Break a leg, Seth!

For me, the theatre has always been a passion. From the day my parents took me to see Peter Pan when I was five years old, that has been true. That night, I looked up at my mom and declared: "I want to do that." Lucky for me, the following year, Portland Civic Theatre produced the musical Gypsy, with the perfect role for a six-year-old girl, Baby June. Here is a picture from opening night:

I've been fortunate to perform in lots of different roles since then, so you can only imagine my delight when my own children also love the stage. Here is Eli, six years ago when he played Angus McGuffy in Skyview High School's production of Brigadoon:

Keeping the Erichsen-Webster tradition alive, Seth opened last night in the ensemble chorus of Hillcrest High's production of Mary Poppins. Truth be told, he doesn't love the limelight quite the way Eli and I do. What he does enjoy is singing in choir, and at his school, students in the highest choir are required to be in the musical. There are no exceptions. He had to take a 3-week break from his job (Thank you Macaroni Grill for being so accommodating) in order to handle the grueling rehearsal schedule. This school sorta thinks it's Broadway, so the kids have rehearsed six days a week for the past month! While he doesn't enjoy the many long hours, by tech week, he catches the spirit and gets excited. It happened last year when he was in Carousel, and again now.

I know I'm biased, but really, it was so great. Gerald had to work, but Shulamith and I were there to cheer him on. He wrote down the places he stands throughout the auditorium for all the musical numbers, so it would be easy for us to find him, and he bought our tickets in the best location to see him overall. My favorite was "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," where he sang and danced on stage right next to Mary Poppins. Gerald and I have tickets to go again tomorrow. Can't wait!

Love you, Seth!