Children's Theatre

I saw that the Missoula Children's Theatre was coming to "town" this week.  I encouraged a talented piano and voice student of mine to audition for the show; she did, and she was cast as one of the town kids.  We're (family and friends) all thrilled that she will have this experience! 

The guy in yellow on the left is one of the directors; the girl in pink standing all the way to the right is my student.

Over the years, as a drama director, I  had a few opportunities to direct children's theatre, and it was a far different experience than that of directing my regular high school drama productions.  Those little ones havd a ton of energy and many more questions than I knew what to do with at first.  Plus, those little guys were not at all shy about giving the director their "uncensored" opinion on nearly everything.  That was quite an adjustment for me.  You have to learn a few tricks quickly!

The two college students that organize, audition, direct, and produce this production of The Pied Piper in just 6 days do remarkable work with the kids, the majority of which are K-5th grade.  There are maybe 10 or so older students who take on key roles.  I've been able to watch rehearsal, and in the last two days I've seen these kids (maybe about 60 or so) learn all the lines, songs, and choreography for this show, and tomorrow they are completely off script and will be putting all the scenes seamlessly together. Incredible work!

We are all looking forward to the final production on Saturday on the college's stage.  Should be a real treat!