Road to Oz- Taylor

So a little update on Taylor. Last fall she took voice lessons from a local voice coach. Taylor, as we've always known, has a beautiful voice and great pitch! After a few months we decided to give acting a try. There were some free classes at a local library from a youth theatre offering up camps in the summer. Taylor chose to take a week long acting camp. She had a blast! In the midst of the camp were auditions to Road to OZ. She wanted to try out but was really nervous. Chris and I already had plans for the night so we went back and forth and back and forth and decided to not have her audition. Well our plans ended a little early and I said Taylor let's do this! So with a minute to spare she arrived and signed up to audition. The play was for ages 7-18 and Trevor not wanting to be left out, auditioned as well. I was a little shocked but didn't want to discourage his ambition. So off he went into a room by himself with a handful of other seven year olds! I was so nervous for him. He came out and Taylor went in! Then I was nervous for her. There were quite a few youth auditioning that day. I did the math and prepared their hearts to not get a role. I emphasized how proud I was of them.

A couple days later I received an email from the youth theatre and the headline said, "We're sorry...." So I read it and thought yep like I thought. Then I received another e-mail saying "Congratulations..." I was trying to figure out who got in and who didn't! Well poor Trevor took the news hard that morning. Taylor had gotten a small role. I should've saw that coming but didn't. Thankful Trevor recovered and we have entered the theatre world of rehearsals, tech nights and dress rehearsals! It's been a great experience!

At this point I should add that Taylor's two neighborhood friends have been on this journey together. From the library, to the acting camp, to auditioning together, to having the three of them getting roles as the three adepts. Aujah, Aurah, and some other "A" name. I was so grateful for other moms to carpool and share the load with and it's been so convenient to live only three miles from the theater!

Now just in case your wondering what and Adept is. Technically the webster definition is: a highly skilled or well-trained individual. In the the Road to Oz they are adept in sorcery. EEK. My heart sank when I read that first e-mail. I said to Chris... do we let her do this? Sorcery isn't exactly something we condone or practice in our worldview Ha! But this is just a child's play and Taylor's first break! I was conflicted all morning. What we came to was there is good an evil in every story. Chris had just finished preaching a sermon on Exodus where the magicians replicate every plague that the Lord does except for the last one. Will our daughter never be allowed to play an evil part in the bible either? The question for us came down to is Taylor heart drawn towards evil? Does she show consistent understanding of good and evil and embrace a Christian worldview? After answering these questions we decided that she could indeed participate in the play with this role.

I'm glad we did too. As at first the adepts used their gifts for evil but in the end they made a potion to turn OZ back to love and happiness. The whole tone of the play was upbeat and quite humorous.

So last night was the girls big debut! Taylor did great and quite enjoyed the stage. As a friend said, performing is in the Daukas blood. It's in the Jones and Winter's blood as well. She comes by it naturally :) Trevor throughly enjoyed watching last night and after it was over was convinced that he indeed could've been the "love magnet" if they had given him the chance. I think he will be joining his sister next summer in some acting camps.