1988 Kids Alive Tour ~ 30th Anniversary

Thirty years ago, in the summer of 1988, a five-week performing tour was taken by a group of thirteen kids (ages 11 to 17) and two adults. I was lucky to have been one of the selected kids. Theater Works, a community theater in Glendale, Arizona, was our sponsoring organization and led by David Wo, who was one of our adult leaders. Our production (songs and script) was themed around social issues of peace and justice. On our tour, we primarily performed in churches and social gathering settings, although we were known to sing on a street corner or by a national monument if David felt compelled to do so.

Before leaving on tour, our group rehearsed for months. We also participated in a peace education course which challenged us to learn about peace and conflict resolution so that we could apply it in our every day lives. Plus, it helped provide us more context about the songs that we were performing.

Lastly, the tour was not inexpensive. We all had to fund-raise. I can remember selling a ton of ice cream social during the intermission and finale of Music Man. But we all accomplished our financial goal and, on June 27th, the fifteen passenger van and accompanying trailer, left on a five-week adventure at around 6:00am from the Theater Works' dirt parking lot.

At the time, I was twelve and I had no idea how much this little tour would change my life forever. I learned some valuable and not so valuable lessons that summer. I am truly grateful that my dad and David Wo pressed my mom to say "yes" so that I was able to experience this amazing opportunity. It truly was remarkable!

Here are some of the lessons I learned that summer on tour:

I matured and gained a little more independence that summer. This included learning the hidden meaning from an Into the Woods' song called "I Know Things Now" to starting to shave my legs.
My love for musicals grew leaps and bounds, especially after seeing shows like Into the Woods and Starlight Express.
David Wo lived entirely on Diet Coke and corn nuts for five weeks straight.
I discovered that New Jersey/New York is a city to remember. While visiting this part of the country, we kids seem to have gotten lured into one particular naked talk show on Channel 23 in the room of our shady hotel. I also watched a man just drop his pants and pee into the street while I watched from the cab of our taxi. Very memorable city!
Do not try to joke around with national security. I guess when your sound equipment has a nickname of "The Bomb", you shouldn't yell it near a National Monument in Washington, D.C.
Beauty and sleep can both be accomplished while on the road. The girls would often curl their hair with cordless butane curling irons in the back of the van. And we spent too many nights driving through the night so we could make an engagement the next morning in another state or city.
You can have *too* much deli meat in a five week period. We must have had Budding Deli Meat once a day for weeks. So much, that we eventually started to throw it out the back windows of the van in protest.
I learned to adapt. We stayed some where new every night and often with home-stay families. It was fun seeing how other people live across the United States. One of my favorite home-stays was in Virginia where our family lived on a farm and we were able to feed the horses.
I also realized that the United States is beautiful. We often take it for granted, but I was able to experience amazing sites in every city, town or national park that we visited. One of my favorites was watching the fireworks on the 4th of July in Washington, D.C.
Although you may not think it is possible when everyone is wearing matching outfits, you can still lose one of the kids.