U2, ELVIS, CASH, MADONNA, OPERA AND MULTICULTURAL DAY

We had a very unexpected surprise today. After we got back from exercising this morning, we had a phone call from our son, Franklin. Today was Multicultural day at Key Elementry School where Ian and Connor attend and he needed to borrow one of my tripods in order to video the program.

Franklin and Beth have been working for several weeks on a project for this special day at the boys school and it was a huge success. Everyone always feels welcome when they go to Key Elementary in South Arlington. It's a wonderful school.

I'll have to be perfectly honest. I hadn't planned on attending this particular event as it was not necessarily open to everyone like it is on Grandparents Day, but when Frank went to the school to deliver the tripod when I was at church and saw what was going on, he thought we should go to one of the performances. I had Bible/Book study at church this morning that lasts until noon, so right after lunch we headed for the school.

Franklin has put in over 100 hours on this project and I have no idea how much time Beth has spent on it. They built a sound stage and reinacted the TV show, American Idol. The main theme of the "show" was the history of music, from Opera to Blues, to Rock and Roll and Rap. They even threw in a little Country Western! The kids had a great time. Franklin researched all of the information and then put it on film and coordinated it with the music of that era. It was extremely time consuming but he enjoyed doing it since that's what he does at his company, Reel FX. Don't know if I've mentioned it or not, but he's an Audio Engineer and he loves his work. He's also very good at it (nothing like a proud Mama talking about her son ;-)

At the beginning of the show when they introduced "Randy" and Simon" as two of the judges,

they made the announcement that Paula couldn't be there due to a previous engagement. It was at that time that they flashed this photograph of her with Franklin on the screen.

If you remember from my China blog, Franklin used to work with her in California, so he had this photograph of the two of them together. Some of the older kids got the message but it flew over the little one's heads :-)

They transformed the room they let them use into a set for American Idol and then the show began.

One of the first acts was a Diva singing an aria from a well known opera

and that was followed by Joan Baez and her accompanist.

A musical history presentation wouldn't be complete without "The King" himself, Elvis Presley,

The Man in Black, Johnny Cash,

and none other than the Beatles and their fans. There was audience participation on this number and some of the younger students got to dance to some Rock and Roll with two screaming fans even though they really weren't sure who The Beatles were. They did, however, enjoy the dancing!

Once John Travolta appeared in that famous white suit from Saturday Night Fever as the Bee Gees sang "Stayin' Alive",

Randy and Simon had a big discussion as to which act had been the best so far and which ones didn't quite measure up to par.

That was when The Material Girl, Madonna, appeared on the scene and she had a great performance. I think she might be in a close race for the lead.

Her act was followed by rappers Run - DMC

and a surprise guest also came ... Jimmy Page of Led Zepplin!

No musical history show would be complete without U2 and Bono. U2 are a rock band from Dublin, Ireland. The band consists of Bono (vocals and guitar), The Edge (guitar, keyboards and vocals), Adam Clayton (bass guitar) and Larry Mullen Jr. Only Bono and The Edge were there today. When we were in the Mediterranean last year we saw Bono's house. It was unbelieveable. It was so large that it looked like an entire shopping center!

I would love to have The Edge's black hat! Since he is my son, do you think he might let me borrow it for a while? It would look great on our next trip to Santa Fe!

Since the early 1980s, the members of U2—as a band and individually—have collaborated with other musicians, artists, celebrities, and politicians to address issues concerning poverty, disease, and social injustice. I think Beth looks great as Bono and I'd like to borrow her hat as well.

The people on Beth's committee put this wonderful presentation together with her as the Chairperson, and the youngsters as well as we old folks loved every minute of it. There were 7 shows throughout the day, consisting of 12 skits and 16 costume changes. They are all to be given a standing ovation for their successful endeavor and their hard work.

They all took a curtain call when the production was over and the producer had a big grin on his face. This has been a labor of love and everyone had a wonderful time.

Thank you for going on surprise this adventure with me. My talented little family "did good" and I'm SOOO very proud of them both.

XOXO, Pcasso