Budding Young Talent and Grand Christmas Extravaganzas

With the Christmas Season coming to a close, it's important to recall the thesbian accomplishments of all three of the young'uns.

Daniel made his debut in the Christmas pageant of the Presbyterian pre-school that he attends. He played the role of one of several inn-keepers with no room at the inn. For this role, they dressed him in a kind of make-shift brown-and-white turban outfit that made him look vaguely like an Iranian woman circa 1979, aside from the light-skinned, grinning little-boy's face and age-appropriate height. They also sang several Christmas carols and songs, including the famous "Feliz Navidad" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" - at the end of which, all the students blew a kiss dramatically, and with two hands, in the manner of Dom Deluise. I expected it, because I had seen him issue the same two-handed kiss when he was rehearsing it for me at home, so I looked forward to it with eagerness. Of course, the whole presentation was wonderful. Young Ian took the day off from school to see his brother's maiden voyage on stage - or an altar, as this turned out to be.

Ian and Madeleine acted in the Russian Orthodox Christmas pageant at church, a celebration otherwise known with deep affection as the "Yolka" - the Russian word for fir tree, and therefore also Christmas tree. The play was "From I-Ville to You-Ville," a modern, and very recently written (I think) allegory from Greece, very much in the Orthodox spirit, about a young man who makes a journey out of a dystopia known as "I-ville," where everyone is completely self-absorbed (basically some combination of Manhattan and Hollywood, with a dash of South Beach). The protagonist completes his sojourn in "You-ville", a place where people are concerned for each other. Ian played the role of the Queen's squire, in I-ville, and when the traveling pilgrim makes a request to leave I-ville in order to visit You-ville (much the way we have to petition our own government to visit Cuba), Ian announces the queen with his much-rehearsed line: "Her Glorious Majesty, Queen Conceit of I-ville!"

I think this line and role were probably added for his benefit. We were a bit distracted when the auditions took place, so Ian never auditioned, so this was a subsequent accommodation.

Meanwhile, Madeleine had the role of one of the good citizens of I-ville. She entered the court of Queen Conceit along with all of the other citizens, sat on a cushion at the feet of the queen, and rose to her feet when Queen Conceit prompted her subjects to recite their solemn motto: "Me first! Me first!! Me first!!!" I'm not sure that Madeleine remembered her lines, but she certainly rose to her feet and portrayed the giddy spirit of that reckless kingdom.

Of course, this was not Ian's first play, or even his first Yolka. It was, however, his first "American" yolka (i.e. mostly in English). . Last year, he participated in more of an "old-school" Russian yolka, at the Russian parish where he attended Russian school on Saturdays. In the previous year, he embodied a little woodland creature dancing in circles with the others around the Christmas tree singing, in Russian, "White Christmas trees in the yard, white Christmas trees yard, the festive choir, the festive choir, turns in circles and sings, turns in circles and sings..." [plus many more verses]. There were many more songs for him in that presentation, and he and his furry entourage followed a girl named Katya in some kind of quest to have a fulfilling Christmas, with a magical happy ending.

He had much more of a role in the previous yolka, especially because of all the songs [and I must say, he was quite darling in his wolf costume, especially when he shook his little tail (literally) with glee as he danced around the Christmas tree, but this year was his first solo speaking role. This year, he wore a traditional Russian shirt, and walked onto the middle of the stage to announce the queen, spoke in his own little high-pitched trumpeting crow, and walked off the stage when his line was complete. For me, it made the show, not to mention young Madeleine acting at the tender age of two-and-a-half.

(January 15, 2011)