Our Country Tis of Thee

Admittedly, this is probably more of a grandparents post than anything...unless you are a real American history buff...otherwise, you can probably just skip this post altogether.


Jake's class put on a fabulous production celebrating American history called, "Our Country Tis of Thee". Jake was not only the student director, but he had some speaking parts as well. They performed the play at night for the parents, but it was the same time as the Sr. dinner last night, so we had to send him alone. Luckily, they performed it for the school yesterday morning, so we were still able to catch it.



He came out to say hello while the classes were getting seated. I should have snapped the picture a few seconds earlier to catch Coree's real expression when I asked her to put her arm around her brother. She looks way too innocent and compliant here.



This was before the show started...so I'm not sure why the girls have their mouths open. Maybe they were talking to friends?



Maybe I'm just sappy...or maybe it's just because I've been away from home for too long...but I actually started to get weepy here. I tend to tear up at the National Anthem, so I guess it's not too out of character for me.



I vaguely remember Jake saying he was going to portray Patrick Henry...but he never asked for any help memorizing any lines...never said anything about it...so I was surprised at this part.



Hey...at least I didn't make you sit through all Thirteen Colonies...just the cutest one!



Careful...this one will get stuck in your head...and when was the last time you heard "Cumberland Gap"? Fifth grade? Me too.



My favorite thing about this number? Dudes from the Revolution doing "Turkey in the Straw" with the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
LOVE the composite costumes!



The number representing the Civil War was kind of long and boring (how photogenic is a long, still scene of Taps being played in a graveyard?) but I wanted to capture the special effects here. (Ooooohhhh! Aaaaahhhh!)

(I also spared you from the number on "The New Deal". See...don't you appreciate me now?)



"Don't forget to dot the i...for the inventor...don't forget to dot the i." LOVE it!



Jake's facial expressions are priceless...and how about that choir of prepubescent voices? This is the good stuff!



Yea! Dad got to come, too! I know Jake felt very special that Dad was able to sneak away from work for an hour for him.

And this is Mr. Johnson...Jake's teacher and the man behind the magic. I can't imagine how much work that took to teach these kids the musical numbers, the DANCING, and their speaking parts. We were so impressed...and you know these kids are going to remember every detail of these numbers, because they were history lessons set to music, and music just works like that.

Bravo, Mr. Johnson's class...great job!