(no subject)
Last week Aidan and Riley performed in a choir production in our local ACT theater. Quite a nice place, actually. They had been practicing for months for the day they'd perform with the child entertainer Norman Foote. Predictably, Aidan suffered stage fright as he was getting out of the car on the big night. It took a lot of cajoling and the appearance of several friends to distract him enough to go through with it. Riley, of course, was no problem.
When the curtains opened 120 kids in black pants and red choir tshirts were arrayed on four levels. Riley was front row, second over from the performer's mike stand. I knew we were in for some fun when I saw that. Aidan was a row back on the opposite side of the stage.
From the moment the concert began Riley was in top form. When the kids swayed their arms over their heads to the music, Riley whipped his arms and body violently back and forth. When the kids swung their arms like the pendulum of a grandfather clock, Riley thrashed his arm to and fro and swivelled his hips like Elvis. When the kids had to do a little bunny hop, Riley leapt into the air like he'd been launched from a cannon. He was completely in the moment singing and dancing with uncontrolled energy.
Aidan was also really into the performance, but more focussed and intense than Riley. I could see him clearly from my seat in the balcony, singing forcefully, his eyes rivetted to the performer as he took his cues.
As the concert wore on, I could see Riley starting to lose interest. He'd stop to turn around and stare at the kids behind him, or try to discretely pick his nose. A couple of times he rolled his arms up into his tshirt and exposed his pale little belly to the crowd. So hilarious.
At the end of the show, people were coming up to Riley and to us telling us how fun he was to watch. He was impossible to miss. As Norm Foote did his stuff, all eyes would shift a few feet over to this skinny blonde kid dancing with frenetic energy to every beat of the song. Marie and I had smiles a mile wide. Aidan came out of the concert hall and shouted "It was like I was famous! I WANT TO BE FAMOUS!!!" I hadn't thought I could smile any wider. I told him "ME TOOOO! But it's too late for me. It's not too late for you, though! If that's something you want to be then you certainly can be. When you're older..."
Aidan was wired for the rest of the night. When it was bed time he was still bouncing off the walls and singing the songs. I've noticed that since that night he's been singing out of the blue a lot more and a lot louder. I might just have a performer on my hands.