back to normal?

The play is done.

It went...well enough. Maybe because last year's was so great, I'm holding them to a higher standard? I felt, just a little, let down. I know they could have been incredible, but something was just not quite there, you know? It wasn't a flop. I was just...disappointed.
Maybe mostly in myself. I felt I could have done so much more, organized it so much better than I did. I didn't rely on the other students as much as I should have. I should have watched the entire thing at least once through to fix all the little things that bugged me as I watched it Saturday night.
I made amateur mistakes, which I shouldn't beat myself up for since I am just one of the moms, not a drama coach or stage manager by training. Besides, this is their last year of high school, so this is it. I don't do this again next year, so why stress over what could have been done better? It's the perfectionist in me, I guess. I feel I failed to impress. I just don't know why that matters to me.

Their dad came! Drove all the way down from Laramie, WY, just to see the play, and then drove back the same night. They were so excited that he was there! (thank you, M - it meant a lot to the Twins, and to me)

I didn't get my camera out even once (at first, too busy, then, I don't know) so I'll have to beg pictures from others. Speaking of pictures, I was off talking to people when they did shots of the whole cast and crew, so I'm not in those. It's like I wasn't even there. (I'm on the fence on this one.)

Favorite moment of the entire night:
Scene between Cinderella's Prince and Baker's Wife (this play is full of immorality, death, destruction, you name it...). Their paths cross in the woods, he comes on to her, she's reluctant at first. "I'm in the wrong story", "I have a Baker, you have a Princess", etc. Except, Saturday, she says "You have a Prince".
Our Prince was so awesome (seriously, the most amazing high school actor I've seen in I don't know how long!) he was able to react to that, with just a look, while she recovered and quickly added (while still completely in character), "I mean, a Princess". It worked so well, you'd think it was written that way. Just added one more level of "immoral" to his character.

Best Save:
For who-knows-why, during the last verse of "Last Midnight", we had no music. Our Witch just went ahead and sang. Gave it all she had, spoke some of the parts instead of singing them. It was amazing. Twin1 said he felt her pain in that scene so much more than the other nights. I, myself, wasn't sure if there really was something missing, until Cam came back there asking what happened. She was awesome.

Thank you:
The entire cast went in together on some flowers and gift cards for me, which they presented to me after the play. Cam also got me a card, Lindt chocolates, and a hanging basket of flowers. I was touched. (For Cam, the cast put together a scrap book with notes from everyone, and pictures from the first two nights. What an awesome cast this was.)

Forgotten:
I tried to pick up the props and costume pieces I'd brought in, before leaving for the cast party. (Because I have this entire list of things I never got back last year.) I got most of them, but totally forgot about others. This morning, I went in and collected the rest. Mostly. I'd loaned them a couple of fake carrots to help dress the set. You're thinking, "so what? get more". These were nice carrots. I got them years ago in a set with this huge gorgeous cabbage leaf. I use them in my decor in the spring. They're gone. Probably went back with the flats to the Jr High we borrowed those from. I was inordinately fond of these carrots. I will miss them. I don't think I'll find any quite as nice, but I will probably buy too many replacements as I make the attempt. (Also missing an old hanky. I deliberately chose one I was not fond of, just in case, so I'm okay with that. I think.)

For Future Reference:
Can I just tell you? When your son, your son with a healthy beard, is in a play, and he wears heavy makeup for his part, save yourself a lot of trouble, and invest in some good old-fashioned cold cream. Liquid makeup removers, the kind that you use with a cotton pad, just don't do the job. Whiskers tend to shred the cotton pad (something I'd never considered before), and if he's not wearing a "matching" foundation (Twin2 was the Wolf, so his was super dark), you'll know right away how inefficient that swipe of a cotton pad is. Cold cream, warm wet washcloth. It's the only way. Trust me. Might want a good headband to hold his hair back, as well.