In 2013 we went to see The Velveteen Rabbit at Boston Children’s Theatre. The adaptation was written by BCT’s Artistic Director Burgess Clark and has become an annual BCT holiday tradition. Brendan had wanted to audition since seeing the show but conflicts with his 4th Church shows always conflicted. This year he decided that he wanted to audition for the role of The Boy. And he got the part.
Because it’s an annual tradition, Brendan can tell you who of his older BCT friends (and other kids he doesn’t know) were in past year’s productions. The year we saw the show Samil played the boy. Brendan was thrilled to find out Samil would be one of the puppeteers in this year’s show. Opening weekend another part “Boy” was also in the audience- and she just finished up a Broadway run in School of Rock (Bren may have freaked out a little bit when he saw her!).
The show was beautifully done and Brendan was terrific (biased mom and all). It was so awesome to see audiences react. It was especially sweet to see young kids at the school performances react. The cast and crew were wonderful and we can’t think of a better way to get into the holiday spirit.
The cast had a Secret Santa swap and funny enough Samil had Brendan. He painted him beautiful little canvases of some of characters in the show. They will now be part of our holiday decorations. Such sweet memories.
“Real isn’t how you are made,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.’
‘Does it hurt?’ asked the Rabbit.
‘Sometimes,’ said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. ‘When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.’
‘Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,’ he asked, ‘or bit by bit?’
‘It doesn’t happen all at once,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.â€