The bleacher creatures

As I and the other "pep squad" moms were loitering at the stage door last night, waiting for our kids to come out, a fellow walked by and asked if we were waiting for the "bleacher creatures." I thought that was pretty clever!

Annabelle and I got there ridiculously early last night, but I never know how long the drive will take. We were delighted to find that we could watch Act 1 over the LCD monitors in the lobby, so we hung out there for a while.

Just before intermission we walked around to the side of the theater and went through the stage door. That's where we met the rest of the pep squad and their parents. A stage manager came over to greet us and clue the kids in on what was expected of them. He was very organized and very friendly and made everybody feel at ease. Two parents get to chaperone for each performance (I'm doing tomorrow night and both shows on Sunday), but the rest of us had to leave.

Several other moms and I went back to the lobby to watch the show over the monitors but then our feet started hurting from standing around, so we snuck into the theater and sat down in some empty seats. It was unspeakably cool to see Annabelle come sliding out on bleachers with the other kids, and it KILLS me that I can't get a picture of it. Let me assure you that she sang and clapped and cheered and just looked like she was having the time of her life in general.

After the show, we met the kids at the stage door and took a group shot of the bleacher creatures:



Finally the rest of the cast started coming out, so we got in line for autographs. Annabelle is working on collecting autographs on a poster for a school friend of hers who is a huge HSM fan:



This is the shot though that would turn oodles of pre-teen American girls green with envy. Annabelle with "Troy" (Chase Peacock):



Fred and I have tickets for tonight. The plan is for him to go in on his own for Act 1 ('cause there's nothing creepy about a middle-aged man watching High School Musical all by himself!) while Annabelle and I hang out in the lobby. I'll deliver her to the stage door at intermission and then join Fred inside for Act 2. My only concern is that the pep squad is pretty far off to the sides, and our seats are also pretty far off to one side. If those sides are the same, we're not going to see anything. I'm taking a seating chart with me so that I can show the stage manager where we'll be sitting in hopes that he can place her with the group that will be most visible to us. Oh, wow, it's only been a couple days, and I'm already a pushy stage mother!