Ella Performs in Annie!

Ella just finished up two whirlwind weekends performing a total of six shows of Annie at Northwest Theatre Lab.  She has been juggling rehearsals two days a week on top of 12 hours of gymnastics practice and a weekly Matilda practice since the middle of January.  Just like in the fall, Ella had something every day after school, five days a week, and two activities on Saturday.  Thanks to her endless amounts of energy, Ella maintained this crazy schedule for over two months and really loved every minute of it.  She was cast as one of the younger orphans in the ensemble and thoroughly enjoyed learning all of the songs and fun choreography to go with them.  She also was in this play with several of her theater friends and had a great time being with them at every rehearsal.  In addition, Annie was a double feature with the musical, Oliver, which meant that Ella was able to participate in one of their opening scenes, too.  I was able to go and see Annie three times and absolutely loved watching Ella perform as an orphan.  She did such a great job singing and dancing and even performed a back handspring on a wooden stage during "You're Not Fully Dressed Without a Smile."  Overall, this was a wonderful experience for Ella and I am so grateful that she was able to fit this play into her busy schedule!

Ella singing with the other orphans during "It's the Hard-Knock Life."

Ella and the other orphans scrubbing the floor while singing.

Ella making a very dramatic face while singing, "It's the Hard-Knock Life."

Ella helping a group of girls carry one of the orphans in the air.

Getting ready to hide Annie in Mr. Bundle's laundry cart.

Ella laying a sheet on top of Annie to help hide her from Miss Hannigan.

Annie singing with Sandy at her side.

Ella performing in N.Y.C.

The one other role Ella had in this play was to perform as an usherette with her friend, Gianna.  Here they are directing Annie where to sit in the movie theater.

Ella and Gianna moving out the bench for Annie, Grace, and Mr. Warbucks to sit on for the movie.

Ella fighting over a Christmas gift with another orphan during the final scene of the play.

Ella with two of the other orphans at the Christmas party singing, "Tomorrow."

Ella waving to the audience after taking her bow.

Ella performing in "Food Glorious Food" in Oliver.

Since Oliver ran so late, Ron and Emmett slipped out (with my parents and Rebecca) after watching Ella perform in her second show on March 16th.  As a result, I was only able to get a picture with Logan and me after the show was over.

Since Bye Bye Birdie did not perform on Sundays, Lia was able to come to see Ella's third show with me on March 17th.  Here are the two girls posing together after Oliver was over.  Ella had a few other friends from school and gymnastics come to watch her in one of her six shows.

Ella's good friend from school, Elise, also played the role of an orphan in Annie.  Here is a photo that I was able to take of the two girls in their matching, Annie shirts after their final show on March 24th.