Hollywood Kids Goes Global

Yesterday, my 6 year old Kindergarten class and my Primary class both performed Pinocchio for their families. They did so well! I am seriously amazed at how well they can memorize lines in the 8 weeks we spend on each play. They know the lines better than I do. And they're 6. And they're KOREAN. Even the kids who had no idea what their lines meant, no idea where one word ended and the next began (wheredidyougetthosegoldcoinspinocchio?), and no idea if their character was supposed to sound happy or angry (my 'sly' fox was about as chipper and friendly as Barney) got smiles from the audience and absolutely beaming parents.

That is, every one had beaming parents except Dora. Dora's poor mother sat in her chair with a look of despair, sympathy, and embarrassment as her poor 7-year-old daughter sobbed through the ENTIRE play. Dora, the only girl in my Primary Pinocchio class and therefore by default has the part of the Blue Fairy, has had her lines memorized for weeks. No problems. Until yesterday. From the moment the parents walked in the door, Dora's bottom lip started quivering and her eyes started welling up. During their individual introductions ("My name is Robert. I am 8 years old. I am Pinocchio. Welcome to play, everybody. Enjoy the show!), I noticed that she could barely get out a word and I frantically turned to Jenny, my boss, and said "What's the matter with Dora!?!?!?" To which Jenny replied, "I think she's a little nervous." A little? A LITTLE!?!?!? Apparently, Dora has some serious stage fright issues, as from that point on she spent the entire 5 scenes sobbing, arms shaking, unable to function. I bravely stepped in to help the poor girl out. (And I mean it when I say 'bravely.' I can see why Dora had a break down. The look in the eyes of those expecting parents is enough pressure to make me, a 26 year old EXTROVERT, get shaky in the knees.) She stood next to me, wand in hand, and didn't manage to murmur one word. She stood on the stage for each song, did all the actions in hysterical weeping despair, but did not open her mouth. I guess we'll need to work on that.

I have now proudly completed 8 Dramas--all of which include a story book, a drama book, a song (lyrics and melody by yours truly) to go with each scene of each drama (meaning I've written 36 songs thus far), a 20-page workbook filled with fantastical activities, and a teacher's guide giving line-by-line detailed instruction on what the character should be doing, where they should be standing, and how they should be sounding. We have 4 more dramas to go to finish up levels one and three, and then we move on to levels two and four. Each level has 6 dramas -- enough to last one year if you follow the 8-week program that I have laid out. I found out yesterday that my Hollywood Kids program (have I mentioned that I did NOT pick out the name 'Hollywood Kids'? Just to be clear...) will now not only be used in all of the 40 Feinschule schools across Korea, but will also start being sold in Korean bookstores and will be exported to China and Japan and possibly Germany. My books are going global! I feel seriously proud of the program that I'm creating. And to think that it all starts on my little Mac at my little desk in Ilsan.