Wilbur and Orville Live on Stage!

The long-anticipated day of the marionette play finally arrived this week! You may remember some of my posts a while back about the making of the marionettes for Alex's class. It's quite a huge project and something his teacher has done for the past several years.

The children get to choose which marionette they want to make from a list of historical figures. Alex chose Wilbur Wright and his best friend Evan chose Orville Wright. They made their marionettes at school (with lots of parent help), then brought them home to dress them. I was a little freaked out about that part of the assignment, but luckily Evan's mom and I got together and made the marionette clothes one day while the boys were at school. If Alex had been my oldest child, rather than my youngest, I would have waited until he got home so he could have joined in the experience. But over the years, I've wised up about things like that. ;)

Wilbur is dressed in a white cotton shirt, suspenders, black felt pants and black bowler hat. Quite the dapper fellow. I even glued buttons down the front of of his shirt. He looks great, especially from a distance. ;)

Wednesday, the parents were invited to the big performance, which included some fabulous songs, amazing scenery and outstanding performances. Alex and Evan did a great job portraying the excitement surrounding the Wright Brothers' first flight. Wilbur had a minor string malfunction as the class sang the introductory song, but it all turned out okay in the end. Alex was a bit upset about Wilbur's string problem, and I could hear he was about to cry when he said his first line in a quavery little voice. He recovered quickly, though and all was well.

Best of all, there were refreshments galore after the program. YUM!

Another successful end to an in-depth class (and Mom) project!