Over the past few weeks, the fourth and fifth graders at Sagamore Elementary have had a learning experience that many adults never experience: the chance to learn camaraderie, stage presence, discipline, reliability, and the reward that comes from hard work.  Last night, the kids in the (40 PERSON) cast of “The Tale of Snow White” at Dekalb’s Sagamore Elementary blew the audience away with their charm, passion, and talent, and they are ready and rearing to go again tonight.

Directed by Oglethorpe University theater alum Amy Lowe and supported by an incredible cast of parent and teacher volunteers, the play far surpassed most elementary school plays.  For one thing, the kids actually had the unique pleasure of understanding the jokes in the script (go figure).  Some of the most adorable moments, I later discovered, were ad-libbed (including one unforgettable line as Snow White struggled to put on a corset: “I’m not sure green is my color!”).

In typical school-play stereotype, several of the kids played–wait for it–trees.  Those kids were the proudest forest you could imagine, and seeing their grinning faces reminds you again that there are no small parts, only small (very small) actors.  Each kid played their role knowing it was their moment to shine, but without upstaging anyone else.  Lowe taught them acting and theater etiquette.

If you’re in the mood for sugar without a saccharine aftertaste, it’s definitely worth bringing the family to Sagamore tonight for the second performance of the show.  But hurry – it’s at 7:30.  Hope you live close.

Congrats to the sweet and diligent kids at Sagamore, and let me know next time you have a show.  I’ll be there with bells on.