High School Musical!

Ah, March, it's that time of year. Not only does this bring the advent of March Madness, as people fill out brackets and start to pay attention to college basketball rankings (which, until now, are pretty useless, and even following the rankings can be useless - case in point, Kansas losing today), but in my *very* exciting world it means that it's MUSICAL time! Not that I involve myself in the yearly production. I have zero artistic talent, visual, dramatic or musical. That said, I do enjoy seeing our students on stage. It also helps that the director always puts on a great show. He's a genius working with the students and creating an entertaining, well-acted and well-choreographed performance, but he also wants the students to learn from the process, so it's not all about the BEST cast or performance possible. Although, the musical productions tend to be pretty damn good. I haven't seen the movie versions of the high school musical concept, but I can't imagine that they truly capture the stress, exhaustion and sleep-deprivation from which our students suffer.

Anyway, we had tickets for Thursday night, and I even cancelled homework for my students, feeling generous and supportive (keeping in mind the sleep deprivation and stress). Plus, I knew that it would be a futile effort because all of those involved would simply not do the homework, as little as it might be. I have actually learned a few things from experience.

So, back to Thursday, opening night of "Fiddler on the Roof". Despite that we left during the intermission, I can say with some confidence that it was quite a good production. Act I, at least, was. There is always a tinge of nostalgia as seniors are up on stage for their very last production, one of many "lasts" that begin to accrue for them, but then it's exciting to see young and new faces that are participating. For me, I enjoy watching students that may not shine in the classroom, particularly, but who possess an amazing voice as they belt out "Tradition!" or are surprisingly light on their feet as they glide across the stage.

Next week, life will return to normal - I'll dole out the homework like it's going out of style, hit students with a quiz, a test, an essay. In the meantime, however, we all might be whistling "If I were a rich man" to ourselves as we get through the day.