Junior Blogger Signs Off

Today was the last day of the summer intensive RBK program. I just have to say, "It's over already?" These four weeks have flown by impossibly fast; it feels like we were just starting yesterday. I said goodbye to all of the level D kids at two in the afternoon, and to everyone else after the performance. I didn't even experience half of the nerves before my solo as yesterday, and I don't think there were any mistakes (if there were, I sure didn't notice them). Before our show today we had a great rehearsal. Instead of just running all of the pieces over and over again, this is what we did. First, (for the example I use the three Matchmaker girls) the girls performed their piece. Then, each girl in Matchmaker chose someone who was not in that piece to replace them. The original girls stood at the piano and sang, while the replacements mouthed the words and did the choreography. This was a game to test how well everyone was paying attention when other acts were being rehearsed. My favorite replacements were for my song, I'm Gonna Wash that Man Right Outta my Hair. I chose a boy to replace me, and the two backup singers chose boys, also. To make it less painful for the boys, we changed the lyrics to I'm Gonna Wash that Girl Right Outta my Hair. It was funny watching them do the girly choreography. After the show we all handed in our shoes and leotards (if we had borrowed them from RBK), cleaned out our lockers, and said goodbye to everybody.

I have to say goodbye to you, too, because this was my last blog entry. Goodbye!

Her First Solo

Today was our second to last show (and this is my penultimate blog entry, also), and I think that it was a resounding success. Of course, there were a few mistakes, speeding up too much in part of our tap piece, but overall we sang well, tapped well, and acted well (as you know, singing and dancing are half acting). I was in the South Pacific song I'm Gonna Wash that Man Right Outta my Hair, and I sang my first solo. I don't remember a thing about how I did in the song; I was so nervous that I forgot what I had just done (that happens to a lot of people). We have only one more show; Friday is the last day of the RBK summer intensive. :(

Tee Party

The group B kids attended a tee party today from two to three this afternoon. No, I did not mean to say tea, as in the hot beverage made in a kettle, but tee, as in tee-shirt. A friendly woman named Megan (pronounced Mee-gan) showed us how to transform old, unwanted, or too big tee-shirts into fashionable items of clothing that we would wear every day. None of us sewed a stitch; we just cut and tied the fabric. Megan demonstrated several techniques on the art of tee-shirt transformation, and then we each got our own shirt and started to work. This hour-long class was especially helpful because all of us have several oversize RBK tee-shirts that are too big or baggy to wear anywhere. Now I can make my shirt into a halter top, a hat, a tank top, or even a pair of fingerless gloves! I made a halter, but the shirt was still too baggy so I cut and tied fringe, creating a fancy back and a more fitted tee at the same time. It was a fun class, and then we went and had rehearsal.

The First Performance

Our first performance of the summer was today! It was the special performance for Rosie's friends and present/future donors to RBK. It was a big pressure knowing that all of these famous people would be watching us, but instead of detracting from our performance, we danced and sang better than before! This being an exclusive performance, it wasn't the same as the ones on Thursday and Friday are going to be. Group B only sang/danced to Show People from Curtains, Group C tapped to a song from Ain't Misbehaving, four C girls sang What's New at the Zoo, and two B girls sang Stepsisters Lament. We were a sort of opening to the show, and after us group A performed excerpts from their original musical. It used to be called Nothing Will Ever be the Same, but they changed the name and now it's called My Life: Today. The audience seemed to like us, which is always a plus, and no one made any blaring mistakes. Yay! :) Only two (I think) more performances left. Aw. :(

All the World's a Stage

Last Friday was a special day for group C. Our new building is right next to a popular park that has a wide concrete space that could be viewed as a performing space. All of group C (and me, group B) went to the park on Friday, and the Cs performed two of their pieces for a rather large crowd of children. Before their little show, Thecla, one of our teachers, ran them through a body and voice warm-up, and the audience was invited to join in. Everyone was excited to see a TV camera arrive at the park, so the Cs performed with even more gusto than usual. One of their songs was Sun in the Morning, from Annie Get Your Gun, and another, a tap piece, was set to music from Ain't Misbehavin'. It was hard to hear the tapping because they were wearing tennis shoes and dancing on concrete, but they looked and sounded professional. I have heard rumors from other students that Rosie O'Donnell herself may be coming to visit us, but that is not a fact so don't get too excited. Goodbye for now! :)

One Week To Go!

There is only one more week left of the RBK summer intensive! :( My group has learned many songs and dances during the past three weeks. We have a complicated tap dance and song for Sun in the Morning (from Annie Get Your Gun), another song and dance (but not with tap shoes) to Show People from the musical Curtains, and we are singing the well known song Happiness. Two B girls are sing Stepsisters Lament from Cinderella, two B boys are singing Side By Side, 3 girls are singing Matchmaker from Fiddler on the Roof, and two girls and I are singing I'm Gonna Wash that Man Right Out of My Hair from South Pacific. We're all a little nervous about the smaller group songs because this is the first time (for most of us) we have had to sing with only one or two other people. Our first performance is next week on Thursday, and we have another one on Friday. Yay!

Walk-a-Thon

The annual RBK walkathon was today! Every kid participating in the walkathon (groups A and B) raises money by asking people to sponsor them. This helps raise money for RBK, which is a non-profit program. I just found out recently that the amount of money it takes to send one kid through a whole year of Rosie's Broadway Kids is 10,000 dollars! And none of the kids have to pay anything, so it's nice to pay back a little with the walkathon. Usually we walk around Central Park, but this year we went to the High Line, an above-ground park. It was really nice because you were higher than the streets and there were lots of flowers and grasses that you don't really see in New York City. Of course, today had to be sweltering, so when we got back to our building everyone sighed with pleasure at the feel of air-conditioning. We got a sweet surprise on the roof of our building after the walk: popsicles! The walkathon is always fun because we sing all of our old and current RBK songs and raise money at the same time!