“Although one may fail to find happiness in theatrical life, one never wishes to give it up after having once tasted its fruits.”
Anna Pavlova
I’ve never thought of Pip as an actress. She doesn’t seem to enjoy drama, which has been quite a relief to Big Daddy-O and I. When she cries, for instance, it isn’t for show, she is either in physical or emotional pain. Or she’s tired. Okay, there are many different reasons that she cries. My point is, she doesn’t crave an audience. She would much prefer NOT to be the centre of attention.
During these ‘post-Wizard-of-Oz-viewing’ days, however, Pip is consumed with acting. We, the members of her family are constantly being given roles: Pip is usually Dorothy, but she plays a great Scarecrow as well. I’m either Aunty Em or the Lion, Fig is often Toto, and Big Daddy-O is Fred.
Don’t be alarmed if you aren’t familiar with the ‘Fred’ character. He wasn’t in the movie-version. He wasn’t on stage either, but he was in the audience. You see, the local actress who played Dorothy has a father named Fred, so Pip thinks that Dorothy’s father is Fred. Who knows? Perhaps Dorothy’s father was named Fred. Fred Gale. We never actually learn the whereabouts of Dorothy’s parents do we? Is it mentioned in the book? I’ll have to check it out. (Or maybe not.)
Needless to say, Pip is getting quite good at playing Dorothy. Today she said something about Toto being taken by the witch, then she broke character and said, “Mama, I sounded just like Dorothy when I said that, didn’t I?” In fact, she did.
When Fig is unavailable as Toto, Pip carries a little stuffed husky around in a basket and says, “Oh no, the twister is coming Toto!!!” Here she is with Toto, burying her face into the couch while the mighty storm passes:
Pip doesn’t typically enjoy wearing pig-tails, but Dorothy wore them of course, and now Pip does too. You can tell that they’re a bit of a novelty for her because she can’t keep her hands off of her hair.
I realized that Pip’s interest in the theatre extends beyond ‘The Wizard of Oz’ when we saw a garbage truck and she said, “Mama, when I get bigger, I want to be a garbage-girl on the stage.”
Sounds like an interesting musical, doesn’t it? “Somewhere, over the dumpster…”