Tuesday evening, we went back up to the school again. This time for Noah's class play. They had been studying cats for the past couple of months, much like they did dwarves previously. As part of their studies, the teachers thought it would be fun for the kids to do a play. I have never seen "Cats" the famous Broadway musical, and Chris saw it so long ago that he can't remember what it was about. I say this to highlight that we aren't sure if the play we saw was based on that, or was something completely original the teachers thought up. The invitation used the "Cats" writing and the black surface with the eyes, and they did sing "Memory" from the play, although in Swiss German, which I found to be extremely humorous.
But I can't imagine that the story we saw would inspire millions of people over more than a decade to hand over fistfuls of money to see it acted out. But then again, stranger things have happened.
The kids needed to be at the school an hour early, to get into their costumes and have their faces painted. I had to provide white leggings and a white t-shirt for Noah to wear, the teachers provided the rest. But can I just say, finding white BOY leggings is pretty much impossible, at least in this country. I must have gone to at least 5 different stores, and each time I was directed to the girls department, or even worse, the teen area. Finally I just bought a pair of girl leggings and cut off the lace at the bottom. Noah saw me do it and had no problem wearing them, which was a huge relief. 🙂
When the kids first came out on to the stage, I could have died they were so adorable! They had several different mothers help with the face painting and they did such a good job! Each child had slightly different markings than the others, but they all still totally looked like cats. The kids had also made themselves cat ears, attached to little headbands, and the then a few other mothers had sewn little vests and tails. Put it all together and you get this!
Noah was part of the detective cats and the circus cats. They were all trying to figure out ways to get rid of the rats that were invading their part of the docks. Apparently the rats were eating more of the fish than the cats wanted them to, so all the different cats in the area banded together to try and figure out a way to scare the rats away. Nothing worked, however, and finally the cats decided that maybe there was enough fish to share after all. Noah did a great job, considering he probably only understood half of what was going on. He did slip off a chair when he was supposed to be climbing on to the ship, and that sort of threw him off his game for a bit. He hurt his leg in the process, and I saw him rubbing it several times, throughout the night. :(
But when they all came out for a group song, he pulled his cat ears over one eye, like a pirate, and that got several laughs from the audience. He can be quite the ham, once he gets over the initial shyness.
After the play was over, several mothers, including me!, had baked treats for the actors and their families to munch on. To encourage the parents to let the kids stay as long as they wanted and bask in their success, the teachers allowed the kids to not come to school until 9:30 the next morning. Noah was very excited about this, and I think he enjoyed being home when every one else left for school more than he did being in the actual play!