On March 12, 2011 Brendan went to his first play.
It was an after thought to take him, we planned to take Aidan and his friend to celebrate Aidan’s birthday. Chris and I figured if he couldn’t make it through, one of us would take him outside. Â He was 3 years, 8 months and 21 days old. We explained that real people would be on stage telling the stories he loved. Â The show was Frog and Toad. Â As soon as it started he was mesmerized. He told us before we left the theater that was what he wanted to do- be on the stage. Then he told us that before the show started “the man said you can go to summer camp if you are 4. I’m going to be 4 on June 19th so I can go to drama camp.” And he did and has been ever since. Â The man was Toby, the executive director of Boston Children’s Theatre. (a year later he was still singing Frog and Toad songs as evidenced here at a talent show)
A little more than a year ago we went to the new works reading of Caps for Sale. BCT has committed itself to producing new works. Brendan loved it and was so excited BCT would be doing the show. He told us then he hoped he could be a monkey.
I found the program to Brendan’s first show. It was in the same theater with the same run dates as Caps for Sale where Brendan played a monkey.
From the day he first auditioned he was excited about Caps for Sale. He crossed his fingers to be cast. The excitement the day the cast list posted wasn’t just about being a monkey but also the number of his friends for past show who would be in the show too. Burgess and Austin, who he worked with on Assassins, would be a part of the show. A Cirque du soleil trainer was also going to help the monkeys. Two high school friends would be part of the production team. It was going to be a world premiere! And it was back in the same theater as appropriate.
Rehearsals were moved to Beverly to accommodate the large cast. That meant carpooling with his friend Jenna and treats at Starbucks. And late nights that he handled like a pro. Tech week was fun because he was “home” at Calderwood and could show his friends how to get around and see old friends.
So many friends and family came to the show. It was very touching. Brendan’s whole third grade class came too. His homeroom had front row seats. They wrote messages on caps and monkeys about their favorite parts.
It was a very talented cast. We joked it was hard to count how many people picked up and/or carried Bren. There’s an advantage to being the littlest!
Each experience on the stage reinforces that this is what he wants to do. He loves being on stage and is happiest there.
