Drama Club - 3/5/08

The bad news was that one of my students in the show had gotten sick during the school day and had to be sent home early. And today was the last day that I would have had all of the students in the Drama Club. So I had to have final rehearsal with 5 out of 6. The other bad news was that since the other after school programs ended, there was this huge influx of returning students to Drama Club. And when I say huge, I mean about 5 or 6. The point is that I couldn't really devote any time to keeping them engaged. Also, the K through 2nd Dance Club needed the stage to rehearse their portion of the show. So we had to share. During this time, I had a bit of a mutiny on my hands. All of a sudden, all of the girls just had to go to the bathroom at the same time. As if it were some kind of life and death situation. Now I'm not a cruel man and I don't think it's unfair to ask that they hold it together for 10 minutes or so. Especially since they were clearly exaggerating. I know this because once we did make the trip to the bathroom, it didn't seem nearly as urgent. But after the "crisis" had been handled, I made a deal with the girls that we would run the scene 3 times and if they were good then we would play games for the rest of the time. If not, we would run it 2 more times. The first one was okay. Actually it was less than okay. Which is understandable. There was a little bit of rust that had to be shaken off. Only 2 of them were there for the big rehearsal yesterday, and 2 more had not been there since last week. Now in the scene, there's a portion where Cheyenne (yes Cheyenne) is leading a chant. I decided that I would allow the other clubs to join in the chant from backstage. It really adds a strong energy to the scene. So during the run, the new/returning students joined in the chanting part of the show. I think that really helped energize Cheyenne and got her more focused. I forgot to mention that at the beginning of the club I reminded everyone that the show was this Friday. They all reacted as if this was the first time they were hearing it. So that might have helped them to step it up. The second time that they ran it, it still wasn't particularly good. That's because they still weren't quite focusing. Cheyenne needed to pick up her cues and keep the energy going with the chanting. Also, Jamir was having a lot of trouble remembering her lines. I was getting very worried. So right before the last run, I really really really tried to stress the importance of picking up the cues. After I had done all that I felt I could, I took a seat, closed my eyes, prayed, and listened. Cheyenne started with some great energy. The K through 2nd club was there and were chanting along. They got to the stage and I heard the cue line for Cheyenne. Miraculously, she said her line right on cue with very high energy. I mouthed to myself, "Thank You." (I found out later that they had all seen me do that) The scene continued and the focus and energy remained high. Then Jamir came to her line. Somehow I was 2 for 2 in the miracle department because she nailed it perfectly. I was honestly shocked. I clutched my chest in a Fred Sanford like fashion. (Elizabeth. I'm comin' to join ya Honey) When it was completed, I jumped to my feet and cheered. The girls came through and they did a remarkable job. I went back stage and told them how proud I was of them. Normally, I like to keep a certain distance between myself and the kids. In this world, you never know how someone may misinterpret any form of physical contact. But for this one time, I made an exception and we all had a very touching group hug. Is it just me or has this been a long week?