As a little girl growing up in Southern California, my best buddy was my cousin, Erin. She and I possessed equally robust imaginations. When together, we almost always played with Barbies. We would regularly disappear upstairs for several hours at a time, crafting rich worlds filled with various personalities, relationship angst, and intensely detailed personal histories. It’s no wonder we both studied theatre in college! Erin is now a freelance sports reporter for ESPN.
Something funny and a bit sad happened to the two of us as teenagers. One Thanksgiving Day found us hanging out in her bedroom before the meal, a 14- and a 16-year-old sitting around being generally bored. Somehow our conversation turned toward reminiscing about the great fun we had together as children.
“You know,” Erin slowly mused with a twinkle in her eye, “I think I have a box of those old Barbies in my closet.”
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” I replied with a grin.
Soon we were crouched on the floor of her bedroom in anticipation, each clutching an old plastic friend in one hand. But the moment we opened our mouths and tried to start an imaginary conversation we knew. We couldn’t. This was silly. Our minds wouldn’t let us lose ourselves in imagination any longer. Without much conversation, we packed the Barbies away in her closet and slunk downstairs to join the rest of the family. We weren’t kids anymore.
I shared this story with my cast and crew of SEUSSICAL a few weeks ago. I asked each of them to remember what it was that delighted them as a child. What game of pirates or superheroes, Barbies or G.I. Joes, treehouse shenanigans or cul-de-sac silliness set their imaginations free to jump and frolic, to chortle or squeal or let out a ROARRRRRR? Those moments of childhood play are precious in our memories, aren’t they? Do you ever wish you could recapture that magic, even for a little while?
This has been an extremely challenging year, one often colored by fear, worry, stress, and a total lack of consistency. With this in mind, Mrs. Everett and I wanted to give our students and the Trinity community a gift in our choice of the spring 2021 musical. We would like to offer everyone a brief reprieve from the burdens of life and a chance to revisit our childhood wonder for just a little while.
One last thing I’d like to mention, and perhaps my favorite aspect of this beautiful, larger-than-life musical is that its themes aren’t just good, they are godly. Kindness, compassion, friendship, body positivity, adoption. Our Lord had a purpose in instructing his followers to “become like little children” (Matthew 18:3). As you sit here and take in this fun, energetic story, my prayer is that you will rediscover the simple joys of childhood and the simple faith that reminds us: truth, goodness, and beauty are found in our world because they are first found in Christ.
And Erin Summers, thanks for the memories!
To God be the glory,
Tori Summers Lye
