Goodspeed and Godspell

As we sped towards the airport, my stomach was already flip-flopping. Probably from the fact that we got up at 6am after a late night out partying with Christina and Luke on their last evening here for their annual spring Phoenix visit. That nervous energy and the undigested Pizzeria Bianco pizza settled in after I got on standby with my friends for my flight into Baltimore.
It was perfectly calm too when I walked through the garage door on Thursday evening.
My mom stood with her back towards me at the kitchen sink, washing some swiss chard. I said, "So, what's for dinner?" She turned around at my voice and her faced changed from a look of suspicion to surprise and then to tears and smiles. We have only successfully surprised my mother like three times in her life. This was worth every lost hour of sleep for the look on her face upon my surprise arrival. Her exact quote was, "I don't think I can recover". She was so surprised that she couldn't finish preparing dinner.
Brett's response was a little more age-appropriate. He said, "What! What are you doin' here?!". Neither my mom or Brett knew that I was coming to DC for the weekend on the generosity of some friends who gave me a standby ticket. My visit was not primarily to surprise my mom (although the victory of achieving that end was enough for me). I went back for my little brother, Brett's, performances in Godspell.
The show was amazing. I had to erase several adjective in the typing process because they all fit: amazing, incredible, outstanding. It was difficult to sit there and remember that they were in highschool. The quality of the acting, the singing, the dancing, and their comedic timing was beyond the other shows I had seen produced. It was even better than the first time my friend all performed in it; and yes, we all have to admit at some point that was ten years ago...
But overall, it wasn't just everyone in the cast who was great. There was our little brother Brett stealing the show. His voice was piercingly mature. The question my mom keeps getting is: "Where did that come from?"
There are several things to attribute it to logically. My mom would say it was from all those years she insisted on piano lessons. It could be that those formative years (your natural musicality is achieved by third grade) Brett had all of us playing piano from the time he was in utero until he started his piano lessons (with me, I might add!) Then, there is always the influence of an incredible vocal teacher Brett had early on in I Cantori that teaches kids how to sing in a group without instruments. My uncle has sung opera professionally too. But I know why-- I think it all started with my dad. His voice was the beautiful tone that put us to bed every night when he would sing "The Steadfast Love of the Lord". Brett has his same tenor qualities. But with a little more raw talent (sorry Dad).
No matter what, we are all proud of his gift. It send shivers down your back and makes you cry when he sings so powerfully from the depths of his heart. Today, he needs some speed to finish his chemistry homework. We can't wait to see where his future speeds him tomorrow. He is definitely "god-spell", some good news.