We take our theme parties pretty seriously here in Kampala. Prom, 80s, wig parties, Murder Mystery Night, White Out, the Hip Thruster Tour, James Bond, Identity Swap, Bad Taste...we've even had a birthday party for a dog. We have them often and we do them right. Right = in full costume.
Mer's Musical Adieu was no exception. At the end of July - four years, four addresses, three jobs, one boda accident and many (many) people’s exploded eardrums later - it was time for my dear roomie to ship out of Uganda (on a plane). Rather than cry our eyes out over her departure, we did a different kind of drama. No better theme for a party than musical madness for the gal in Kampala most likely to burst into unprompted song, complete with jazz hands and facial expressions. And volume…lots of volume.
Costumes were mandatory, entire casts of characters and choreography were encouraged, standing ovations for all performances were promised, and anything ending in "...on Ice" was also allowable. As usual, people got creative. No names have been changed to protect the innocent. Perhaps because no one's innocent.
Jen, Mer, Sarah, Scott, Andie and Etienne as the cast of "The Wizard of Oz."
Ian, Danny, Halle and Matt as characters from "Grease"
John and Alison as Bert and Mary Poppins
Adam, a.k.a. Jesus Christ Superstar
Maria as Maria of "Westside Story," Karin starring in "Hair," and Sabine as "Moulin Rouge's" Satine
Sometimes the parties are in honor of a person (leaving party, birthday party), other times they're just the result of our peculiar penchant for dressing up. When the situation is the former, we always do a little something something to properly embarrass the guest of honor. A poem, a roast, an incriminating photo album. We took this one to a whole new level. Sarah re-wrote the lyrics to "Don't Stop Believing" ("Don't Stop Singing"). We belted it out with vigor. Scott put together a photo slideshow. We broadcast it on the big screen. Thrice. Andie, Alison, Maria, Sarah and I learned the first minute of the "Single Ladies" music video. We danced it with passion.
Did I mention that we had an entire karaoke set-up?
When all was said and done, we embarrassed not just Meredith, but ourselves as well.
"Just a waspy girl / Living in a preppy world"
Maria, Jen, Alison and Andie at one of our several Single Ladies rehearsals. If you liked it then you should've put a ring on it.
Miss you, Mer!
Jen as Elphaba and Mer as Glinda from "Wicked". Besties in storylines, besties in life!
Posts
2 comments:
That is not you, Jen!
Haha. Oh, but it is! Amazing what a wig and a little green face paint can do. Next time I'm coating my neck, too. Lesson learned!
Post a Comment