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The End of the Season

8/30/2021

Ah, Aspen Grove. The place of so many good memories. My parents and grandparents took us up here so many times ... 'way back in the days when it was possible to find a picnic place anytime. Nowadays, the area is pretty crowded. Well, it is crowded at the popular hours when most people have time off and can come.

My Lee Grandparents spent many summers living at the old BYU Aspen Grove campus. My grandpa taught Freshman English there. My dad thought he basically owned a permanent spot in Aspen Grove for all of the summers he spent roaming freely here. He brought his own children up here regularly. He threw out a blanket and read his book, while we kids freely roamed and had a marvelous time.

The Theater in the Pines was the favorite place. We made up our own theatrical productions and gave impromptu singing and dancing recitals on its stage. After my husband and I had children, we would bring them up here, too. Along with their cousins, the kids sang and danced, but more likely they played "Storm the Castle" and waged battle while they tried to save the princess in the tower.

This cook-out spot saw a lot of family get-togethers. Many generations and tons of aunts and uncles and cousins joined us while we cooked hot dogs and made s'mores. I feel bad that we haven't been able to have a cook-out here in many years. It is possible we just picked the wrong time. It is empty today --- of course it is 11:00 in the morning on a Monday after the school year has begun. I guess it really is the end of the season.

This place always gets me thinking of my Lee Grandparents. After the cook out, they liked to lead us in singing songs around the campfire. Their favorites were hymns. One in particular they liked was "The Wintry Day Descending to Its Close." That song is more about appreciating the beauties of nature than freezing in winter. Grandpa liked to sing it any time of year.

Several years ago, my sister asked me to write her a solo arrangement of it. Enjoy!

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Elementary School Chorus Songs

8/28/2021

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Apparently some people are fascinated with the backstories of how songs come into being. I keep being asked to share how I get the inspiration to write songs, especially songs for shows. Some of these songs from my Children's Theater Productions have also been requested as stand alone songs for Elementary School Chorus. Enjoy

Cover illustration for "Stone Soup"

"Over Yonder" is a song about the opening up of the West in America during the 1800's. It comes from my version of the Children's Musical "Stone Soup." I thought that folk tale could work well in an early American setting. This was one of my first attempts at writing Children's Theater. I tried to write a Musical simple enough for a very young cast, but it still had five songs (plus reprises and dances).

"Over Yonder" wasn't even in the first version of the show. During the second production, my music director suggested on the first day of rehearsal that we needed a rousing Opener. She was so right. Where I had thought the 5-8 year-olds didn't need yet another song to learn in our short rehearsal schedule, the show really NEEDED a rousing Opening production number. So I went home that night and wrote "Over Yonder." As it turned out, this song became the favorite of all the songs in the show.

It pays to listen to your helpers!

Coloring page handout

"Why Is Grass Always Greener on the Other Side?" is a song about questions. Kids ask a lot of questions. These are just a few. This song is the Opener to my mini classroom musical "The Tale of the Three Billy Goats Gruff." When I was little, my very talented mother helped me and my brothers find creative solutions to times when we were bored and couldn't figure out what to do with ourselves. My mother was the inspiration for my retelling of this folk-tale. She made us little puppets to act out this story. So, this mini-musical is told using paper puppets. I had also studied Edvard Grieg and his music in college, and had even visited Norway. (Yeah, I admit that I borrowed freely from Grieg's music for the songs in this 15 minute mini-musical.)

Finale of "Let Kindness Begin with Me" with audience sing-along

In 2016 I was tasked with writing a new Musical for a local school. I determined to use the Old English story about "The Adventures of Dick Whittington." All of the entertaining aspects of Pantomime circa 1600 were already there in the story, but I needed a message song to pull the piece together. Finally, I realized that every time the main character Dick got into trouble, someone reached out to him in kindness. He eventually decided to pledge his life to giving back. "Let Kindness Begin with Me" is just that Finale song. Kindness is a message that is just as valuable today as it was back in 1600.

These and other songs are available on the Tab: Fun Songs for Kids

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Honoring the Past While Forging the Future

8/16/2021

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Twelve years ago, our family moved to Utah from Maryland. Mostly, we were responding to conditions forced upon us because of the 2008-2009 Housing Recession. (I won't bore you with those details.) Since moving here, I have had my share of grief and also many blessings.

Something interesting that has puzzled and saddened me since moving back, has been watching all of my former school buildings in Provo be torn down or renovated into something very different. This was very disconcerting. It seemed to me, that my early history was being erased right before my eyes.

My family had lived in Provo when I was born until I turned 8 years old. Then, we came back from Texas for a year when I was in 8th Grade. I came back to Provo again for college at BYU. After getting married, my husband and I followed his jobs to locations in Southern California and the Bay Area, then to Maryland for the next 30 years. Ultimately, those circumstances of 2009 brought us back to live in Utah where I still live today.

