Bravo 2017

Viva Las Vegas

Luck Be a Lady

Alexander Hamilton

Who Loves You

Chicago

Magic to Do

Born this Way

Finale Act One

More Costumes

What a Voice

Guys can sing and dance!

Great kid, great actor, great singer. 

Bravo to the Bravo kids!

Lots of thought about Bravo, that's for sure. Where to begin?

This was Calvin's first Bravo season and he had so much fun. These shows are huge. I don't know if there are five hundred costumes or 800. Eighty-five singers. Eighty-eight in the children's chorus. The full jazz ensemble. Huge crews.

Calvin played drum set on the first act of the show. In the second act he played keyboards. It's like the final exam of drumming. You get to go from swing to country to hip hop to rap to Broadway show tune.  It took Bill about three shows to get his heart rate down--he was so nervous for Calvin. Stage dad. . .

I wanted to shout out--hey--that's my kid up there playing in front of a full house for eight nights. That's my kid jamming on the piano on Crocodile Rock. The other gal who played keyboards is Calvin's friend and she did a wonderful job. Piano players are the unsung heroes of these shows.

I was so proud. Proud of Calvin. Proud of everybody and every body's kid. They are up there on stage putting it out there. I can't believe the depth of talent our school district has. (Two other high schools in our district do similarly impressive shows) I can't believe how the directors pick the right kids for the right solos and the right dancers. The chemistry between the singers in the small ensembles. The musical maturity of these students.

I'm proud of Eastview that when one of the lead singers skipped school on Thursday she didn't get to sing Friday night. It hurt. It hurt her. It hurt her ensembles. It hurt the show. But it was the right thing. And she got back up there Saturday night and redeemed herself to a standing ovation. I don't think any of the sophomores or juniors will be skipping school when their senioritis comes along during the show season. It took courage for her parents not to write the note. It took courage for the director to back it all up. Kudos to all.

Highlights? Of course Calvin's drum solo on St. Thomas. The Sinatra group--in case you were wondering, Calvin did swing the band up to his dad's approval. Alexander Hamilton from Hamilton--Calvin's friend from drum line Joey put out a rap that was amazing--what a talented kid. Joey also did the vocal percussion on Hallelujah. Amazing. Goosebumps.

Bill and I each went to four shows. Mary went to five. My mom got to see two, Bill's folks came from Nisswa for the final show. Uncle Dave got to see it with a standby ticket. I was dreaming Bravo tunes.

Thank you Eastview and District 196 for making the huge effort to give the kids this experience.
Thanks directors for your complete awesomeness making something from nothing, the ultimate act of creativity. Thanks to the players, singers and dancers for giving us the gift of entertainment.

Tonight I'm not gonna drive back to Eastview high. Bittersweet.
Bravo to the Bravo kids!