Is There a Doctor in the House?

Our middle school's annual play finally had the opening night performance last night. It was supposed to have been Thursday evening, but school was called off due to a winter storm so the opening night was rescheduled to Friday. Again, canceled due to more bad weather. Also, the cast would have performed the play a second time during the school day on Friday had school not been called off. So instead of a 3rd, well-practiced performance, last night was opening night. And the kids did great, especially for not having had any time together for 2 days.

Sammy had a small part as Buck, the stagecoach driver. This is him delivering luggage and flirting with the schoolgirls.


Set in the old-timey West, the story of the play was about a father (mayor & owner of a boarding house/hotel in Grease Gulch) who wanted his daughter to marry the rich man in town, who was an old fart. The daughter, though, was in love with a cowhand. When the father tried to force the marriage, the daughter couldn't talk. Doctors were called in to diagnose why she lost her voice. In the end, 4 doctors were consulted and they all decided "love" was the only cure. They convinced the father to let his daughter marry her cowhand in a "fake" wedding ceremony (like a placebo), only the wedding was real and official, so they pulled a fast one on the father. As the father was lamenting his daughter was married to a no-good loser, an attorney arrived to inform the cowhand that his uncle from Denver had died and left him a fortune. Father suddenly enamored of new, wealthy son-in-law, and we had a happy ending.

The things that happened along the way and the dialog made for a lot of laughter. It was a funny play, and you could tell the kids were having a great time.



One of my favorite lines was in response to the widow, who owned the general store, telling a woman that she had been married for only a short time when her husband was attacked and killed by a crazed chicken. Sammy's friend Zack delivered the line, with perfect timing, "I've heard of husbands being hen-pecked... but not to pieces!"

As Sammy had predicted, the comedy was "over the top." Very funny. All the kids did a great job. A second performance is being held at 2pm today, and I'm looking forward to seeing the play again.

Sammy looked so good up there on the stage.


I could be a little biased, but he's a handsome boy.

Both Joycie & Michael were with their friends... Saturday night, y'know... So they weren't with us, but after the play, Kev, Sammy & I joined Kathy, Bob & Michelle for a late dinner at Logan's. (Where they had a special on the 22-ounce drafts... yum!) We had a blast. A wonderful way to end a fine evening.