It All Began with "Brigadoon"

I must give credit where credit is due and thank my amazing Junior High chorus teacher, Mrs. Annette Shingler, for introducing me to the magic of Broadway musicals. As a 7th grader at Westlawn Junior High School in Huntsville, I heard the story of "Brigadoon," sang the music, and was forever drawn into the world of a play that incorporated singing and dancing, and the feeling of being transported into a make-believe time for a few magical hours. Thank you, Mrs. Shingler.

In a happy turn-of-events, when I went back to school (at age 35) to get a music education degree and did my student teaching, Mrs. Shingler was still going strong and became one of my supervising teachers. She was also STILL introducing students to the wonders of songs from Broadway -- that year it was "Annie Get Your Gun." :)

As a result of her influence, it was natural that I would pass along my love for this vast body of music literature to my own Junior High chorus students during the years I taught that age group. We learned the plot, the characters, and many of the songs from "South Pacific," "The Sound of Music," "West Side Story," "Fiddler on the Roof," "Annie," and "My Fair Lady." Generally, we only covered one per semester, but hopefully if a student stayed in my class for at least 2 years, they discovered a musical that they really liked, and they were able to have their appetites whetted for more.

I was never able to transfer very much of my enthusiasm for musicals over to Steve and Matt, but Steve has indulged me when we've been in New York City and is a good sport about attending at least one show every time. I think even HE would admit to being impressed with the staging and production of "The Lion King." :)

My girls, however, are a different matter. They truly caught the bug, and now it seems that my grandchildren are growing up to love them, too. This past Saturday daughter Julie and granddaughter Allie and I went to the matinee performance of "My Fair Lady."

After the show, I asked Allie what her favorite songs were, and she quickly said "The Rain in Spain," "I Could Have Danced All Night," and "Wouldn't it Be Loverly?" Since she loves to draw, I asked her which scene she would want to go home and illustrate, and she said she wanted to draw Eliza's ball gown. Since she sings so beautifully, I imagine she went to bed with visions of portraying Eliza Doolittle in her head.

Is this the most important thing I wanted my students to learn from me -- and now my grandchildren? Of course not. But, is this something fun and life-enriching that we can enjoy sharing together? Absolutely!

(In a great twist in my life events, I actually now live in a neighborhood called "Brigadoon," and all of the streets have Scottish names. I haven't seen any heather, though, and we are definitely visible for more than one day in every one hundred years. :) You should rent this musical. It's a good one).