Extraordinary Stories From An Ordinary Guy: The "A Cast Of Thousands …. Almost!" Story

It was an ordinary day. Walking out of the Landis Run Inter- mediate School after taking photos of the first musical the school has ever tried since the school was established three years ago. The photos I took this afternoon are all that are needed to complete this year's yearbook for the school. The musical that I just attended with the part of the student body that wasn't part of the performance was called Alice @ Wonderland The Musical which was based on the works of Lewis Carroll and was directed by a parent of one of the students in the school. I arrived about an hour before the show to find excitement throughout the halls behind the auditorium/gymnasium where the performance was to take place. Tweedledum and Tweedledee were practicing their hip hop moves in one of the music rooms while Humpty Dumpty was trying to fit inside his huge costume without running into all the chairs in the "On Next" room.

The school Principal watches the performance.

Teachers walked the halls wearing their black T'shirts with the lettering "We're All Mad Here" in a brilliant blue color. The perfor- mance I am attending today is supposedly a dress rehearsal or "walk through", but is being performed for the entire student body and faculty at the same time. Tomorrow evening will be the first official performance with two more performances the following day. Pretty ambitious undertaking for over 125 children in 5th and 6th grades who are part of the production as either a performer or a behind-the-scenes worker. Not only that, the musical lasted 90 minutes with only a two minute intermission so the students sitting on the gym floor could stand and stretch their legs.

Students watching the performance in the gym/auditorium.

Throughout the perfor- mance I wandered around the gym floor taking photos of the happenings on stage as well as roaming the halls behind the stage taking photos of students having makeup applied as well as being asked by just about anyone in costume to "Please, take my photo." I must admit the excitement throughout the building was contagious. I was so glad I decided to make a stop at the school to take the yearbook photos instead of using photos taken by a parent. The photos I have posted with this story will give you an idea of the magnitude the undertaking of this performance must have been. Just assembling and making the costumes and scenery was a tremendous job. My hat is off to those who were behind the scenes of this performance as well as those who acted and sang in Alice @ Wonderland. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the school. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.