Half-Pint of Cider All Drunk Up!

I recently experienced one of the highlights of my life when I visited the Paper Mill Playhouse in Milburn, New Jersey for a viewing of Little House on the Prairie The Musical!  Little House on the Prairie is my all-time favorite television show.  I own (almost) all of the DVDs of the show, can tell you what episode it will be seconds into the opening scene, and can tell the story of the Ingalls family in detail.  The Little House series of books is also a favorite.  Closer to the real lives of the Ingalls family than the television show, the books are a treasured story of American pioneer history and the life of the beloved Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family.  

Little House was my favorite show growing up.  For the ten seasons that it was on television, I never missed an episode.  And I have continued to watch it as I have grown into adulthood.  Laura Ingalls, played by Melissa Gilbert, was my childhood heroine.  I not only loved her, I wanted to BE her!  I wore my hair in pigtails and practiced running down hills like Laura did in the opening credits of the show.  I wanted a horse like Bunny (Laura’s horse in the show).  I tried to be tough like her.  And I had a big crush on Almanzo Wilder, just like Laura!  When I read the books, I became more in awe of her than ever and began researching the Ingalls homesteads and the home in Mansfield, Missouri, where Laura and Almanzo moved after marriage and lived the rest of their lives.  I’ve collected the books (cookbooks, diaries, memoirs, biographies, and more) by and about Laura Ingalls Wilder, the DVDs of the television show, and other items related to the show and Laura herself.  I’ve even become a lifetime member of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Society in De Smet, South Dakota (The Little Town on the Prairie where the Ingalls family settled). 

So…when the opportunity arose to see Little House on the Prairie The Musical, I jumped at the chance, even traveling from Indiana to New Jersey for the show.  The bonus….Melissa Gilbert (Laura, herself) played Ma (Caroline Ingalls) in the musical.  It was thrilling to see my childhood heroine in person, singing, dancing, and acting on stage not very far from where I was sitting with my mother, my sister, and her friend.  The whole time I couldn’t believe I was there watching my childhood played out before me with Laura right in front of me!

The play was fabulous.  It followed the series of books rather than the television show, which was a much more fictionalized version of the events in the lives of the Ingalls family.  The actors were phenomenal, the songs were fun and feisty, the sets were simple yet suited the scene perfectly.  It was a blast.  And again, Laura was right there in front of me!!!

I am still thrilled!  Still smiling, still wishing I was there watching it all over again.  The play made me want to re-live my childhood, and go back to a simpler time when I could put my hair in pigtails, run free, yell, and laugh as loud as I wanted.  Back to a time when it didn’t matter if I had grass stains and dirt on my clothing, or if my pants had ripped knees.  Back to a time when my biggest concern was how many hours of daylight were left before I had to go inside.  Back to a time when Laura Ingalls visited me every Monday night and I joined her on her adventures, even if only in my imagination.