"The Grapevine Connection" and a Valley Girl

When I was in fourth grade, I was in a musical called The Grapevine Connection at my elementary school. I wanted to play the part of Abby, a valley girl. I remember when I auditioned for the part, I took off my headband and handed it to a friend, so that I would be able to use my hair more easily as a prop (in order to sweep my bangs away from my face when I said phrases such as, "Like, fer shurr!"). My music teacher Miss Kendall watched me take off my headband and she paid close attention to my audition. When I got the part, I was convinced at the time that removing my headband helped me secure the role.

I remember that there was a boy in our class named Zach Smith, who played the lead role as a nerd named Stanley. He played an excellent nerd and the whole class was cracking up when he auditioned for the part. Years later, I thought it was amusing that in high school Zach became one of the star quarterbacks of the football team as a freshman, and he was instantly catapulted into high society with the popular kids. I used to wonder if he was embarrassed about his role as a nerd in the elementary school play, when he hobnobbed with the elite in high school.

Anyhow, when I was in the play I had to sing a solo about Thomas Edison. The song, which discusses the invention of the light bulb, is set up in such a way so that it shows how Abby, the ditzy valley girl, is actually more intelligent than one might assume. I still remember the lyrics of the song, and for some reason the lyrics of the chorus came into my mind:

"A drifter, a dreamer,
He lit up the world,
And he did it incandescently."

However, when I was thinking about the song an these lyrics in my mind yesterday, I was surprised to realize that I didn't pronounce the word "incandescently" correctly in fourth grade. I stressed the incorrect syllable back then, singing the word as "in-CAN-dee-scent-ly" instead of "in-can-DEH-scent-ly." And now that I've realized this, I wonder why my music teacher didn't correct me on the pronunciation. Did she not notice? Or did she not know how to pronounce the word herself? Perhaps she thought it would be in character to have a valley girl mispronounce a tricky word that isn't normally part of a fourth grader's vocabulary? I will never know!

I can't find any video clips from this musical on YouTube, except for this performance of the chorus number "Way Back." This isn't my elementary school, but I think that my performance was about the same year (circa 1992).