Dear Bilbo Baggins

I hope this letter finds you happy and healthy. Let me preface my note with this: I am not one to pine over others. I have never been a copy cat. On the contrary, I pride myself on being an individual! I commit my time and energies to the exploration of my inner workings and I am all about SELF EXPRESSION. Emulation makes me cringe.

And yet...

Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday I find myself dressing in your clothes. I find myself snooping around your hobbit hole. And that's only the start of my obsessive behavior. Observe me long enough and you'll find me trying to relive your amazing adventures. It's obsessive and it's weird and I had to write to you to confess. I've even grown mutton chops in an effort to feel more like you. Did you even have mutton chops? I digress...

The actual point of this letter is to thank you. My obsession with you (and with the events of your life) has actually been revelatory. Below, I have listed my top three favorite lessons I have learned from you. I hope you find this charming rather than freaky.

Baggins Life Lesson # 1

~”There is a lot more in you than you have any idea of”~

I'm pretty sure Gandalf says that to you. I think there might be more within me than I know. I think there might be more within all of us. Bilbo, you have inspired me to throw myself into situations that will test my character and reveal my true potential. #YOLO

Baggins Life Lesson # 2

~”Go forward. Only thing to do.”~

When you found yourself alone in a dark and wet cave, you made the decision to continue moving forward. That led you to Gollum, and eventually to THE RING! I guess you never know how close you are to finding your personal treasure and while the path may seem dark and wet, you have GOT to keep going. To quote FLORENCE + THE MACHINE: “It's always darkest before the dawn”.

 

Baggins Life Lesson # 3

~”If all of us valued food and cheer above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world” ~

I mean, COME ON. Can't you just taste the truth in these words? It sometimes (always) feels like the green paper floating around this country CONTROLS everything. Let's just take a second to bake an apple pie and make merry with our neighbors!

Pie Crust: $2.50

Apples: Free (because in this fantasy I have an apple tree in my backyard)

Bag of Ground Cinnamon: $2.90

An evening full of laughter and cheer: PRICELESS

 

Well Bilbo, I guess this is where I stop. Thanks again for teaching me some things. If you ever find yourself in Boston or New York, please let me know. I'd love to get tea.

Love Always,

Andrew Barbato

 

V.I.Parents have something to say...

This spring my 11 year-old daughter Anna, attended an audition workshop for The Hobbit at the Wheelock Family Theatre.  She had a great time at the workshop and decided to try out for the show.  We didn’t know how many kids would be selected or how many would be auditioning.  We told her to enjoy the experience and wait to see what would happen.

 

A few days later Anna received an invitation to join the cast.  The rehearsal schedule included with the invitation was daunting - six days a week, with full day sessions on the final weekend and long nights in the last week before Opening Night.  Anna has always been a conscientious student and readily agreed to our requirement that all homework be completed before dinner on rehearsal nights.

 

Rehearsals started on October first.  It was a lot of hard work.  As a parent the most impressive thing to me was the way that everyone in the cast and crew treated the youngest performers as peers while being mindful of the limits of their abilities and stamina.  Anna learned a lot working on her own scenes and listening intently when the director, Shelley Bolman worked with the older kids and adult performers many of whom are professional actors.  Anna especially liked working with Robin Liberty who was the Assistant Stage Manager.  Susan Lombardi-Verticelli was a warm and calming influence as the Stage Manager.

 

Anna was one of 20 boys and girls cast as Hobbits and Spiders.  They were split into two casts.  They were in the first scene of the show as hobbits and two other scenes as spiders.  Because of that it wasn’t necessary to attend all 6 rehearsals each week.  Also early in the process they were released at 8 or 9 PM while the rest of the cast worked late into the night.  Still in the last week the hours and intensity increased.  All of those hours together brought Anna and her fellow spiders together as friends.

Opening night was thrilling. It was amazing to see the results of all of that hard work.  I will never forget the look on Anna’s face during the curtain call.  Her joy became my joy.  We don’t know where Anna’s journey will take her as a performer, but I’m sure that this has been an experience she will carry with her for the rest of her life.

The HOBBIT. We are hard at work over here...