What's a little more stress? #SOLC23

There are two days a year I detest--casting days, and it was looking like the second one was on the horizon.  

Last week, we had auditions for our spring play Meet the Creeps.  Thirty-three students auditioned for the play, and all thirty-three of them did well.  

My colleague and I started to cast the show on Thursday, but we were unable to finish because we both had other commitments.  It was a good thing because we were stuck.  We still had about ten kids to cast and no parts left.  That meant we were going to make a lot of students unhappy.  

I dreaded going to school Friday as I knew there would be tears and heart break.  

As I drove to school, I had this crazy idea (I get some of my best ideas in the car)--let's double cast the show.  We could have two casts and add two more shows, and everyone would be happy.  One of my faults is trying to make everyone happy--or so I am told it is a fault.  

Not five minutes after entering the building, my theater partner showed up ready to finish the cast.  I was quiet at first because I was afraid to share my idea and afraid NOT to share my idea.  

Finally, I blurted out, "What do you think about double casting the show?"  

She looked at me wide-eyed and firmly said, "No!"

We started to get to work, but long story short, she came around.

*

Four days later, thirty-three excited students came pouring into my room for our first rehearsal.  One student grabbed the attendance book and started to call names.  Two other students came in with our scripts eager to pass them out.  

I had heard from a sibling the our lead was already memorizing their lines from the audition scenes.  

It took a while to settle them down to start the read through, but once quieted, they became a different people--their characters.

The time flew by, and the bell rang too soon.  

As they walked out, we heard their appreciation.

"Thank you, Mrs. Morris!"

"I am so excited!  This is going to be great!"  

"We rocked this!"

A few weeks from now, I may have to come back to reread this post because a normal show is quite stressful.  However, I will take the added stress any day to see the smiles I saw today.