Pirates on Parade

Many months ago, March to be exact, at our prompting, our eldest auditioned for a part in the local light opera  summer production, Pirates of Penzance. Our younger had wanted to audition and had been planning to do so until we found out that it was for 17 and up. Later we found out 16 was OK and even 15 year olds got in....but she was only 14 at the time. There are other years to come for her. Her sister had the capability to do it, but was unsure of the desire or motivation to commit most of her summer to this. It involved months of practice 3-4 evenings a week as well as weekend time to paint props and make costumes. However, with much prompting, she decided to do it!

Auditions were held just a couple weeks shy of our long trip to DC. They involved some singing, some monologue, some dancing, and some British accents which come naturally to her after the Emma production last summer. (Did I EVER blog about that????) While on our trip, we received notification of parts and she was in! Once we returned practices commenced, being only once or twice a week, singing and learning their parts. There were pirates, bobbies, and girls as well as the lead roles of Mabel, Frederick, Ruth, and the Modern Major General. The Graduate was one of the girls. The director gave them all names and a character sketch. Some were twins, some were kind of ditzy, some were tomboys, and some were considered constant and steadfast like The Graduate who was named Constance. Kind of neat that she was so named as it kind of fits her real life character. Loyal, constant, and steadfast.

May arrived and with it arrived the choreographer home from college. Thus began the dancing with the singing. Costumes were completed and props were painted and built. Practice was Monday to Thursday with more painting, building, and sewing on weekends. The Graduate was busy and gone alot. We (mom, dad, sister and dog) spent many an evening without her. We were glad for the busy-ness after graduation was over, because it kept her focus off of "What do I do now or do with myself after this major milestone of graduation?" 

June rolled into July and with it came their parade preview. Some costumes not done and floats left to the last minute, they paraded in their finished costumes or, perhaps, a costume chosen from the warehouse from previous plays if necessary. The costume designer did an amazing job, working all hours of the week and sometimes over night until finished! With opening night a mere 11 days away, there was much to still be done, but, for now, they were on parade and loving it!       
The day dawned sunny and warm. Perhaps summer was finally here? I think our last nice day had been the first day of summer, June 21st, when we thought summer might have arrived. NOT.

Our spot for the parade, in front of the old county courthouse.

Many friends participated in the Republican float
 although not often greeted with a warm reception.

Here they come! The Graduate had HUGE sleeves.
It was the talk of the costumes!

The parasols were a nice touch although they ended up not being able to use them in the play,
 but used fans instead.

The sun was in my face and at the wrong angle. I should have sat on the OTHER side!

They handed out invitations with dates and times.

Love those pirates! Arrg!

A close up of Constance, Prudence, a pirate, Mabel and Frederick.
The girl's names were chosen with regard to the time period to be more realistic.

Singing as they walked, they looked lovely.

I ran down the street to capture the other side of the float AND
they switched sides on me as they turned the corner!

The "tomboy". Do you see the Pirate King on the float? That was actually the costume designer
 in the Pirate King costume as he couldn't be there!

Singing once again. Little did I know how much these songs would come to mean in the weeks that followed and how often they would be sung in our house, in our car, in our yard......

A close up of the leads in the play.

This was only the beginning for The Pirates of Penzance.
More to come.
Ellie~