Cast Party & Sweet 16 Birthday Party

Birthdays, Birthdays, BIRTHDAYS!

We had a lot of milestone birthdays this year. Joyce turned Sweet 16, her mom was a half-milestone 45, her grandma turned 75 (three-fourths of a century!) and her great-grandma turned 85!! All in the first 20 days of October.

[click on a photo to see an enlargement]

Even though we were working on Sound of Music, we still were able to take some birthday time and celebrate at a cast party. Two of our best theatre friends, Charles and Aaron had the party at their house, and we combined the two occasions, the weekend before the actually birth day weekend.

 

(left) Joyce is laughing at something our kilted friend Andrew was saying.
(left)  Ana had a cake created with pictures of Joyce from birth to sweet 16. Everyone (except Joyce) thought it was great, very cute.

 

(right)  Angel played Ana's son in Joseph ... Dreamcoat, so ever since he has been Joyce's "big brother" along with Aaron, her other "son." Angel had been working out of town, but knew he had to come back for Joyce's party.

(right)  One of the cast members brought their karaoke box, which turned out to be a
huge hit. Kids and grown-ups alike ended
up singing along with the game, being
scored at how well they accompanied.

 (below)  Those not interested in karaoke could enjoy food and conversation in the kitchen, where Charles was preparing the usual feast. That's him on the right, with Angel, and Joyce wearing the fuzzy tiara with her back to the camera.

(below)  more kids get in on the act.
(above)  Aaron and Alisha enjoying the "entertainment."

(below)  Before the party broke up, Ana brought out the cake to a harmonious chorus of
"happy birthday to you"  It almost required
a fire extinguisher, as one of the candles
burned off the side of the cake!

(left)  Charles, Angel and Joyce, watching karaoke. Charles, Ana and Angel would all eventually sing, but Joyce never picked up the microphone.

 

(below)  Just when we thought the party was
winding down, our buddy Greg showed up,
and the party got started all over again.
That's Charles' reflection in the mirror,
as he sings karaoke.

The following weekend was closing weekend for Sound of Music. On Saturday night, B-day
minus 1, we went out after the show to a local restaurant that has all-ages karaoke (so the kids can join in on all the fun).

We were still up at midnight, when Joyce got
a call from one of the stagehands who was wishing her a happy birthday before anyone
else. But he was too late, since we
already did that before he called.

We closed the restaurant, at 2:00am and went home to get a couple hours of sleep before we had to go back and be ready for the matinee at 2:30pm.

We struck the set after the show, took all the props and set parts over to the set shop, then settled in for one last cast party at our favorite pizza joint near the theatre.  All in all, it was a very satisfying birthday two-weeks!