THE ANNIE DAYS: OPENING NIGHT

FEB 27 2020

Thursday morning it was the school performance. I think Stella had been looking forward to this performance her whole time at William Penn without even realizing it. I focused on filming that show, and holy cow did she blow me away. After the final bow I went over to my mom and we hugged and I just cried and cried with relief and joy. Stella had totally encompassed the character of Annie and she shined. As she came back to us all of the little kids were so excited to see her and tell her she was great. It was so funny because the attention freaked her out. 

That night was so exciting. Stage mom Michelle definitely showed up, but the last thing I told Stella was to have fun. I said: "Stella, have fun. You are doing what you love and this is it. Your one chance to be Annie." The Gummows drove all the way down from Idaho for just this show and they still, over two years later say it was one of the greatest things ever. Cy made sure to get some merch and now Stella owns that very shirt. They stayed for the first half of the second show of the night. (Each night had two performances) and then headed home.

 

The second performance was just as great. I tried to get photos of everyone that came. I was so touched from the beginning of how many people wanted to come and support Stella as Annie. Stella came home with a handful of flowers and she felt amazing. We were so happy that we had one more night.