Joseph and His Brothers (and Bayern vs. Dortmund)

Well, that's a world I hadn't been part of in quite a while: Today I went to an elementary school musical!

I was there because the director is a friend of mine; she's directed several of these plays before, and I wanted to finally see the project she talks about with such enthusiasm.

The musical was "Joseph and His Brothers" (it's a Protestant school), complete with a camel (two adults under a cloth and a camel head), kids dressed as sheep with floppy, wooly ears (so cute!) and a couple of deliberate anachronisms ("Okay, let me just call my dad on my cell phone" – "This is the 21st century, cell phones haven't been invented yet!") that the little siblings sitting behind me in the audience loved. It had its rocky bits and rough transitions, as school productions do, but the kids sang well and I was impressed at how much dialogue they'd memorized.

Here's the part that cracked me up (and made me think, Yup, must be Germany) – The man who introduced the production (the music director, I think), after thanking the various people involved, addressed the audience and asked, "So, who supports Dortmund? Who supports Bayern?" This was obviously an ongoing Thing, because as soon as he said it, all the kids in the choir started whooping and shouting, cheering or booing accordingly.

Dortmund vs. Bayern, if you don't know, is the Champions League final game tonight. I hadn't been following it in the least, not because I have anything against soccer, but because there are so many leagues I can't actually keep them all straight. Someone tried to explain to me again last night the difference between the Champions League and the Europa League, and I think my eyes glazed over.

But it's the Champions League and it's a big deal around these parts, even more so because the two  teams in the final are both German. Germany dominates at soccer! Etc.!

At the end of the musical today, after another round of thank-yous among the adults, one of the kids stepped up to the mic to thank the director; then another kid thanked the band. Then one more boy pushed his way up to the mic and declared, "And I want Bayern to win!"

He had the last word.

Kick-off is in just a few minutes, and I'm expecting fireworks in the street any time now.