Little Thespiennes

Last year the Missoula Children's Theatre came to Dickinson to produce a couple of musicals with local children in the cast, and our kids performed in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (remember?). Well, they've rolled back into town for the week, and the girls auditioned today for The Little Mermaid. Just as with Snow White last year, Mermaid is not simply Disney's cartoon version adapted for the stage; it's a play unto itself with different characters, different names for similar characters, and different settings and plot events.

Nevertheless, the girlies will be enjoying their (unfamiliar) roles:

• Hillary = a seahorse
• Abigail = a seasider (a resident of the ocean-side town near the underwater home of the mermaids and mermen)
• Suzanna = a sea scout (not really sure what that is, other than that it's an underwater character and a narrator! she was cast as one of a half-dozen narrators in the musical)

Congratulations, our little budding actors! The performances will be this upcoming Saturday, so watch Pensive? No, Just Thinking for a post-performance critique.

P.S. I made it my weekend project to clean the van . . . by which I mean remove and shampoo the floor mats, shampoo the carpet, clean the leather seats, clean the vinyl surfaces, clean the inside surface of the windows, and remove the seats to clean the cavities into which the seat bottoms latch when bolted in.

I got a little done Saturday before we left for the wedding; I got a little done Sunday before heading over to watch a softball game*; and I finished tonight. Each of the daughters helped at various times. It's nice that they're young enough to want to help Daddy with projects outside but old enough to be of actual assistance when helping out!

*A friend and former student of mine, Chris, was in town from Bismarck with his softball team for a tournament this weekend. He called and invited me to watch his game yesterday afternoon. They started their game early and were actually just wrapping up when I arrived, but there was plenty of time afterward to have a few beers, meet his teammates, and visit.