all the world's a stage

i'm supposed to have 3 meetings today, 3 simultaneous meetings.  now there's only one of me so yesterday, i asked my officemate to choose which ones they'd like to attend and whatever's left will be what i will attend.  well, guess what.  the one assigned to me has been set for the 23rd.  instead of attending either of the remaining two, i decided to attend instead the annual school presentation of my nephew and my niece held at the theater of a university near my office (my alma mater actually).

so there i was in the audience, seated beside my sister-in-law, waiting for my nephew to appear onstage.  then my sister-in-law tells me that the voice we're hearing is that of my nephew.  (the audio for the presentation has been pre-recorded and the actors were now just lip-synching their lines.)  i asked my sister-in-law where my nephew was as there were only a handful of characters onstage and i couldn't see him.  she says it's just his voice.  he won't be appearing in that scene.  oh, ha-ha-ha.  ok.

so watch, listen, watch, listen.  and then what we've been waiting for, my nephew appeared onstage.  it was a dance sequence.  goody-good!!!  he dances well  : )   true!!!  i'm not saying this simply because he is my nephew.  i was very happy.

i thought that was it for him so there i was awaiting the appearance of my niece when what do you know, my nephew again appears onstage.  there was a group of dancers on centerstage and there he was to the far side, holding a sign which read 'APPLAUSE.'  he would put it up every once in a while, ha-ha-ha.  it's part of the presentation.  he's supposed to be a floor director/prompter in that scene while another schoolmate was supposed to be a cameraman holding a cardboard camera making as if he were shooting the dancers.

i was actually uncomfortable in that sequence.  i was thinking my nephew would have preferred to be among the dancers in that scene instead of a floor director.  i just prayed that his young mind would understand that their group already had their moment earlier and now it's another group's time to take centerstage.  (it was a school presentation, as in, every class, every single student actually, teacher even, from nursery to high school, was part of the cast.  i was oh so amused by the presentation of the little ones.  sooo out of synch (every kid was dancing to the beat of his own drum, ha-ha) but soooo cute nevertheless.) 

anyway, i was just thinking, regardless of the number of people onstage, regardless of whether you are on centerstage or in the sidelines, the ones who love you will always have their focus on you... you'll always be the cast member who matters in their eyes...