Out Of The Woods

On the day I saw Boy doing jazz hands out in the baseball field--instead of, you know, catching said baseball--I suggested he might perhaps be better suited for musical theater.

And so he has proven to be. Two months ago, he rushed home to tell me that his group was performing Into The Woods.

Cordelia: That's fantastic! I love Into The Woods! And who are you? You're Rapunzel's Prince? That's excellent--I'm so proud of you! Oooh, you get to sing Agony, that song's going to bring down the house!

A minute later.

Cordelia: Into The Woods? Are you sure? That's, um...that's Sondheim. There are complicated melodies. And complicated harmonies. And, well....[mutters to self at this point]...you're nine, and others are younger, and while these shows are delightful and the kids are cute and all I wouldn't really go so far as to say they're all able to, well, sing.

A minute later, upon hearing the rehearsal tape.

Cordelia: Ahhh. You're only doing the first half. And you've simplified it. Thank heavens.

Those of you who have been to these kinds of things--or have the self-awareness to realize what it must have been like for your parents--will realize that while cuteness is one strong selling point (I personally fell in love with Little Red Riding Hood and one of the stepsisters), it will only take you so far. And then you wonder how long There Are Giants In The Sky is, because DEAR GOD. Someone rescue that poor child.

But Boy, as the savior of Rapunzel, needed no rescuing. And Agony did bring down the house. He was unselfconscious--a rare commodity that day--but at the same time such a ham that he was practically begging for audience appreciation--which we were happy to give him.

The only trouble was that every time he came onstage my eyes got blurry. I can't even really tell you why, specifically. It was just that he looked so little and rosy-cheeked and unattractive haircuted, and there he was throwing himself into something wholeheartedly (and there hasn't been much of that lately) and having such a great time doing it.

In any case, it was highly inconvenient. Boy was being funny! Genuinely funny, not just cute little kid funny! I wanted to laugh like he wanted me to, not cry, because Agony? Not a sad song.

And I think I giggled inappropriately during Children Will Listen.