Make time for relationships that matter

1/29/2014

Aligning with my previous encouragement to own your life, I believe the life best lived is the life fully lived, regardless of your circumstances. That’s why on occasion I’ll be dedicating a post on this blog to one of the four main life areas that I call the spirit, the heart, the mind, and the body.

Today I’m going straight to the heart, and I’m not talking Bryan Adams. I’m talking Schoolhouse Rock, or Schoolhouse Rock Live! to be more precise.

The heart deals with the social aspect of life and especially the relationships we have with other people in our lives. I regularly make time every so often to give attention to the important relationships in my life. A couple of weeks ago, I thought it'd be good to do something with my sister and her oldest boy. They live by Boise, so I took my four-year-old nephew and my sister to see the Musical Theater of Idaho production of Schoolhouse Rock Live!

What I thought of the show

You can read a more expansive critique of Schoolhouse Rock Live! on my personal website. But here’s some highlights if that's not your deal.

There was no real story. The play is simply a string of loosely connected Schoolhouse Rock songs. Normally I would find that unforgivable. In this case, I have so many fond memories of eagerly anticipating and then enjoying my childhood Saturday morning ritual [yes, I know that totally dates me] that I find myself overlooking a very glaring defect.

Apparently most of the audience had similar memories. I estimated about 100 (possibly 120 but no more) people in the makeshift auditorium. And (surprising to me) no more than 10, including my nephew, were children. But it was also a Thursday showing. That may have had something to do with it.

Yes, the auditorium was very makeshift. Two portable loudspeakers sat at each side of a rectangular opening in a school gymnasium with a slanted roof of corrugated sheet metal.

The acoustics were therefore awful, which may explain why some of the sound was not quite right. A live band provided the music, which helped.

Given the whole affair was little more than an excuse to sing favorite childhood songs, there didn't need to be much to the stage. I did enjoy the costumes, especially the animal masks that the children wore while the group sang "Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla". They were awesome.

My nephew's experience

My nephew sat with me and his mother. Occasionally I would look over at him to see if he was enjoying the show. He had trouble seeing the stage during the first half. During the intermission, I took a walk with him to get his wiggles out of him. When we got back to our seats, I offered to move over so that he could have my seat. He saw the stage much better and seemed to enjoy himself more.

I also tried to get him involved by clapping with the music and performing hand gestures when appropriate. He seemed a little slow to follow along, but eventually he got into the spirit. As we left the building after the performance, he wanted to hold my hand so he didn’t slip on the icy parking lot. He thanked me along with his mother as he got into the car. I think enjoyed his evening even though he didn’t get one of the huge cookies he wanted during intermission.