A season of waiting and preparing

Christie Gibson here, the fiddler of the cast.

Growing up in my family, the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas was, as it is for many people, a time to decorate the house and get people presents, to bake special treats and spend time with loved ones. All of these things were part of the preparations for Christmas Day. We also went to church every Sunday, lit the candles each week for Hope, Love, Joy, and Peace, and put another ornament on the Advent calendar every morning. With each of these rituals, I keenly felt the anticipation, the excitement, the waiting that marks the season of Advent. It was often hard as a kid - I didn't want to wait! But ultimately having to wait and prepare added suspense and made Christmas Day all the more exciting.

Now, as an adult, I'm preparing and waiting in a slightly different way. I'm still singing lots of carols and sharing lots of baked goods with my family and this great cast. We're also preparing our lines, our choreography, and for me, my violin playing, so that we'll be ready when opening night comes. We're getting to the point where we know what we need to do and are itching to get it out in front of the audience. But there is still a lot of preparing and polishing to do, so we have to wait another whole week! It's hard, just like when my sisters and I were kids. But I know opening night will come, just like Christmas always did.

I can't wait!