Mom would have loved this
I’ve been kinda blue lately. I’ve been missing my mom something awful. I sometimes feel like I’m struggling through this whole parenting thing. Am I raising my children right? What would Mom have done? I can never ask her. My mother was diagnosed with brain cancer when I was 11 and in the 6th grade.
After the surgery, chemotherapy and radiation saved her life, my mother was changed. Slowly, almost imperceptibly over the years, she grew into the woman that I remember as my mother. The woman in the nursing home. Not the woman of my childhood. The woman who painted black-and-white photographs to bring out the colors of life. The woman who wished on dandelions that had gone to seed. The woman who loved the song “Puttin’ On The Ritz” by Taco.
I still remember her singing that song, that beautiful smile on her face.
“If you’re blue and you don’t know where to go to, why don’t you go where fashion sits?” It’s at this point in my memory that my mother’s sweet voice changes to the deep voice of a monster that struggles to force out the words puttin’… on the ritz!
No, I don’t have an evil Mr. Hyde that comes out and destroys good memories. It’s just that “Puttin’ On The Ritz” also happens to be a song in one of my favorite classic movies: “Young Frankenstein.”
I belly laugh whenever I watch this Mel Brooks flick. So you can imagine how excited I was to learn that the Girard High School Drama Club would be putting on “Young Frankenstein.” My oldest daughter, Annie, has had a flair for the stage since she was little, and she tried out and earned the role of Ziggy, the village idiot.
Her siblings felt she would be perfect for the role.
It seems like only a few weeks ago that this group of teens began meeting to prepare for the play. I stopped a week ago to pick Annie up from rehearsal a little early and was treated to a pre-show viewing of one of the dance and song acts.
It was amazing.
These kids get up on that stage and give it their all. They sing their hearts out and their dance moves would put Jagger to shame. They practice after school until as late as 7 at night. Mrs. Ashley Gabriel, the Drama Club instructor, is so great with the students, and the kids love her. This teacher has pulled the whole product-ion together – from the fundraisers to the set to the Monster Boots – all by herself. She’s organized the practices, arranged for snacks and meals for the kids, and planned the dances (with help from Inga I mean, Ashley, from what I hear).
My mom would love this. Seeing a comedy to make her laugh. Hearing a monster sing “Puttin’ On The Ritz.” Watching her granddaughter up on stage, killing it. After seeing my own children succeed in each of their own ways, I realize that my mom would only give me one piece of advice about my parenting. “Stop worrying.”
The play at Girard High School will be in the cafetorium with three showings this weekend, 7 p.m. Friday; time TBD Saturday; and 3 p.m. Sunday.
So if you’re blue and you don’t know where to go, why don’t you go to the Girard High School on Shannon Road this weekend. Watching “Young Frankenstein” is guaranteed to make you laugh, and you will be supporting this fine group of young actors. You don’t need to dress up like a million-dollar trooper, but maybe you should get some autographs while you are there.
You’re sure to see these actors’ names in lights again.