Cold Spaghetti

Will got dressed up on some of his new duds on Saturday to attend the Mobile Symphony with my parents for the First Time Ever. My Dad is into attending the Symphony the way some men are into, say, football. Everything is scheduled around the performance dates and a certain play can send him levitating*. My parents got the tickets to take Will months ago — I stayed home with Baby Kate.
This weekend’s performance of Disney Pops was especially geared for youngsters. The whole way to Mobile on Friday, we listened to favorite tunes (including ones that we regularly sing) and discussed which ones might be played by the orchestra. Will was SO EXCITED that on Saturday, he spoke of NOTHING ELSE but going to the Symphony. Although we did plenty Saturday morning to tire him out (visit to the Exploreum, lunch out with my Dad) his excitement spilled into naptime and The Little Man was unable to bring himself to go to sleep. (This is a big deal: remember, Will is Abeona’s champion napper!)
According to my parents, Will chattered on about the Symphony the WHOLE WAY there. Upon arrival, in their words, he was “the perfect child.” By all accounts, he loved it. The guest conductor was straight from Disney and arrived with a collection of other professional Disney-folk to spice things up. A large screen hung over the stage showing clips from movies that reflected the music. When the orchestra played “Feed the Birds,” Will perked up and announced that he knew all the words (like Walt Disney himself, the song is one of my very favorites and we sing it at bedtime each night). At intermission, Will went down to the patrons reception room, where supporters of the Symphony are invited for treats during performances. Will especially liked this part because it involved eating a lot of brownies with my Dad.
The second act had the big numbers… Under the Sea, Be Our Guest, and then the Finale: PIRATES (professional Disney actors) soaring in on ropes, landing on the stage, and having a huge sword-fight all over the stage to the Pirates of the Caribbean movie music. Can you imagine Will’s face?!? Whoa.

Imagine instead what it looked like when he found out about it the next morning. He fell asleep at some point (perhaps during Be Our Guest?) and was GONE. My parents tried all they could to wake him to see the pirates (can you picture their desperation?) but The Little Man was CHECKED OUT. Yo-ho-ho.
No matter. Will tells us that “his boy” LOVED that part of the Symphony. So it’s all good. Will can’t wait to go back for more.

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*For the next performance (Halloween Pops) pieces include: Grieg’s Hall of the Mountain King, The Imperial March (from Star Wars), the Spiderman theme, Funeral March of Marionette (Alfred Hitchcock theme), and music from the Harry Potter films (along with some other very popular pieces that I can’t quite remember at the moment). I think Dad really did float up for a few seconds when he read the program.