I fell in love with the theater when I was 9 years old. My best friend, Kay Lynn had a theater birthday party, meaning she invited 7 friends to go to the theater with her and see a play for her birthday. I was completely enchanted. The next live performance I saw was “Mr. Popper’s Penguins.” My 4th grade class climbed on a bus and took a field trip to this live production of a favorite children’s story. Again, I was enthralled. And that’s all it took. I was hooked forever on live theater.
Now, 50 years later, I still jump at the chance to see a live performance. The magic of the scenery, the costumes, the actors, the moment seizes me. From the smallest production to the most fantastic, from a junior high production to a Broadway show, each has its own allure.
I once volunteered to sit up in the light booth in an antiquated theater, manually directing the lights for a high school production of “South Pacific” with a limited talent base. For weeks of rehearsals and the final performances I climbed up a wooden ladder and into the light booth to listen to songs I grew to love sung by untrained voices. I have no boundaries with the theater. I embrace all of it.
When my children happen to be a part of the cast, I sit in the audience night after night. Each performance has something different, some element of surprise or mishap. I love that too. When my girls were little I combined my love of the theater with my love of ballet and each Christmas took them to see “The Nutcracker Ballet.” Because they were young I was prepared to leave at the first sign of disinterest, entertaining the thought that holding their attention until intermission might be as much as one could expect. I never did have to leave early. We looked for other fun theater opportunities. One year we saw Bob Baker’s Marionettes Christmas production.
When they grew up we saw “Phantom of the Opera” and “Les Miserables” and “A Christmas Carol.” As our Christmas traditions evolved, live performances became a little luxury of the holiday experience, an extravagance we gave ourselves, a special holiday treat. Live theater and the holiday–an unbeatable combination.
I don’t remember everything I ever got for Christmas. Do you? There were a few things that stood out. I remember a grown up pre-Barbie dress up doll my sister ordered with cereal boxtops, a Tiny Tears baby doll, and Melody Bells, a musical toy. My oldest brother, away at college, sent me a stuffed animal pooch that I carried around until the stuffing started falling out. I remember my parents giving me my older sister’s used bike for Christmas one year. : (
When I was old enough to write I made the annual wish list/letter to Santa. The lists got more elaborate as the years passed. New fads and new gadgets began populating the list. I imagine my parents were as uncertain about what to get teens then as most parents of teenagers are today. That ’s when they began giving us cards with dollar bills to spend. There’s good and bad in that. It’s still a gift, and there is magic in suddenly having money to spend. I did the same thing with my teens when I discovered that almost every item I bought was likely to end up a return. Except that it wasn’t cash, it was a gift card. But, somehow, I felt like I was missing something. Something tangible in the gift process.
Several years ago I had the privilege of working with a kindly gentleman in his late 70s. He had a lovely tradition with his teen-aged grandchildren. He also gave them money, but they spent it while visiting him. He took them to various stores in the mall and they had a shopping day together. Lunch out, as well. He didn’t actually go in the stores, rather he waited happily in the mall in one of those comfortable chairs, reading the paper, or doing a crossword puzzle. Shopping isn’t nearly so tiring if you bring a book. : )
What I liked most about his solution was that he got in on the gift. He experienced the excitement of it. The gift was not so much a thing, as an adventure, a shared occasion. And lunch out was a bonus, both for the giver and the gifted. I think I’ll try it one of these days. It could work.
Oh how I love December! There’s so much going on! Christmas shopping. Christmas parties. Christmas gifts. Holiday travel. Christmas music. Christmas decorations! The whole month is one great big brightly decorated spectacle! You can have as much or as little of it as you want! It’s all out there just for the taking! You can have a big big Christmas celebration, or one of much smaller proportions. It’s all up to you.
When I was a child my parents would dress us in our pajamas and slippers and robes and put us in the back seat of our old Buick and drive up and down the streets known as Santa Claus Lane. It was somewhere in the Hollywood area, I’m guessing. The magic of the night lit up by strings of Christmas lights and populated with pretend reindeer, elves, and gigantic Santas on the roof was thrilling.
When my own children were small our city had a neighborhood designated as Candy Cane Lane. The majority of the homes had elaborate decorations, and we walked along admiring the sights and sounds of Christmas. These days, when we can’t find streets to cruise, we look for the most beautifully decorated shopping mall and just cruise it without any intention of spending or the pressure of a list. The stores outdo themselves decorating, and children still line up to visit Santa. If you have nothing on your mind beyond the grand Christmas tree and amazing decorations, and maybe treating yourselves to a holiday cookie, or candy, you can have a warm, indoor holiday excursion. Without the pajamas.
