Our sweet Anabelle transformed this Spring into Ms. Umney, a British housekeeper at Canterville Chase. Ms. Umney had served at Canterville Chase for over 50 years, and was kept on when the American Otis family moves in. When they move to Canterville, the Otis family is warned of a resident ghost, Sir Simon, who has haunted the manor for 300 years. Instead of being terrified, the pragmatic Americans meet the ghost’s antics with modern solutions—scrubbing out his reappearing bloodstains with detergent and offering him grease for his squeaky chains. The frustrated Sir Simon finds himself the victim of the family’s pranks, particularly from the young twins, leading him into a deep depression over his failure to scare them.
In their show, the American family hire the services of Baklava to purge the home of Sir Simon, while Sir Simon reaches out to other local ghouls (Martin the maniac, a vampire, and some others I forgot the names of) to help scare the Otis family. In the end, the story shifts when young Virginia Otis encounters the ghost in a moment of vulnerability. Sir Simon confesses his exhaustion and his longing for the eternal rest of the "Garden of Death," which he cannot reach without the help of a pure soul. Virginia agrees to pray and weep for him, accompanying him into the spirit world to intercede on his behalf. Her compassion successfully breaks the curse, allowing Sir Simon to finally find peace and leaving Virginia with a box of jewels that can be used by the local vicar to keep an orphanage and old folks home in business.
Belle had 104 lines in the show, and did excellent. My favorite lines were here telling the story of Sir Simon messing up things in the kitchen. "The other evening he took my roast beef right off the kitchen table and sent it sailing to the ceiling! It was stuck up there dripping gravy for almost 2 days. We had a frightful time getting it down, weeds had to harpoon it with a pitchfork!" My other favorite was her telling the Vicar's wife about the Americans using the word "bananas", then sharing that the americans were so peculiar.
We had a lot of family that were there for the Friday show, which was great, but Belle's friend Hannah was not there, and Hannah is the best at the sound for the show. So unfortunately, much of the first half was very difficult to hear. I kept checking all the settings in my hearing aids, until Sam whispered that everyone could not hear.
Because I struggled to hear the Friday show, I returned for the Saturday matinee, and with Hannah in charge, it was amazing and fun to watch. Many of the characters were double cast, so the Saturday show was a completely different group. I was happy that Belle was not double cast, as we got to see her at each performance. Altho I missed the Saturday night show, and Magan later told me how amazing it was for Senior night. And they added some funny lines and actions outside the usual script. Feeling bad that I missed this Saturday night show, I came back for a third show on Sunday afternoon, and they kept all the new silly stuff the kids had added.
Funny adds included Sir Simon saying Gesundheit to someone in the audience that sneezed. Magan and I also both cracked up when the young twins went into the kitchen, and Mrs. Otis off script said "I don't like those kids", to which Mr. Otis (Cash Hamilton) replied "Yeah, I don't either". There was a LOT of glitter bombs being shared with the cast. Cash wearing a large flute that Baklava told him to wear. And even Ms Umney was caught off guard when asked about a picture on the mantel of the family that the girls had drawn. Anabelle quickly said "Oh, lovely" in the cutest British access before leaving scene.
And I just learned that Anabelle received the "Book Nerd" award in theater for knowing everyones lines. And it was fun to watch her on Sunday, especially when so much was off script. You could almost see her eyes trying to help the next person get their lines out. I just love love love every time that girl is on stage. I can't wait to see what is this up next!
