Here's a Cast Picture....

Well, you asked, and this is all I've managed to find....

Here is the entire cast of the Best Christmas Pageant Ever!

(Including Worker Bee, Baby Bee, and me!!!)

I played Mrs. McCarthy (although one night on stage I accidentally called myself Mrs. McCartney).  She is one of the church ladies.  If you've ever seen the play, she is the one who thinks Imogene Herdman's cigar smoke in the ladies room is actually a fire.  So every night I got to walk on stage sniffing the air, then walk right up front and yell, "Fire!  There's a fire!"  And then all kinds of chaos breaks out.  (I was almost knocked down one night when some running children decided it would be more fun to somersault their way off stage.)  

Worker Bee played Bob Bradley, the father of the narrator, Beth, and the husband of the pageant director, Grace.  He had the best line, said over and over, "Do I have to go?"  My friends all said he was just playing himself!  Well....sort of.....

And Baby Bee was in the angel choir.  She didn't have any lines, but she sang beautifully.  Although, the girl who played Maxine - the narrator of the church production of the pageant in the play - hmmmm.....that gets a bit complicated - had to go to a couple of basketball tournaments.  The director asked Kiley to step in and play her part!  That was quite exciting for us and her.  

So, I highly recommend that if you have ever had the slightest desire to appear on stage in a play, that you go for it!  It was a wonderful experience and I would love to do it again!  And, I even eventually got all my lines memorized!  Thanks Worker Bee for helping me with that.  (And thanks Baby Bee for keeping it under your hat that you heard me practicing them every morning in the shower!)

The next show is South Pacific....

am I brave enough to audition???

(And am I crazy enough to do this again during the school year?)

Time for the Big Reveal of What I've Been Up To!

So.....I've been teasing you long enough.  You see there has been a reason why I haven't been around much, why I haven't left many comments with my dear bloggy friends, why I've hardly posted much....

And it's time to tell you why!

Well, first off, for those of you who don't know this....I am a HUGE ham! 

 Give me a microphone (or honestly, I probably don't even need a microphone - I have one of those voices that just carries) and I am in hog heaven!  Now in person, I'm a bit on the shy side (unless you've known me a long time) but I love to play a character.

So, our small town just built a state of the art theater and the entire Sweet Bee Cottage family (yes, all 3 of us) are all appearing in the Raisin Cane Players production of

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever!

Are you familiar with the story?  If not, I highly recommend reading the book 

by Barbara Robinson or seeing a production of the play in your area.  

It has the sweetest Christmas message all wrapped up in a hilarious package.  

Well I am playing Mrs. McCarthy who is one of the church ladies.  If you've seen a production, she's the one who yells "Fire!" which leads to all kind of havoc during the dress rehearsal of the Christmas pageant.  I probably have the biggest small part.

Spent today painting the church set.  Love that mauve floor - looks very 80s/90s!

My dear Worker Bee is playing Bob Bradley, the father of the narrator and the husband of Grace who is the mom who now has to run the pageant since Mrs. Armstrong who normally runs EVERYTHING is laid up with a broken leg.  He is absolutely hilarious in the part!  I have other members of the crew and cast telling me how perfect he is as that character.  He says he's basically playing himself - supportive, but slightly exasperated with his wife who takes on too much.  And as he says, he has the smallest big part in the play.

It's a huge set - it spans the whole width of the stage, but we need that because there are at least 18 kids in the cast.  

And Baby Bee is also a singer in the angel choir.  The little choir sounds wonderful!  She does have one line, "I have to go to the bathroom," which she is not that enthusiastic about giving since she is a 12 year old and 12 year olds don't publicly admit that they have to go to the bathroom.  

In small town community theater everybody does a little of everything....this is our lead (Grace Bradley) touching up the stage floor. 

So the entire Sweet Bee Cottage family has been busy going to rehearsals, learning lines, thinking about costumes, and still trying to keep up with all the normal things such as homework, housework, and yard work so I haven't had much time for hanging out in blog land.

Opening night is Thursday and we run for two weekends!  

Can't wait to tell you more about it!

Buzzingly,