Demolition of Joaquin Elementary School

I literally watched the buildings where where I went to Kindergarten, and 1st and 2nd Grade be turned into a huge apartment complex and a library. I got to watch my Middle School get torn down to build a new elementary school. And even now, I am watching some of the buildings I practically lived in during college be torn down or renovated beyond recognition. Granted, they have built some pretty impressive new buildings.

New Life Science Building directly across the lane from the house I grew up in. No more canal bank or the green houses where my renegade baby brother used to swap out all of the plant labels.

I was feeling pretty sad about all of this until I took a good look at what I have done in my life. The first thing we did when we moved here in 2009 was tear apart the house we bought to remodel it.

Before

After

I also write a lot of Hymn arrangements. Isn't that the same thing as renovating a house? Arrangers take the basic structure of a song and add their own spin to it. Maybe the only things left are parts of the melody. Isn't that like leaving only the address of the house.

Well, I like to think that the past can be honored and remembered even when something grand and new takes its place. I think good musical arrangements prolong or even give new life to old songs. Maybe that's the same with old buildings? (Hmm....no. They are just gone.)

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Practice Makes Perfect

8/7/2021

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The Duck Family's Morning Exercises

"Practice makes perfect" or "Third time's the charm."

Never were those words truer than today. In the Theater there is a truth that the first show has great excitement and is generally pretty good. But the dreaded second show can fall flat. A third show, however, is usually pretty good.

For our Summer Theater Camp 2021 "The Tale of Chicken Licken," we had two preview performances in front of "practice" audiences. We were trying to give the kids an idea of PACING. They needed to know how long to wait for applause and laughter before delivering lines, etc.

Well, even though we did the first show without costumes, the energy and pacing was good. The Dress Rehearsal the next day, a 2nd performance, indeed fell flat. The kids were very distracted by smoke in the atmosphere, wearing itchy costumes in hot weather, and microphone issues. It was a lack luster show to say the least.

Well, I am happy to report that our show this morning worked out very well. We had a fun audience that gave generous feedback. The kids did great. I guess it's true that the third time's the charm.

In retrospect, I am actually glad that we had two preview performances. That gave the kids enough practice to feel more comfortable with all of the technical aspects of the show as well as learning pacing with a live audience.

We got so many kudos. Here are a few I overheard:

"The costumes were adorable. Loved the Bluebirds 1940's hairdo's."

"We could understand every word! It was such a fun show!"

"I just loved the songs and dances. The show was so professional."

"My older kids were in the very first production of Chicken Licken. But this revised version was so much better. I loved the expanded part for the Fox. It hooked the audience right from the start."

"I can't believe how the kids learned so
much in just two weeks!"

"I think my 3-year-old granddaughter has
a crush on the Fox. He has leading man potential for sure!"

"This Camp was great for my two kids.
They had something so exciting to look
forward to everyday. We are going
to miss it."

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Introducing Something New Each Day

8/3/2021

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Geese Family

For the past week and a half, I have been working with 23 children ages 5-12 on a Children's Theater production of "The Tale of Chicken Licken." We had such a wide span of ages and experience, I wasn't sure just how we would pull off an entertaining show. But, with the help of a talented choreographer and two Mom assistants, I think we will be ready for our performance on Saturday.

I didn't know if we could do a Summer Theater Camp at all this summer due to COVID-19 restrictions. But, we decided to go ahead. We couldn't do my first choice of a show because of lower enrollment. However, the show we are doing seems to be a perfect fit for this group.

Geese Family

I am happy to report that we are really making good progress towards a polished show. Whenever the cast covers such a wide range of ages and abilities, as a director, you have to be flexible with expectations. The goal is to do blocking, acting, and dance moves that suit the ages appropriately. The younger kids have that "cute factor" that will boost their performance no matter what. The older kids need extra to keep them interested.

The Fox with the Bluebirds Trio

We have been working hard to give each actor what they need to develop their character as well as learn some new skills. For the older girls, that means giving them real choreography. Our oldest boy really needed more. So I wrote him an entirely new character and gave him a new song to boot.

Chicken Family

For the "littles," they may have limited dance moves with mostly gestures. But it has to feel like choreography.

Turkey

For the "middles," they get as many challenges as they can handle. We have been surprised at how well they have done.

Each day they have been faced with new challenges. Some have been weather related. Some have been imposed upon them from their directors. They have been real troupers with good attitudes. They really want to do their best.

I am very pleased with their efforts. They have been learning songs, dances, lines, and acting as well as taking personal responsibility for the show. All in 10 short days

Well done, cast!

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The End of the Season

Elementary School Chorus Songs

Honoring the Past While Forging the Future

Practice Makes Perfect

Introducing Something New Each Day

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