Theater

Last Saturday, we all went to watch a gala performance at the James Armstrong theater in Torrance. The reason we all were there was to see my two nieces, Meredith and Madeline, as they performed in their very first play. The play was actually a production of "The Wizard of Oz" by a local theater group. Since the group was encouraging young kids to join the theater, they have created special roles for the kids to play in their production. Both my nieces, along with several other kids, played the roles of Munchkins (those cute little folks that inhabit the land of Oz).

All in all, the play was very amusing. It was by no means a Broadway production. But the cast was talented, the sounds and lighting were good and the set was well done. Of course the highlight was seeing Merdie and Maddie singing "Ding-dong, the Witch is Dead" and joining the whole cast in singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". Both my nieces were really quite good - not shy at all - and amazingly able to keep in tune and follow the steps. We were so proud! Both of them are so eager to sign up for the summer production (they are featuring "Annie" which would be perfect for them!). Luckily their parents are supportive of this and are open to letting their kids join these great opportunities.

I remember when we were younger, my parents enrolled us in all sorts of extra-curricular activities as well. In my case, I had taken ballet and piano lessons. I was enrolled in gymnastics, badminton and swimming. I even took speed reading, finger math and creative writing classes. I took up Public Speaking at Dale Carnegie and was even enrolled in a course for young women that taught us good manners, proper etiquette and how to be good homemakers! There was also that summer where Jules and I were enrolled in a Fookien speaking class.

My brothers and sisters had their share of classes too. Between the 4 of them there were tennis, golf, swimming, badminton, karate and taekwando classes. They have taken painting, photography, piano, and guitar lessons. There were summers of taking theater lessons at Repertory and of taking trips to China to learn Mandarin. There is probably more than I am forgetting. My parents were very big proponents of us getting a good education both in and out of school. They believed that it was always in a child's best interest to learn as much as they can and to be exposed to as many things that are beneficial to their development.

I will always be super grateful to my parents for giving me the opportunities I had while I was growing up. No matter how short-lived some of those classes were, they all have shaped me into who I am today.