Every year, I get blown away by one of the attributes of our little town on the prairie…the theater program at our high school. I was involved in theater in my high school years, and it was nothing like this; I attended the plays our kids were in when we lived in Philadelphia, and they were fun, but trivial. Here, though, all I can say is, "wow". For the last couple of months, my kids have been involved in the rehearsals. Some days, they've gone in at 7AM to practice for an hour, then again at 3:30-5:30 after school, and then they go back at 7PM for a few more hours. They have huge casts, and they've also got enough talent to put on musicals. Their performances are all played to packed houses, with the entire community turning out to watch.

The play this Spring was Peter Pan. The performances were steadied by some high school regulars we've gotten to know well over the past few years, and the director, Dave Johnson, got a mob of young kids from the elementary and junior high schools to do key roles like Wendy and Peter and the Lost Boys. They did amazingly well, and it looks like we've got about ten years worth of theater stars to look forward to.

I've put pictures from the production below the fold, but since they are mostly self-indulgent photos of my kids, you're forgiven if you don't bother to look.

Here's the cast and some of the sets. The picture doesn't do them justice, but the sets were very well done.

This piratical thing must run in the family, because my son Connlann had the starring role as the heroic Captain Hook. He does have a certain roguish look.

There were lots of great battles in the play. Hook and the pirates against the Lost Boys, Hook and the pirates against the Indians, and of course, Hook against the nefarious scamp, Pan.

I do have one complaint with the management of the play: despite being the hero figure, Hook was always getting defeated. This just wasn't right.

I was particularly shocked at the ending, when Hook was eaten by a crocodile. What a tragedy! It was the saddest thing I've seen in years.

Still, the audience knew who the star was. After the performance, Connlann was mobbed by kids and their parents who wanted their picture taken with the fierce pirate.

It worked out well for me, too. As the father of the pirate, I was able to use my connections to hook up with this hot babe after the show.

But here is the real star of the show. My daughter Skatje was in charge of the light board in the production. Without her, everything would have been dark, and the cast would have been stumbling all over each other. And the lighting was just superb.