Nutcracker

Will has truly had the best time this Christmas performing with Utah's professional dance company, Ballet West in their production of the Nutcracker. He had the part of the spank boy and absolutely loved it!! Will's good friend Andrew had encouraged him to try out so Will thought he would give it a try. He tried out the beginning of September while Brian and I were in New York, so we were not able to be there with him at his first audition. Luckily Grammy and Grandad took him and waited outside while he auditioned. I anxiously awaited his call and when it finally came his excitement at making it was almost tangible. There are four casts of children and Will was placed in the A cast. Which means they perform first. Practice started almost straight away and Will was excited every time. He loved the choreographer Katie. He often came home mimicking things she would say and do at rehearsal. He made fast friends with all of the other boys, his favorite though was the boy cast as Fritz in his cast. He thought Matthew was hilarious and by far the best of all the Fritz's. Though Matthew was an "old" sixth grader he was always very sweet with Will and really made him feel included. Thanks Matthew! Will's cast did four performances in Ogden and six at Capitol Theater. A lot of our friends and family were able to come and see him but the highlight for Will was when his oh so cool teacher Mr. Beck arranged for the entire first grade to come and attend a performance. It was so fun to see his classmates little faces as he performed. This last week he has been the under study for his part for B cast and he is also the urchin at the very beginning of the ballet. He has missed being the spank boy but is happy to get his face all dirty with the makeup that the urchin wears. Tomorrow night will be his last performance and while it has been very time consuming for Brian and I it has been pure delight watching him achieve and shine. I completely enjoyed watching him perform and seeing how at home he was on the stage. I am so proud of all of his hard work. Well done little Will! You were the perfect spank boy.