Rapunzel, Rapunzel...Let Down Your Golden Afro

This is my beautiful child before her performance as Rapunzel in the junior version of "Into the Woods" at the Dixie Theater last night. I had just finished doing her makeup and "hair," and she agreed to cheese it up for me so I could take a few pre-show pics.

The show was fantastic - the school's choir director is the best EVER, and as my guy said last night, whatever he's paid is not enough. The kids all did such a great job. I had the privilege of doing not only my child's makeup, but also the "Wolf's," which was the only character that really required a 'stage face.' (I would put his picture up here too, but I have a rule about posting other people's children on the world wide web without parental permission.) It was fun for me to help out in this area, and I must say... the Wolf looked superb!

I thoroughly enjoyed getting Emily all dolled-up for her performance, too, except for one thing... that silly wig. I mean seriously. Look at it, will ya?



I made a call a couple of months ago to the Costume Shop, which was the place we parents were instructed to call to get the required costumes, and asked them if they had a Rapunzel wig. They informed me they did not have a wig that was as long as we needed (to the floor) but that they would order one for us. I got the call a couple of weeks ago to tell me the wig had come in and I should come pick it up.

So, I was thinking it would be straight hair, maybe with a braid or a part down the middle. But this was not AT ALL what I was expecting.



I knew we would have to make due, since it was too late to order another one. I cut pieces out, and sewed hair into it. I pinned curls up, I tried to braid it... but to no avail. No matter what I did, this thing continued to look like a 70's version of an overgrown fuzzy mullet. In my mind I kept seeing this picture:



I kept expecting Emi to break out into the love theme from "A Star is Born."

I had to do SOMETHING to make this rat's nest look better. So before I dropped Emi off at the theater yesterday morning for rehearsal, we took a trip to Wally World and bought some flowers and hair clips and such. I was able to make it look considerably better, but we still couldn't completely disguise the golden afro look.



When we headed out the door last night to go to the theater, my child - all decked out in makeup and the 'fro-mullet - burst into song. "Ah, hah, hah, hah, Staying Aliiive!!!" I nearly fell over from laughing so hard. With her in that hair, there was just no getting away from the 70's.

Afro or not, my little Rapunzel was wonderful, as were the rest of the cast and crew. It was a tremendous performance by all! I was very, very proud.

The wig wasn't a rental. The Costume Shop people told me I had to buy it, since they special ordered it. So now I'm wondering what I can do with it. Halloween should be fun!