VBS

It's summertime, and that means vacation Bible school, and drama! (You know, the good kind, the kind you get to rehearse and practice and alter) :) Though it's always hard work, our hard work has payed off both years.

This year's VBS curriculum was from Answers in Genesis and was amusement park themed. When I was given the script to read through and modify, the youth pastor warned me that it was nowhere near as much fun as last year's Wild West-themed script. I had figured as much, simply because I'd pretty much been thinking that topping last year was an impossible task. :) However, after reading through it a couple of times, I was pleasantly surprised - I could work with this!

As usual, our beautiful set was designed, built, and painted by the amazing Mr. Owen! :)

Mr. Owen has built many sets for church dramas over the years, and every time he just amazes me with how perfect his designs are. I so appreciate the hard work he puts in! This year I especially loved the bright colors. :)

Now on to the actors. I "hired" Sam on when I realized we were gonna need another strong male lead, but I was honestly a little bit worried about how much he'd be able to get into the character, cuz Sam is a pretty dignified guy. I don't think I've ever seen Sam look awkward or out of place, and his character - Millard Grover, an employee of a rival theme park who is sent in to Incrediworld to sabotage it - this character is definitely not dignified.

Shouldn't have worried. Sam took to acting like a natural and never looked back, even though his character was by far the zaniest and most demanding character in the play - lots of faux falls, leaps, trips, and even a cheesy dance scene. :)

The good thing about getting Sam to play Millard is that he's been taking Tang So Do for awhile now, so he's good at falling. :)

Nathan's (right) character was Mr. Peterson, the harried and stressed park director for Incrediworld, who stumbles (literally!) over Millard and assumes he's his new employee.

Maggie played Miss Ryan, Mr. Peterson's ultra peppy, very enthusiastic, highly dedicated secretary/assistant. She really took the character and ran with it - initially I told her to mix the dedication of Jane Hathaway from The Beverly Hillbillies with the pep and sunniness of Amy Adam's character from The Muppets, and she pulled it off perfectly. :) During the play, we made a big deal of sticking pens, bows, etc, into her hair, and the kids LOVED it! In fact, one day we had a contest to see who could dress up like a character from the drama the best, and you wouldn't believe how many girls showed up with their hair all dolled up.

We also had our "Extreme Team" of "Cody" (George - not pictured, he was absent this day and Ben stepped in for me) and "Gabe" (Chase).

And, of course, we had my character, Victoria Hathaway, TV executive for Adventure TV, who deviously (?) tries to lure Gabe and Cody into signing a contract with them. And, yes, that is a REAL leafblower Sam is blowing me with. It was quite the scene. :)

And last, but definitely not least, we have Mabel Magoo, played by the beautiful Mrs. Shirley! Mabel Magoo, aged 80, "somehow" wins the "IncrediKID Contest" at Incrediworld and ends up spending a week at the park. :)

Maggie and Mrs. Shirley, hanging out "backstage" before their turn to go on.

The good thing is we get to perform all five day's dramas in one long drama for the church next month, which is always fun!