Awe

I remember the very first play I ever attended at the Civic Center in Des Moines.  I have no idea how we got the tickets, but Mom and I went to see Hello, Dolly! with Carol Channing.  It was amazing and aweing and great fun.  I was at least 13 years old.

My first concert was Kenny Rogers, courtesy of George and Kathy.  That was at Vet’s Auditorium, also in Des Moines.  Again, I was awed and amazed and had great fun.  I was probably 12 or 13.

Our crew attended their first performance at the Kennedy Center For the Performing Arts on May 7th.  It was a Family Theater production of Knuffle Bunny.  When we walked in the doors at the Kennedy Center, the children all had that same reaction I remember from my first major performance viewings:  Wooooooowwwwwww!

It really is an inspiring place to see a show.  The kids literally walked in the door of this huge entry hallway, and stopped to look up and say, “Wow!”

The show was great, some fun songs, several laughs from Zoe.  It was a little tougher for Zachary and Noa to take it all in, but they enjoyed themselves, too.  For them, it was as much a comfort issue.  Their little bodies weren’t quite enough weight to counteract the stadium seating with the flip-up chairs, so, Noa, especially, spent much of the show bent in half like a fold-up Murphy bed, watching with her knees by her ears.  She didn’t seem to mind, and it did look cute.

Our friends, Marjorie, Suzanne, and Gabrielle, also attended.  They’ve gone before, and told us that they go upstairs for lunch, then go downstairs to the docent “station” and have had great tours, getting to see inside each of the different theaters at the Center.  We’ll give that a shot the next time.

The only feeling of unrest I had about the whole day, was wondering if I was taking something away from the children by giving them this exposure too young.  That sense of awe is still so strong for me because I didn’t have it until I was old enough to really remember the feelings washing over me.  Will I inadvertently bring about a sense of ennui in the children when they are older because they will have been exposed to too much, as wonderful as it is?

Now I sound like a crazy Mommy, so, I think I’ll just stick with the memory of the fantastic day.