All the World's a Stage

It's showtime! Two weekends ago, Number One Son, performed in our local children's theatre production of the musical Hansel and Gretel. This was his third production and first one with a lead role. He and Gretel and the Witch each had over 250 lines to memorize. Needless to say, we are very proud of him. The girl who played Gretel is in N1S's fourth grade class and the girl who played the witch shared a first grade class with him. There were around fifty or so kids in the musical from second grade to fifth grade.

Here he is with one of his biggest fans. He met her during last year's play when he was in third grade and she was in fifth. It was nice of her to come back to give an extra whoo-hoo, with her friends, at N1S's curtain call. He ardently insists that she is not his girlfriend but he certainly made sure he got a picture with her.

Here are N1S's real number one fans. When N1S's director came down to visit with us, Sweet Pea informed her that she was going to be in next years play. Which is good since she knew most of N1S's and Gretel's lines from this play. I only had to tell her a few times to stop singing the songs with the cast during the performance.

I'm glad that N1S has found something that he enjoys and finds success in. He has tried, with limited success, sports teams and other groups, but he seems to fit in much easier on the stage. It's one place where his Asperger's quirkiness and a strong memory benefit him. Maybe it's because learning everyday personal interactions for him is like play acting. Peer interaction doesn't come natural to him and many times he has to memorize proper responses to common social events so perhaps some social situations seem like characters in a play to him. Whichever it is, I hope he continues to act and sing and entertain us for as long as he can.

Next year, with Sweet Pea in the cast as well, there may not be enough room on the stage for both of them. At least we know that they will be able to prompt one another, because I'm sure they will know each other's part by heart.

Encore!