DD1 likes to be on stage. When she was little she'd go through an entire year of ballet and tap just to get to the recital. While I believe it started out as a love for the costumes, stage make-up and flowers, it has ended up with her liking to perform on stage. Which, as a mom, is fun to watch.
Her school does two plays each year. A 'regular' play in the Fall, a musical in the Spring. She doesn't sing, so she didn't want to do the musical. She does realize she has a flair for the dramatic, however, so she likes to do the drama/comedy/non-musical play in the Fall. When she tried out this year, since she made it last year, I figured they would give her at least a small part. On the day parts were announced I was excited for her - even though it was going to be rough going on her time-wise for a few months. I was also a bit worried that maybe she didn't make the play.
Our conversation at school pick-up went something like this:
Me: "So, did you get a part?"
DD1: (almost in tears) "Yes."
Me: "What part did you get?"
DD1: (humiliated) "I'm a 19 year old pregnant girl."
Me: (knowing this was a play that had something or other to do with the Titanic, and now I'm feeling bad because she is crushed at the part) "You mean like a maid or something? Do you die? Don't be sad."
DD1: "I don't know if she was a maid. I live, I'm Molly Brown's best friend."
Me: (I started smiling, because I've seen James Cameron's version of Titanic maybe 25 times. I know from that clue who she has been cast to play.) "Honey, what is your characters name?"
DD1: "Madeleine."
Me: (and I know what I'm about to tell her because there are a couple of snarky remarks made about this 19 year old woman in the movie and they stuck with me) "Would your name be Madeleine ASTOR?"
DD1: (looks amazed) "How do you know that???"
Me: "Madeleine Astor was the scandalous 2nd wife of a very famous man, John Jacob Astor."
DD1: "So?"
Me: "You play a woman who is married to like the richest man in the entire world at that time. You play a society woman, and she was in all the papers after the Titanic sank. Her husband died on the Titanic. One of the richest men in the world from one of the most well known families in the country at that time."
DD1: (Perks up) "Really?"
Me: "Yep."
DD1: (Beaming) "Well, that's a pretty good part!"
Sure. Pregnant widow at 19... a pretty good part! So there you go. Smiles from the tragedy of the Titanic... I wonder if James Cameron would have ever guessed his aside remarks from characters in a movie he directed would make my daughter so happy? Also, my gift for trivia seems to come in handy somewhere other than a board game... we're all winners here!
