Monday, July 14, 2008

Vaudeville 100 years later

On Thursday, July 10, we were able to attend "A Date with Vaudeville" presented by the North Dakota Governor's School Performing Arts students. Leah was among them. It was a great show. The students wrote most of the material themselves, and fit a loose story around a list of ten skits and performances of several songs from Broadway musicals and the like. We heard a bunch of "cheesy" jokes delivered as interactions between actors behind panels, which is probably an old vaudeville technique, but is most recognizable to people my age as the "Laugh-In" style.

Leah was part of a group of dancing actors who were amazing in their ability to sing, dance, smile and act all at the same time. The young women seemed to be having a great time, and I'm assured they actually were.

We are very proud of Leah's work in the show, and in the Governor's School in general. She was selected to give the graduation speech for the Performing Arts school, and she did great. As some of the audience noted, she was able to make them laugh and cry at the same time. Quite a feat.

It's already clear that Leah going away to college will be tough for us, since she will be the last of the kids to leave the nest. It's equally clear that she will thrive and grow in that environment. She worked intensely, made great friends, dealt well with stress and personality conflicts, and clearly grew as a person in the process.

Congratulations, Leah. You did wonderfully!

No comments: