Kids' Activities - Let Them Try (4)

(Continued from February 26, 2011) ...... They were in there for what seemed like forever. Finally, the door opened and the hopefuls started to pour out and walk past me. I kept looking for my daughter, but I could not find her in the single line of hopefuls. Where could she be? After about a minute of looking through the crowd of those who had just auditioned, the rehearsal door closed again.

Where was my daughter? She was still in the rehearsal room alone with about five instructors and directors for the upcoming show. Either she had been a very bad girl or she was about to win an audition!

She came out about 20 minutes later. She told me that they had said nothing, other than that they were impressed with her abilities. She told me that we could start our journey home.

I told her that it would be respectful of the process to notify the front desk that she was leaving. After she told them that she was leaving, they said, “Did they measure you, yet?” My daughter said no, so they told her to have a seat for a few minutes and they would take care of her.

My daughter asked me why they were measuring her. I told her that it sounded as though they wanted to measure her for costumes and it appeared as though she had won the job!

We were right on both counts. My daughter, the long-ago three-year-old with the eyes-glued-wide-open at her first dance recital, had just completed her first audition against about 500 total hopefuls, many of whom had auditioned on other days, and she won!

Yes, my daughter was about to begin rehearsal for a big-time show that would feature dancing, singing, and acting – her dream had come true!

Since that time, she has appeared in multiple shows, as her name is on the A-List for directors and producers to call! Yes, even though she is about to graduate from college with a degree in Education, she wants to fully pursue her dream of Broadway!

Wow, from an innocent Friday night at a dance recital many years ago to pursuing Broadway! Quite a gal, I must say!

So, am I about as proud as a dad can be of his favorite daughter (my only daughter!)? Absolutely! Are we glad that she is our kid? You betcha!

So, what is the overall point to letting your kids try various activities when they express an interest? Please come back next week for the conclusion!

Paul W. Reeves