We lived! We laughed! We LEARNed!
Posted by Katie Marie on May 7, 2012
Ten glorious days ago, Barrel of Monkeys performed our first of two school performances at LEARN Campbell. It. Was. Awesome. Reading, adapting and rehearsing stories for a school show is always so much fun, but as an actor, the most rewarding part of the process is the in-school performance, when you see and hear the kids react to the adaptations of their own and each other’s writing.
Ten glorious student reactions from the show, in no particular order:
1. The roar of the children when Brandon, as the heartbroken father werewolf in Diante and Miles’ “The Serious Day”, howled at a full moon to Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You”.
2. The “eeeeeewwww” of the Kindergarteners in response to the prospect of eating fish in Vashanti’s untitled story.
3. The “eeeeeewwww” of all the students in response to a quick stage kiss during the wedding in Bentrell’s “We Got Married”.
4. The collective hubbub when, in an adaptation based on Nakhia’s true story about the time she thought she broke her leg, her mother told her to calm down because if she could move her leg, it wasn’t broken. And a similar reaction to the line “Get your attitude straight” written by Ariejah and Jenay in a dialogue that took place at a zoo. (“Ohhh no she didn’t!”, “Ahhh, she told her!!”, “Oooooo!”).
5. Cheers and dancing along with the cast of “Celebrities” to “The Wobble” (Thanks, Jaali, Aliya, Zuri and Jalen! Our new favorite dance is The Wobble, too!).
6. So much singing to Justin Bieber in Malik’s “Talent Show”!
7. Screams and squeals and giggles when Laura got a pie in the face and Dan got spaghetti in his hair in Kyjuan’s “Weird Party by the Bus Station”.
8. The empathetic “awww” when Dixie let out a sad “Meow” after being berated for not ordering the on sale chicken combo in Lanyah’s story about two cats in NYC.
9. Belly laughs at Dan as a corkscrew-curled Princess and Ryan as a split-personalitied Duchess/Queen’s messenger in Iyonna’s “I Am a Princess”.
10. Hugs! So many hugs! As the cast cleaned up the stage and props after the show, we watched student after student come up to their Monkey teachers to give them a hug and thanks for a wonderful experience. We love you too, LEARN Campbell! Thank YOU!