Stage moms have received a bad rap over the years and most of it
undeserved. There are a few bad apples who step over dead bodies on
their child’s way to stardom or fill their bank accounts with their
children’s money.
Stage moms have received a bad rap over the years and most of it undeserved. There are a few bad apples who step over dead bodies on their child’s way to stardom or fill their bank accounts with their children’s money. But follow dedicated stage moms helping kids with costume, painstakingly gluing rhinestones onto costumes or helping to build sets into the night, and you’ll find a mom who supports their child both monetarily and emotionally through the training and performance of art.
Saturday night South County moms (and some dads) checked into the Hyatt Regency next to the Santa Clara Convention Center with their children to prepare for a marathon weekend of dance competitions and master classes with L.A. Dance Magic and helped to debunk the stage-mom myth.
Doing their best to be shining examples of the best stage moms around were Carol Montonye (new to the stage-mom world), Kelly Nelson and Patty Zappe as they awaited their testing ground in the dressing room before the performance. In a cooperative effort, the stage moms set out the needed materials of garment bags, wig boxes, hair nets, skull caps and makeup ready to become the personal dressers of their progeny worthy of any card-carrying union performer. Small temper tantrums sneaking out of the mouths of the tired dancers were quelled by each stage mom with “the look” and a raised eyebrow. The black wigs of the “Walk Like an Egyptian” dancers created a flurry of bobby pins flying around the room.
At nearly 11:30pm, the show ended and the Lana Wright Dancers went to bed with arms full of awards and medals. The stage moms finally clocked out for the night satisfied their efforts were rewarded and their children learned the lesson of dedication to an art.
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Dedicated to viewing the wonders of the world, both natural and manmade, I ventured up to “The City” to witness the enormity of the Queen Mary 2 at Pier 27 Monday. I missed the press tour of the oceanliner but ogled at the gate of the gang plank with the rest of the other Bay Area folks lining the sidewalk of the Embarcadero. Don’t doubt this stage mom will go to bed dreaming of following my dancer daughter aboard to be her personal assistant when she performs for the onboard shows. Oops! That would be only if she wants to do that.
Ciao for now.
