Whistle Down the Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiind

Last night I went to see 'Whistle Down the Wind' with a bunch of girlfriends. I hadn't really heard anything about this show, and it was really refreshing to see something without any preconceived notions. The 2 leads were fantastic singers, there were at least 30 children in the performance (amazing when they were all on stage!), and the songs were classic Andrew Lloyd Webber - captivating! I think I can sum up the show as heartwarming and wholesome.

The show is a story about a father and his three children living in a small town in the very religous Southern United States. Their Mother recently died, and of course the children were very upset. A convict escapes from the local prison and the kids find him hiding in their barn. They ask him what his name is, and when he wakes up startled he yells 'Jesus Christ.' So, they think he actually IS Jesus. The story is about them learning 'from Jesus' and his becoming a better person. It was a bit slow moving at first, but by the end we all had tears in our eyes - it was a lovely story!

However, there was one long lasting upsetting incident. The row behind us consisted of a mother, half a dozen young teenage girls, another 2 mothers and a little boy. The little boy was cute - he simply could not whisper and asked his Mom questions about what was going on. No worries - it was a family show and he was quiet most of the time. However, the young teenage girls had a bag of sweets that they passed back and forth for the entire first hour of the show. It was SO loud and distracting. It sounded like someone taking a plastic shopping bag and crumpling and un crumpling it constantly. Everyone around us was getting upset, but no one wanted to disrupt the show by saying something. Many people in our row turned around and gave them 'the look' though (i.e. PLEASE stop that).
After intermission we came back and overheard a man a few rows in front of us say in a joking non confrontational manner 'hey girls, why don't you see how loud you can rustle that bag for the second half as well.' The Mother of the girls freaked out and started yelling at him. We all just had our mouths hanging open - I couldn't believe it! She was very defensive - saying that what did we expect at a family show. He countered with that we expected not to be disturbed by rustling bags for an hour when we paid for these seats too! She continued yelling at him, one of my friends turned around and agreed with him - saying it was really disrespectful and that she should have taken the bag from the girls or told them to quiet down. Then she started yelling at my two friends as well!!!!! (because she knew she was in the wrong!) Anyhow, the second half was pure bliss - I could actually concentrate on the SHOW and there was no rustling. I don't blame the girls, they were young and on a fun night out with their girlfriends. It was the Mother who should have told them to quiet down - just out of common courtesy!

All in all a great night though. I LOVE the theatre:)

Whistle down the wind, let your voices carry
Drown out all the rain, light a patch of darkness
Treacherous and scary

Howl at the stars, whisper when your sleeping
I'll be there to hold you, I'll be there to stop
The chills and all the weeping

Make it clear and strong, so the whole night long
Every signal that you send, until the very end
I will not abandon you my precious friend

So try and stem the tide, then you'll raise a banner
Send a flare up in the sky, try to burn a torch
And try to build a bonfire

Every signal that you send, until the very end, I'm there
So whistle down the wind, for I have always been right there