Alligators and Way Off Broadway

We finally made it to the BIG weekend! All of the fam came to town and we made the most of it. I'll start with the main event, the one that about 50 of us have been working toward for the last ten weeks - the Joseph and the Amazing Techinicolor Dreamcoat show. I'll admit that there were times during rehearsals when I had some doubts about whether or not we'd actually pull this off, but our performances this weekend exceeded my expectations. We had a sell out crowd on Saturday night and another great crowd on Sunday night, and once we got over our opening night jitters we all had a blast! The comments we received from the fans after the show and on Sunday morning were very encouraging, and it was obvious that our efforts were not in vain - everyone seemed to have had a really fun time. There's something about performing in front of several hundred people that really gets your blood pumping. We have two more shows next weekend (good seats still available), and I can't wait to get back up on the stage again and act like I know what I'm doing. And, the best part is that there are no rehearsals this week! Hopefully we won't all forget everything over the next six days.

If you run into me this week be forewarned that I dyed my beard in accordance with Director Pam's instructions that she didn't want us to look like a bunch of old men on stage. I am not - I repeat am NOT - trying to fool anyone into thinking that I'm younger than I am. That said, I've been checking myself out in the mirror and the Just for Men five-minute formula does make me look at least 18 months younger.

The Brothers in action on Saturday night during the "Calypso Scene"

(I'm on the far right in the burgundy shirt)

In addition to the show we also spent some family time together on Saturday. After Vicki made all of us a big waffle breakfast we headed out to Brazos Bend State Park for an afternoon of gator hunting and a picnic lunch. For some reason we had allowed the two days of cool weather that we had last week to fool us into thinking that summer was over. I don't know which season you are experiencing wherever you are, but at Brazos Bend it was still summer, in all of its humidity infested glory. But like good picnickers everywhere, we fought through adversity and had a good time in spite of the heat and a few pesky mosquitoes. We managed to spot a few alligators and also saw some gigantic birds who were wading around looking for fish in the drought-depleted lakes. There's nothing like watching a bird eat a fish!

Eight-foot gator swimming through the slime

The Freede girls leaning on a sign
(NOTE: No alligators were fed or approached during the taking of this picture)

Sunday morning we all headed out to church at FCCC. With both daughters and both sons-in-law in attendance we took up our own row. Lance and Cody went to the Texans game on Sunday afternoon. I'm not sure what Vicki and the girls did. I took a three-hour nap (we theater people need lots of beauty rest) and then headed out for last night's performance. While I was gone we morphed back into an empty-nest family. Kayla and Lance flew back to Lubbock, and Bethany and Cody drove back to Round Rock. It was a short visit, but we'll see everyone again in two weeks at a wedding in Dallas.