Bach to the Future

Reed loves music--he always has. From the time he was only a couple months old he would respond better to music than just about anything else to calm him down. Even my less than musical renditions of "5 little monkeys" could bring him down from a full blown screamfest in the car.  He was only about 18 months when I noticed he started singing along to the radio in the car and was fast collecting a large repertoire of song lyrics. Six years later his love of music has only grown and includes everything from hymns to pop music, classical, country and  even music theory. 

So when I heard that his class at school would be putting on a play about the life of Bach, called Bach to the Future, I knew Reed would be in heaven...and he was. They practiced after school for about  6 weeks and whenever I would pick him up, he would be so excited about how the performance was coming together. He loved to share tidbits of what he was learning about Bach, but was careful to keep details of the production a secret because he wanted me to be surprised.

We were all excited when the big night finally arrived 2 weeks ago. Reed was a "keynote" speaker, which was a narrator type role, so I was surprised to see that it included a time period wig. The setting was not the best for taking pictures, but it was too much of a highlight for Reed to not document it at all.

Reed (on the upper right) along with the other keynote speakers.

Hands down,  my favorite part of the program was the last song where they modernized one of Bach's tunes with a sort of rap element.  Reed got to come down from his narrator position on stage to the very front and even had a few lines that he sang with another little boy. I loved it because I could tell he was loving every bit of it.

Doing his part of the finale song.

Mrs. Alspaugh, who I call Mary Poppins, is Reed's teacher and the one who directed the entire production. She is an incredible teacher. In fact, when I was checking into schools before we had moved to  Maryland, I found an article on how she had just won "Teacher of the Year" for the district. I started  then hoping and praying then that Reed would have the chance to be in her class.  She is amazing and I am so grateful for what she has done for Reed this year.

Max, congratulating Reed on a great performance. One thing I absolutely adore about Max is how good he is about giving sincere compliments. When Reed does well, he is truly happy for him and is free and articulate with his praise. He also insisted on bringing his camera to the performance and was thrilled to show Reed how he had recorded his favorite part.

Sam and Ruby both really enjoyed the show too. Don't let this picture fool you about their excitement level--it was there...although I think Ruby was starting what turned into a week-long miserable cold.

Proud Mom. (Mysteriously leaning in just the right way to not look like the hugely pregnant girl I am.)

Reed and Mrs. Alspaugh. Whenever I would pick Reed up from play practice he would be one of the last ones out. When I asked why this was the case, Reed would often tell me, "Oh, I just had some ideas that I needed to tell Mrs. Alspaugh for some things that would make the play even better." He is a natural born director and she is a patient woman.

I'm so glad Reed got to have this experience. It was so much fun for him. And while I think he'd most prefer being in the director's chair, Mrs. Alspaugh did say that Reed's excellent diction and ability to take direction would make him a drama teachers dream someday. I'm not sure what Reed thinks about that, but even Spielberg had to start somewhere.