I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I cry every time I’m near live music or performance. This started about six years ago when I went to a local production of Alice in Wonderland, which featured preschoolers dancing around in flower costumes. I was choked with quiet sobs. At the end of the first act, I had to surreptiously use my sleeve to wipe the snot and tears off my face.
Since then, the same thing has happened at every public performance I’ve attended, no matter how informal. The bluegrass band at the farmer’s market, the kid doing magic tricks outside of his family’s garage sale, the busker on the street corner doing a Cars cover, the tumbling act I saw at the Waldorf school’s Winter Faire. Puddle. Of. Tears.
Why? As near as I can tell, it has to do with watching people put themselves out there to display their talent, the judgment of others be damned — they let it rip. I admire the hell out of that.
On Saturday, we took Nora to see her first musical. It was the Oregon Children Theater’s Performance of the True Story of the Three Little Pigs. It was delightful. The story begins after the Big Bad Wolf has been arrested for the murder of two of the little pigs and follows his trial in a piggy court. (Don’t worry, it’s not scary.) The audience plays the jury. It’s a very tight, fun script with lots of allusions to the Beatles song catalog (the three little pigs are named Desmond, Jo-Jo and Maxwell).
The woman at the box office had warned me that Nora might be a bit young to sit through it. Her three year old got a bit squirmy between songs. Not to worry, Nora was riveted from start to finish. She was sitting on my lap through most of it, and every time I got a glimpse of her face, she was wide-eyed and grinning. I teared up even before the first song. Not just because of the great performances, but also the happiness of sharing something special with my daughter.
I see no hope of me sitting through a performance without blubbering. And I just know that when Nora is a little older, she and my husband will have great fun mocking me for this. Honestly, I’m rather looking forward to it.