Last night I attended our local school’s musical, “The Wizard of Oz.”   It was wonderful to see a packed house for opening night.   And the students did a fantastic job.  I am amazed at the talent in our small, rural community.

As many of you know, my son Neal is a talented young man who is involved in many musical activities.  He plays trumpet in the marching and concert bands and the jazz ensemble, is part of a bell choir, sings in the chorus and county chorus, and participates in his schools drama group.

This is his 5th year participating in the musical.  He started in 7th grade as a suit salesman and the sick guy in “Lucky Stiff”, then was the Beaver in “Narnia”,  was one of the teen boys in “Bye, Bye Birdie,” and was Mr. Vandergelder in “Hello Dolly.”  This year he is the “Tin Man.”

He has worked hard learning his part and practicing his songs.  He also spent countless hours helping to build the set for the play.   On Saturdays, he would leave the house to be at play practice at 9 AM and after practice ended at 1 PM he would stay to work on the set till 11 PM.   Many long days constructing the various scenes.

Last night as I watched the opening night performance I was filled with such pride.  Not just for my son but for the entire cast and crew who had worked so hard to make the play a success.

It wasn’t just the high school kids that put on a fantastic performance, but the elementary students who were Munchkins also exceeded expectations and the costumes were out of this world!

Tussey Mountain has so much to be proud of and last night was a great evening to see many of their stars shine.

I am very thankful for the teachers and other adults who gave of their time to work with these young people.  Everything from choreography, music, scene construction, costumes and so much more.  Without the hundreds of hours they spend working with the students these performances would not be possible.

Congratulations to everyone involved!   Can’t wait till tonight to watch it again!

What play are they doing at your school?   Please go and support these budding performers.  You never know when you might be watching tomorrow’s big star.  Please leave a comment below and tell me about your high school “drama” memories.