Way back in August, when school first started, Stinkerbell signed up to be in the school production. We had no play, no timeline, and logistics for it all were up in the air but she knew for sure that this was something that she wanted to be a part of.
When she brought her script home for the first time she was so excited. She told me that she had to read the whole play and then pick out her top 3 favorite characters. She would then audition for those parts before being given a role. She studiously read the script (more than once) and decided that her top three choices were Tinkerbell, Peter Pan, and Michael. She turned in her selections and read for her roles and a week later came home and announced that she did not get any of the parts she wanted and that made her sad. I asked her what role she did get and she said she was to be a Lost Boy. Nibs to be exact. I didn't remember Nibs exact role so we went through the script again and picked out her lines and when she was onstage and all of a sudden she was pretty excited about her character. See, Nibs is actually on stage quite a bit. And has lines. And doesn't have to share the role with anyone else (yes, there is role sharing to make sure that we have a part for everyone. In fact there were 5 Peter Pans, 2 Tinkerbells, 2 Smees, you get the point).
Shortly thereafter, Ms. S sent home a note requesting MadHatter for the Orchestra that would be playing the music for the play. Honored to be asked to join, she immediately said yes and began her own schedule of rehearsals (a little less intense than Stinkerbell's but not much).
The kids practiced for months. They worked on projecting their lines; they studied blocking; they helped with ideas for the sets and their costumes. The Orchestra learned their collective parts and their solos. They worked HARD. And for the last week before the big 3-day production, they spent most of their school day practicing and perfecting. Finally, Wednesday afternoon it was showtime.
The first show was the Dress Rehearsal for the entire student body. The kids at an early lunch, ran off some steam and then came in for costumes (no makeup this day) and finally line checks before hitting the stage in front of 200+ of their peers. I was nervous for them; they were not nervous at all. It was a fabulous run through and the kids all loved it.
In costume as Nibs. And MadHatter ready to play her part in the Orchestra.
Dress Rehearsal notes were given, some blocking was changed and somehow the big night was just around the corner. With two sold-out performances the kids were, as Stinkerbell said, nervcited (her new word). They were sent directly home from school on Thursday with strict instructions to rest, eat and get the wiggles out before having to be back at school 2 hours later for hair and makeup. Check, check and check.
I was lucky enough to be able to be the photographer for the show on Thursday night and got to watch the kids from a unique perspective. It was a great show with nary missed cue in sight. They were funny and playful and really got into their parts. I wish I could show you the professional video that was taken but it will be a few months until that is given to us. I will update it here as soon as I get it. Until then, just a few shots of Stinkerbell in action...
(Sadly, there are no pictures of MadHatter as they were all in black and in the pit during the production. Because there could be no flash due to the video taping they were impossible to shoot but she rocked her parts)
The Bavarians love any excuse to throw a festival. If it includes beer, all the better. And since we haven't had a large beer drinking party since February's Fasching it was high time for another. Starkbierfest - literally translated to Strong Beer Festival - was started by the Paulaner Monks in the 14th century as a way to get through the fasting required of them from Shrove Tuesday until Easter. The beer is brewed to have much more "wort" (malt) than usual -18.3% or about 1/3 of a loaf of bread worth in one liter. This provided the nutritional values needed for the Monks to sustain themselves while fasting. It also has a much higher alcohol content (7.9%) which add to the full-bodied, malty taste. Nowadays the beer is produced only during the three weeks of the festival (it starts the third Thursday after Ash Wednesday) and is drunk for much less pious reasons. Since we missed it last year, we knew we had to secure a table this year and invite a few of our friends. 
