few of Lia's friends (Alyssa, Rian, Suzette, Brittany, Hope, and Mollie) were so nice and bought tickets to come and see her in one of her seven shows.  Here is a picture that I was able to to take of Lia with Mollie and Ella after her April 1st show.