On 6 Feb. 2011 we went to the Chinese New Year Festival in our city. There is a large community of Chinese-Americans and there was a celebration at the local high school. Some of the acts included a Chinese choir, children's dance troupes, a skit about the rabbit taking over from the tiger, a fan dance, and other music. Abigail was interested for over an hour without being fussy. She danced in her seat, on our laps, in the aisles. She clapped and cheered. After the live theater, there was a Chinese feast of food. Abigail was not very hungry, but did eat some noodles and fried rice.
After this successful introduction to live theater, Larry and I decided that it wasn't too early to introduce her to live musicals. This past Wednesday, I took her to the dress rehearsal for the local high school's production of "Honk!", the musical of the ugly duckling. For an hour, Abigail sat on the edge of the stage watching, completely enthralled by the actors. When they sang and danced, she stood up, danced and "sang" along. When they finished, she applauded and cheered and returned to her seated position to once again watch the drama unfold on the stage. After intermission hit, she was delighted and surprised to see Baba come up out of the orchestra pit and share his sandwich with her.