My sweet wife = Grace

It was exactly two years ago, on a Saturday afternoon, that I was trying to decide whether I should mow the lawn or go to the audition for Gardner Community Theatre's summer production of The Music Man. I quickly mowed the lawn then headed over to GEHS to "just see if I can get a spot in the chorus." Well, a progression that began with Dan Naden convincing me to go sing "Happy Birthday" in the audition room to the director, Franci pulling me out of the callbacks crowd and asking "will you take any part I give you," I ended up being cast as the lead.
Here's my first post on that surprised casting and here's the list of all the GCT related posts. From making some great friends to adopting our son, Dawson the flyer I found in a Walmart shopping cart that lead me to tryouts and to the GCT family, our involvement with GCT has greatly changed our lives - for the better.

Two years later, at the auditions for Annie, a similar casting experience happened to my wife. Erin and I were at PRMS, helping with auditions. Erin was pretty sure she wasn't going to audition but during a slow time in which no one was auditioning, Judy Sass helped Erin learn a song and she decided to sing before the directors. She was called back the next evening and read for several parts, one being Grace - Warbucks personal secretary and eventual love interest and eventual adopted mother for Annie.

The next day, Erin got a call from the Annie director, Annette. Annette asked a similar question of Erin that Franci asked of me two years ago, "are you willing to play Grace?" Erin was hesitant and nervous but she bravely accepted the role. Annette told Erin that when she was reading with the eventual Warbucks and Annie, she could see in Erin's eyes her love for an adopted child.

That's not too surprising, when we think back on our story. In the fall of 2007 we watched some friends in another production of Annie. We went to this show just after the terrible experience of Erin spending all night at the hospital as the baby boy we were considering adopting was still-born, story here. There's a scene in Annie in which Warbucks' plans to adopt her fall through, prompting Warbucks to sing "You were almost my baby." I remember the ache in our hearts as we listened to that song.

And now we're parents of a wonderful little boy who we know to be a specially-delivered gift from God. So whatever amount of love Annette was able to see in Erin's eyes for an adopted child, it's just a fraction of what exists in both of our hearts. adoption posts

And let me just add, I'm very proud of my wife for this casting. She's a wonderful singer and has a great stage-presence. Really, I'm not surprised she was given this role. I'm going to enjoy watching her spread her warmth and talent throughout this production. Should be another fun GCT summer.