Early Morning Worries

It's 6:44am. I woke up and now I can't get back to sleep because I have some things on my mind. I thought maybe if I write them out, I'll be able to get them out of my head long enough for me to get the hour and 15 minutes of sleep I can manage before having to get up to do my morning antibiotic infusion.

So, what's on my mind is this: I'm co-directing "The Wizard of Oz" with the Young People's Theater program at the Marion Art Center where I work (I teach theater and work in the office). The play has has it stresses, the kids don't know all their lines, and the show opens tonight (with a second show tomorrow). But it's not the kids that are on my mind this morning, it's my co-director/teacher Michele. She's a great person, we get along well when we're not teaching (and seem to get along fine when we are teaching) but we have very different teaching styles and the clash between them is starting to become apparent. She is a second grade teacher and you'd think she'd be patient and easy going but that's not the case. She has a tendency to yell at the kids, and often it's for little things.

Here's the "for instance" that's on my mind this morning. Last night when I got home from rehearsal I got a call from the mother of the boy playing the Tinman (Jacob). She was calling to say she could help out backstage tomorrow and to find out what we'd need her to do, and also to let me know that Jacob came home upset last night (and apparently it wasn't the first time) because the other director had yelled at him a few times. The first time she yelled at him was because he had taken home his funnel hat to put a strap on it (there wasn't anything on it to hold it on his head before) and he had forgotten it at home. He was telling this to me and I was going to say it was okay, just to make sure to have it tomorrow (and even if he didn't have it for the show, it wouldn't have been the end of the world) but Michele was standing nearby and heard what he told me and she yelled at him saying it wasn't alright (this was before I'd had a chance to say anything) and that he needed to bring it to rehearsal and that opening night isn't the time to be wearing it for the first time (which is partially our fault for not putting a strap on it ourselves sooner) and that he should call home and try to get them to bring it. He lives about 20 minutes away so that didn't seem like a good possibility but he called home. A few minutes later, he told me he had tried calling home and no one could bring it so I told him it wasn't a big deal, don't worry about it, and that Michele shouldn't have yelled at him.

Later on (towards the end of the run through), he was obviously tired (he was very sick towards the beginning of the week and missed some school so he's still recovering from that and having to make up school work on top of extra rehearsals) and not feeling so great and his costume is very uncomfortable so he wasn't speaking very loudly and obviously wasn't as sure of his lines as he was earlier in the play (so he should go over them before the show). Well, Michele yelled at him again, telling him he has to stay in character and speak louder, etc. This was in front of everyone who was backstage and anyone sitting out in the audience watching the end of the run through.

So, anyway, he was upset about this and apparently this wasn't the first time Michele yelled at him and he went home upset. He thinks she hates him and it just breaks my heart because he's a great kid and obviously doing the best he can after a bad week. So, when I talked to his mom I reassured her that he's doing a good job and that I will talk to Michele before the show tonight and have her talk to Jacob and try to smooth things over. So I've been thinking about Jacob and feeling rotten that he's upset over this because no kid should feel upset from a theater class that's supposed to be fun. And I'm worrying about talking to Michele about it and what her reaction might be. I think she'll understand and talk to Jacob and smooth things over, but I'm worried that she'll be stubborn and say that he wasn't doing what he was supposed to do.

Michele is my friend and I want to keep it that way, but I don't want to work with her co-directing/teaching theater classes and plays anymore because I need to be able to be laid back and not have someone else yelling at the kids for little things. I want the kids to have fun, first and foremost, and I want to make sure that they're not home giving themselves ulcers over situations that were blown out of proportion by one of the people who is supposed to be "in charge". My stomach turns at the idea of a kid thinking that one of his teachers hates him and I just want to smooth this all over now so I can ease my mind.

Well, it's almost 7:00am now so I better try to return to sleep for a little while or I'll be in even worse shape in the morning. I just hope everything works out alright at the show. I may call Michele later today and leave a message for her letting her know what's going on so she will have an idea of it. And I really hope this will be a wake-up call for her that she really shouldn't yell at the kids.

Always,
Penguini