It's been quiet on this blog because of a red-headed orphan named Annie.

The kids performed seven shows in five days last week, which is hard work! Olivia played Tessie the whiney orphan and a servant. Frederick was in the orphan chorus, NYC chorus, and he played a member of President Roosevelt's cabinet.

Olivia had one of the stellar moments of the show, on opening night. Before the orphan scene "Never Fully Dressed without a Smile," the stage crew forgot to remove a chair from the previous scene. As the orphans did the dance, Olivia pushed the chair to the side stage as if the move were part of the choreography. The audience cheered and clapped, and the music director burst out laughing at the piano.

Frederick's portrayal of Cordell Hull in the president's cabinet scene was hilarious and he also got laughs and applause. He delivered his lines perfectly, "The dispatches from Germany are becoming more and more disturbing every day. There could be war!" Before rehearals began, the director considered cutting this scene because she thought it would be boring. But it ended up being one of the best crowd-pleasing scenes in the show! The director told him he could have bigger roles in future shows, but he replied that he'd rather be a stagehand.

Eric helped paint the sets, along with some other dads and kids. And, he helped move the sets in and out of the theater. He also had the job of greeting audience members when they arrived.

I was in charge of the orphans backstage. With over 20 little kids, and many of them in multiple roles that required costume changes, it was a lot of work, but super fun. Two high-energy boys were my challenge, but I finally figured out to layer their costumes. I did think I was going to faint when one boy took the knot of out his tie instead of slipping it over his head just as he was being cued. I don't know how to knot a tie! In that situation, having a knotted tie on a kid seems like the most important thing in the world (you lose a bit of perspective). But someone else within a stage-whisper distance did know how to tie a proper knot and knew how to do it quickly, and we pushed the kid on stage in time for his first line. Live theater with kids is non-stop movement...and we had a real dog to play the role of Sandy, which just added to the craziness backstage.

I'm really proud of my family. Being in Annie is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for all of us, and I saw my kids - along with all the other kids in the cast - blossom and grow.