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(Posted 3:30
p.m., Feb. 1)
Missoula
Children's production of Brothers Grimm classic a genuine treat
By Fred Sherwin
Orleans Online
Every
year for the past 12 years, the Missoula Children's Theatre company has rolled
into Orléans to give young people between the ages of five and 18 a chance to
take part in a live theatre production. The
process begins with a casting call a week before the production is scheduled to
hit the stage. Out of the auditions about 55 to 60 lucky youngsters are selected
to go through five days of rehearsals culminating in the actual performance.
This
year's production of "Hansel and Gretel" was performed in front of two
packed houses on Saturday.
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| Missoula
Children's Theatre presented a different twist on the classic fairy tale 'Hansel
and Gretel' on Saturday featuring 58 young actors from the local area. Fred Sherwin/Photo
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While most
people maybe familiar with the Grimm's fairy tale classic, Missoula Children's
Theatre always seems to put an interesting and entertaining twist on the story
and this year's production was no different. Hansel
and Gretel are actually Hank and Gretchen, two teenagers who have to stay at home
while their friends go off to the Wildwood Summer Camp. The family was recently
abandoned by their father and their mother can't afford the registration fees. Left
at home, the siblings fall asleep while reading "Hansel and Gretel"
and start dreaming of their Granny Wally who has been asked by their mother to
leave them alone in the words because she can't afford to feed them anymore. Alone
in the words, Hank and Gretchen stumble upon the Wildwood Witch and are terrified
they'll be eaten until they find out that the witch is actually a misunderstood
vegetarian. It's
a hilarious twist to the classic tale which carries the message that you should
never judge a book by the cover and you should always eat your veggies. The
play was thoroughly entertaining due in large part to the performances of the
principal cast members. Kat Palmer as Gretchen, David Schlachter as Hank and Sarah
Agozino as the Wildwood witch, were all fabulous as was Jennifer Owen who played
Granny Wally and helped produced the show with fellow MCT tour team member JoLeen
Davis. The
beauty about Missoula Children's productions is that they are able to incorporate
so many actors and make them all feel apart of the play. There's even an opportunity
for those who don't earn a part to help out backstage as assistant directors. A
total of 58 young people took part in Saturday's production. The youngest of the
bunch were cast as wallybirds, while the next oldest group played the nasties
and so on. The
play contained six or seven musical numbers all of which were performed as an
ensemble, accompanied on piano for the fourth year in a row by Nicolas Butt from
Orléans. The
productions have also become a family affair with a number of siblings taking
part. This year's production included 10 sets of siblings including three sets
of three siblings. For
more information about Missoula Children's Theatre visit www.mctinc.org.
Or contact Jenny Anderson or Heather Dunbar at MCT
Orleans who are the local producers of the MCT touring production. (This
story was made possible thanks to the generous support of our local
business partners.) Return
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