The Singing Half-Blood

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief - a popular book, which got made into a popular musical, both of which have been popular in the extreme at my house. 

Emma is my true fan of the Percy Jackson book series. She has devoured the books and basically emotionally entered that world with her whole heart. There are many feels and thus many exclamations made when it comes to those stories. 

Romney was the first to get to know the musical a few years ago and Emma wasn't far behind her. When I first heard it, I confess that it sounded a bit rough around the edges and maybe a little amateurish to me, but it grew on us all. The girls know every word of that show and had many hopes and dreams of seeing it someday. Also, Romney and her friends began nagging their theater teacher to produce it starting from about their freshman year. 

You would think that the announcement that The Lightning Thief was going to be the last musical of Romney's high school experience would send her through the roof with joy and anticipation. However, unlike her freshman year, Romney was having a lot more burnout with theater, a lot more desire to move on to new things and participate more actively in her choir connections. She couldn't help wanting to audition though, and was really hoping for one part in particular, that of Grover, the sidekick of Percy. She also really hoped that her best buddy Judd would get cast as the lead. 

There was some disappointment when neither of these things happened. But even Romney could see that the casting was absolutely perfect. The three leads (aka The Big Three) were all to be played by younger students in the theater department - two juniors and one sophomore. And they are all fantastic singers. Romney herself got a smaller part and she struggled to enjoy being a part of the rehearsals. Several times she threatened to back out but of course knew she couldn't. And of course, as I predicted, she ended up having a great time and thinking very highly of the production. She had a few small solos and sounded wonderful. She played half-blood camper Selina Beaureguard. 

I myself watched every performance with delight. The kids were great singers. Romney's friend Judd tried his hardest to steal the show, hamming it up as Hades, and getting plenty of cheers and whistles. There was a live band at the back of the stage, starring Romney's sweet friend Elizabeth on the electric violin. It was so impressive. I really wish I had video clips from the actual show. The Romneys came up from St. George to see it, and Siena kind of lost her mind watching it. (She's also a huge fan.) We were so touched that the Tuckfields also came, and very serendipidously bought our tickets directly behind them without meaning to, so we watched the show together. 

Oh Romney. Your theater experience has had some incredible highs and lows! I know you're ready to move on, and sometimes feel a little regret about a few things here and there when it comes to the drama department. I know you've loved your choir experience even more. But there's been a lot of joy, connection, and friendships here over the years. 

It's just so weird to think that she's wrapping up her senior year. I know we have plenty of theater years ahead as Emma is just gearing up to start high school, but it's still bittersweet.