Ditzy Blondes

A Star is Born!

Danielle made her acting debut today as one of the Bonwitz Sisters in the Loveland Middle School production of M*A*S*H. Rest assured that it was not either of the movie or TV series nurse-chasing versions. Local servicemen and women have been invited free of charge to any of the performances and they are collecting stuffs for care packages to send to Iraq. The director's own son shipped out last week and all of the crew members wore his name on their dogtags so he'd be "close to their heart."

Of her own character Dani said, "I have to play a ditzy blonde, not much of a stretch." Costuming her was more difficult than the other characters because most cast members simply needed standard army surplus. The Bonwitz Sisters, however, are entertainers from Special Services and costuming them required, a leotard, striped skirts which had to be made (by another mother, not me this time!), sequined jackets, hair bows, a kimono and boots. A neighbor just happens to do a lot of work in China and we enlisted him to pick up a kimono for Dani on his last buisness trip. The boots were hard to track down.

After several phone calls I finally found a pair in her size in a military memorabilia shop in Milford, Ohio. I was excited to discover they were standard issue for the Vietnam War, until Brian reminded me that M*A*S*H was set during the Korean War. Now who's the ditzy blonde?!?

There is no force quite as formidable as a legion of suburban moms; the school looked fantastic. In the parking lot they manged to get an army jeep and truck from one of the nearby stations. The entrance was full of tents courtesy of the Boy Scouts of America and American flags. Once inside the school, the lobby was decked out in flags from all the different branches of the military. The trophy case had been transformed like a department store window, complete with maniquens in authentic military uniforms. Pictures of graduates of Loveland High School currently on active duty were on the walls. Camouflage painted booths received care package donations and let you buy flowers for your favorite cast members. Inside the auditorium, helicopters were projected on the walls and a large screen hung infront of the curtains. On it played a looping powerpointe of the cast, crew, and family members in pre-production creating sets, practicing, and goofing off. One of my favorite pictures was of Dani painting sets. She paid special attention to the multi-direction road signs including one for Whippy Dip, the local ice cream place where everyone gathers after every school and sporting event.

Dani was fabulous as a ditzy blonde and we were surprised to discover the bishop's daughter had been cast as "Hot Lips" Hullehan. Danielle's part required her to kiss a boy on the cheek. After the performance, the bishop winked at us and pulled her aside saying, "Danielle, I think we need to have a talk about kissing boys." She was horrified for one brief moment until the bishop broke out in a grin from ear to ear. It was a very fun night