I sat on the couch in my living room waiting for Brother Dow to get to the point. He was there to give me a calling and had promised I wouldn't be released as primary chorister. So I let him in the house and I gave him the time of day. It never occurred to me that he might just give me the second best calling in the church.....Roadshow Director! I squealed with delight! ROADSHOW!
I can still sing the songs and dane the dances. I can still see the cactus moving across the stage or the chocolate chips or the golden door. I can still see Paul Revere Riding and the kid on the stage in Nyssa, Oregon whose hair caught on fire...for real! I remember spending hours painting props, the many refrigerator boxes that we cut and painted and used. The alley cats, the chocolate chips and the various characters that make it all happen.
Yes, I grew up doing roadshows and loved them. My mom produced all of them I was in. She is amazing when it comes to that. She is the Roadshow Queen. And all those years, I sat at the feet of the "Master" and soaked it all in!
So, when I was called, I immediately called my mom and told her and said, "Start thinking!"
The theme was "Oh, the Places You'll Go" from Dr. Seuss. I had 17 young men and 5 young women to work with. "Think Pirates, think aliens, think testosterone!" I told her! But, think pirates and mermaids. I need to use the girls! And we did it! She would call me almost daily and say, "What do you think?!?!?" "I love that! Here's what I was thinking..."
And so it came together. The cowboys, the pirates, the indians, the savages, the mermaids, the aliens...they all started to come to life in my mind. I spent every waking moment thinking and singing the songs, painting, cutting, sewing and preparing for the big night.
And the first night we started, it clicked. The kids were amazing. They exceeded my expectation. They did such a great job! The two women I asked to help me come up with dances did an amazing job. The pianist could play anything at anytime. I was blessed to be surrounded by so many amazing people to help me.
It's called a Roadshow because back in the day, the different wards would put on a play and then take everything with them to the next building and put on the show again. Literally, taking on the road. Hence the name, Roadshow.
Rehearsals were grueling, but so fun! I was organized to the minute so we could utilize every second we had to be able to memorize and prepare. We only had a month to do everything.
Here are the cowboys and cowgirls getting ready to do their dance....
The show starts out with Thing 1 and Thing 2 being bored with their lives and imagining where they could go to make it more interesting. The backdrop and props were all in Dr. Seuss style.
The final pose of the cowboys and cowgirls.....
The Indians dancing 'round a fire.....
An alien getting ready to do the alien dance to the song "Manha Manha"
Parker, my head alien. He was amazing!!!
The stars and the moon dance.....
And the super cool alien dance!
In the savage pot we had the Lorax pop up!
And at the end, the Dr. Seuss hat....both frontwards and backwards!!!
Oh, and Mel the bird. He was a special guest appearance!
My cute Savannah holding the planet!
The fish they swim....
The night of the performance, we had a Dr. Seuss themed party for the cast. It was awesome! We had Lorax cake pops, red fish/blue fish jello and Cat in the hat fruit kabobs.
I made Thing 1 and Thing 2 cupcakes. Someone else made green eggs and ham. Yes, it was awesome!
The kids watching the dress rehearsal from the night before.
We were last on the program, so Brother Mitchell entertained the kids for several hours!
The sexiest backstage crew you will ever meet!
Had to get a picture with Thing 1 and thing 2!
Warming up one last time before it was time to go on!
My darling cowgirls and indian!
Almost showtime!
I took my camera onstage and took some pictures. They aren't the best, but they are still fun!
The savage dance! Everyone LOVED it!
And the alien dance! It was a huge hit!
And the pirates who stole the show with their enthusiasm!!1
Final curtain call....
More pictures of the props....
My cute mermaids!
The poster announcing the Roadshow for the Franklin Ward.....
It was a great experience. I loved it. I was so tired when I was done, but I had so much fun. They kids were so fun to work with and I got to know them better. I had people offering to buy my props afterwards, I had compliment after compliment about how our show was the best. I have had letters and emails about how great this roadshow was and how impressed they were with our ward. I give all the credit to the kids. They did an amazing job! I hope someday they look back and smile when they can still sing the songs and remember the dances. I hope they tell their kids how cool Roadshows are, because when I was called, I did.
A big thank you to my mom for her support and love through the whole thing. She is amazing and helped me out immensely. I know she had fun helping me write it.
If I were more tech savvy I would post the link to watch it. But you can go to YouTube and type in Franklin Ward Roadshow or Ralph Smith or Here, There and Anywhere and you can watch it.
Enjoy!
1 comment:
awesome job. You are so talented. I would cry if I ever got asked to do a roadshow. Love to watch them. Just not be in or plan them.
Very impressive.
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