erin's theatrical debut

Hollywood walk of fame still have room for another star? Maybe I should reserve a space now.

Last night, Erin's village (at her school, three kinder/1st grade classrooms are grouped together in a 'village'--they are open to each other and kids change classrooms for certain subjects throughout the day) put on their first play, a musical rendition of several of Aesop's Fables.

It was cute. Really cute. Much cuter than that really. And even better, it was really very clever. Instead of the kids reading the lines of the fables they sang funny, borderline smart-assed songs about them, changing certain parts of the stories to enhance comedic value while preserving the violence. The public school PC police clearly haven't made it to Erin's school yet. Thumbs up.

Each fable featured several different kids from the village.

I thought the funniest story and song was about "The Boy Who Cried 'Walf'. We all know the story of 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf' but in this version the little shepherd boy cried, "Walf," "Wilf," and "Welf," because he hadn't paid enough attention in school to learn his vowel sounds, and thus the villagers totally ignored him because they didn't know what the hell he was talking about. And then the wolves ate his sheep.

Erin's part was playing one half of the "AE" dove in the story of the dove and the ant. The storyteller (a kindergartner in a toga) reads the basic story of each fable first, then the kids begin their song. It's hard to understand the storyteller in the video, so here is the story:

Once there was a Dove named AE. AE saw an ant who had fallen into the river. AE dropped a twig in the water for the ant to climb on. Later that day, the ant saw a hunter about to shoot the dove. The ant bit the hunter on the neck, causing the hunter to miss and AE flew off safely. AE asked the ant why he had saved him, and the ant told him,
"AE..."
"AE I,"
"AE I O U,"
"I owe you a thing or two."
"A way to say thank you,"
"AE,"
"AE I O U."

Editor's Warning: if you are not a grandparent, you may find these videos terribly unpalatable. If you are a grandparent, you may find these videos slightly better than terribly unpalatable.



And the whole village sings their Aesop's Fable song at the end:


Kate and Allison sat on our laps and were totally engrossed. They were naturally antsy as we sat in the auditorium for 25 minutes before the show but they were also very intrigued by the idea that they were going to watch Erin! In a big show! I had Allison on my lap and once the show started she barely moved for the entire 45 minutes.