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(Posted 6:30 a.m., Feb. 20)
Missoula
Children's Theatre company returns to town Feb. 1
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online
Every year
for the past 13 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 and auditions from which about 55 to 60 lucky youngsters
are selected to go through five days of rehearsals with two MCT touring
staff members, culminating in the actual performance.
This year's production
will be "Sleeping Beauty". One of the hallmarks of Missoula Children's
productions is that the plot always has interesting twists you don't expect.
They also have top notch costuming which the Missouls staff members bring
with them along with all the props.
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The Missoula
Children's Theatre company returns to Orleans the first week of February
to perform their unique vesion of 'Sleeping Beauty'. Rehearsals will be
held on Friday, Feb. 7 at Garneau high school starting at 4:30 p.m. File
photo
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The beauty about
Missoula Children's productions is that they are able to incorporate up
to 60 young actors and make them all feel part of the play. One of the way
they accomplish that task is by incorporating several ensemble musical numbers.
There's even an opportunity for those who don't earn a part to help out
backstage as assistant directors.
Each play is
produced locally by volunteers who, in effect, hire Missoula to come to
their community. They set the price point for both the registration and
ticket sales and they do all of the advertising and promotion.
The person who
has taken the lead in bringing the Missoula Children's Theatre Company to
Orléans this year is 19-year-old Missoula alumnus Nicolas Butt who acted
as musical accompaniest on the past four Missoula productions in Orléans.
Butt is being helped by his mother Heather Dunbar who co-produced the last
eight productions with Jenny Anderson.
The productions
are all not-for-profit which means that they are run on a purely cost recovery
basis. The primary aim in establishing the registration fee, which is only
$35, is accessibility and inclusion. As a result, it is not unusual to see
multiple sets of two and even three siblings in the same production.
The fee is only
paid after a child has been passed the auditions. The auditions are absolutely
free. In exchange for the $35 registration fee, they get to take part in
four nights of rehearsals and two productions in front of a live audience.
This year's production
will take place in the 500-seat theatre at ecole secondaires catholique
Béatrice-Desloges. The auditons, however, will be held at ecole secondaire
publique Garneau on Carriere Street on Friday, Feb. 7 starting at 4:30 p.m.
The parts are
assigned based on age. The chorus usually consists of children under the
age of 10 while the principal characters are all in the 14- to 17-year-old
range.
Once an individual
has passed the audition, they are epected to make themselves available every
night for the remainder of the week for the rehearsals which will take place
between 4:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. A final
rehearsal will be held Saturday morning followed by two performances at
1 p.m. and 4 p.m.
For more information
about Missoula Children's Theatre visit www.mctinc.org.,
or contact Nicolas Butt or Heather Dunbar at MCT
Orleans.
(This
story was made possible thanks to the generous support of our local
business partners.) Return
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