Frozen in time and magical memories

Time means nothing in a dark theater anyway. That curtains rises and off you go to Paris in the 19th century, Salzburg in 1938, or Saigon in the 1970s.

I’ve been to all of those places, courtesy of the Appleton North Theatre Program.

Last night, I sat in that magical theater and drifted away to a fictional, frozen kingdom in Norway.

I also spent a little time strolling down memory lane. From 2001 through 2016 at least one of my kids participated in an Appleton North Theatre production.

We genuinely loved them all. Each time I step back into that theater I remember exactly how astonished we were the first time we did so, how sincerely we jumped to our feet (along with everyone else in the audience) to deliver standing ovations, how hard and how long we clapped.

Gifted director Ron Parker‘s theater program gave our family so much joy through the years, and the lessons he taught our kids reverberate through their lives today.

I knew the ANHS production of Frozen would be beautiful, and it was. The whole ensemble — actors, dancers, singers, musicians — put together a wonderful show.

Mr. Parker always pulls out all the stops for his productions. This year, he even managed to summon a blizzard named Elsa smack in the middle of his Frozen run. Though they wisely postponed last Sunday’s matinee in the face of all that icy, drifting snow, the production thankfully added a Wednesday performance to make up for the cancellation.

I snagged one of the last tickets available for last night’s show, and I’m so glad I did. I loved every minute of it.

It could be intimidating to participate in a high school theatre program that has been churning out hits since its inception. North students use that tradition as inspiration.

Each performance rises on the ovations of the ones that have come before. This circle of excellence works as a tribute to the voices and faces who have graduated and moved on, to the actors currently taking their bows, and to the community that both supports and applauds these students’ extraordinary gifts.

I can’t thank Appleton North High School enough for the excellent education it provided my own kids, the last of whom graduated 10 years ago.

Each time I return for concerts, games or theater productions I get to remember all the happy chaos we experienced as parents, and the valuable lessons we all took away from those years.

What a gift a well-rounded high school education can be!

Congratulations to the Frozen cast, crew, pit orchestra and director.

I’m so grateful to live in a community that supports education and the arts the way Appleton does.

In an effort to continue this tradition of excellence, I’m voting yes on the upcoming referendum.

If you live in Appleton, I hope you will too.

In the meantime, Bravo Appleton North!