Into the Woods and Out of the Woods and Home Before Dark

I figured we'd participate in a musical production someday as a family, I just never figured that day would come so soon. Most of us, everyone but the little boys, just finished an amazing adventure performing in Syracuse city's musical productions this summer. At the end of it all, each of us can undeniably say, 'we can do hard things'. It was hard for different reasons for each of us, and we've been so blessed to have faced these challenges. Here is how it all happened:

• Becky takes the girls to audition for the Into the woods preshow for kids.
• On a whim Becky auditions for the musical Into the Woods.
• For two weeks Becky worries about what she has gotten herself into.
• Becky convinces Ryan to look into auditioning late.
• Becky gets cast as the Baker's Wife and Ryan is cast as the Wolf and Prince Charming.
• Becky gets even more stressed out, 'How in the world am I going to memorize all this?'
• Ryan gets stressed out, 'how in the world are we going to pay for the amount of baby sitting we're going to need?'
• The kids listen to the soundtrack over and over and over and over and over. They memorize it all. Every word.
• We find a babysitter, we basically bought her hours in bulk. An 11 year old neighborhood gal. Part of the baby sitting is donated by my mom.
• We learn our parts after many a rehearsal. Our daily routine adjusts to our rehearsal schedule. Our bedtime gets much later than normal.
• Thanks to Becky's sewing ability, Velcro and hot glue we fashion ourselves some pretty cool costumes.
• The month of July disappears under our noses.
• The kids do a great job in their show
• Becky does what she never imagined she would; she nails a principle acting/singing role in a musical. She gets special recognition in a theatre blog as the best part of the show.
• Ryan gets to wear wolf pants, charm Cinderella, and put the moves on his wife on stage.
• 3 performances and it's all over.

 Agony!

 Has anyone seen a woman in a ball gown?

 Prince Charming and Cinderella

 After the show

 Hello Little Girl...

 Anything can happen in the woods.

 I see you've found your prince...

 Kid's cast

Kids on stage

It's amazing, that we did it, and the cast was UH-mae-Zing. The story of Into the Woods is levels and levels deep; something that both Becky and I enjoyed discussing throughout the run of rehearsals. What does 'happily ever after' really mean? How do you know when you get there? and what is the cost? How does getting your happily ever after affect those around you? Is what you wish all that it's cracked up to be? Will it satisfy? What if you're alone when you get there? Are you ever alone? Like Sondheim, I say no, you're never alone.