Daniel, at age 9 was invited to sing The Little Drummer Boy at a big community Christmas show at the high school auditorium in Sahuarita, Arizona. The show featured dance numbers from Paige’s dance studio and choral and instrumental performances of Christmas music between the dances. Daniel’s number was unique because he would be singing while some 3-year-olds danced with drums.
He prepared well and was serious about the opportunity to sing in front of the town. Richard and I sat on the second row so we could film his singing and Paige’s dances. Daniel had been to all of the rehearsals, including the dress rehearsal with the little girls in red and white tutus that were as wide as they were tall. However, we couldn’t have predicted what the audience of 1000 people would do when they saw these girls enter the stage in those sickly-cute tutus and overly-curled hair.
Daniel sang at the corner of the stage and the girls marched out with their red sequined drums. Audience members erupted into small chuckles and shared comments about how cute the girls were with their neighbors. Daniel sang on, despite the growing din in the auditorium. Then one little dancer decided to go rogue. She sat down and refused to stand up with her drum, which caused a comic scene on stage with at least one dancer getting angry with the non-conformist. A drum was kicked across stage. The audience, already noisy, cackled with laughter and talk. Daniel, wide-eyed and determined, continued to sing in what must have been a most baffling and difficult circumstance. How could he hear the music over all the noise? He sang perfectly, but looked bewildered. He took a bow at the end, eyes shifting uncomfortably across the laughing crowd. I hoped he didn’t think they were laughing at him.
I felt sick. My disappointment for Daniel and anger at the audience’s rudeness made my stomach tight. My inability to predict that Daniel would be singing over raucous comments and rowdy laughter and save him from it was a new kind of trial for me. I still can’t hear this song without remembering the horrible behavior of the audience that night. But Daniel was magnificent.