On Saturday, the week-long rehearsal and workshop process for the Missoula Children’s Theatre Production of Alice in Wonderland celebrated the end of its amazing time in town.  The Missoula Children’s Theatre is an arts outreach and intensive drama experience for regional children interested in learning about theatre and acting.  Over 50 local students from the Oneida County School District were involved in the production, which was a professionally costumed and directed experience that was delightfully well-produced, and actor-focused.

The play itself is of course based on the nineteenth century Lewis Carroll novel, though the stageplay, adapted by David Simmons, modernizes some elements to be more responsive to the child actors, and incorporates more modern song components.  Throughout the play, all of the actors involved were able to demonstrate their facility with singing, physical acting, and line memorization.  The actors, ranging from kindergarten to fifth grades, had all been through an intense week of rehearsals.  Auditions for the over 50 available parts were held at the Malad Elementary School auditorium on Monday after school.  The auditions themselves involved acting, dance and singing elements.  The students selected for parts in the production spent Monday through Friday learning their parts and rehearsing for up to four hour a day over the course of the week.  On Saturday, the play went live to the public, with full costumes, lights, and sound, at 3:00 and 5:30.    

The play utilized a number of interesting staging elements to accommodate the large cast.  Alice, for instance, was portrayed by three different actors—Madelyn Gonzalez, Rose Butler, and Denette Layton—who took turns as Alice during her numerous size changes.  The actor changes were accomplished by means of a sliding stage door and a flash of “lightning”.  If on a few occasions the student assistant directors were faster than the actors in changing out the scene, the actors and the audience took in with good humor, which added to the overall fun of the performance.  The Cheshire cat was also portrayed by a variety of actors—Aleah Seamons, Dane Williams, and Tyker Hamilton (who also served as Assistant Directors during the week)—who station themselves at different positions behind the curtain to replicate the cat’s transient nature.  

Some of the actors were exuberant and seemed to delight in their time on stage, while others were a bit more reserved, as one might expect, though all did a fantastic job of bringing the play to life.  The marquee players—the various Alices, Margaret, the Mad Hatter, the King and Queen of Hearts, and the Caterpillar Head—carried the show with a great deal of aplomb, and the multiple troops of actors filling out the group roles kept things moving along well and entertainingly.  

Throughout the play, director Dorothy Jo Oberfoell took on the role of the White Rabbit, who stood in both as a character within the play’s plotting, as well as an onstage manager for any forgotten lines, or on the spot directing cues.  In a few places, Oberfoell was able to subtly encourage line readings, or ask for a louder read, though generally the actors were on point.  The arrangement allowed for a sense of comfort for the actors, many of whom were appearing on stage for their first times.  As a result of the week’s worth of rehearsals, the actors generally seemed confident and clear on the performance demands placed upon them.  During the auditions, the directors asked for actors with clear and strong voices, and those involved projected well to the back of the auditorium, with only a couple of stage microphones to help.

After the first performance, the actors took a brief break for lunch, then returned for a bravura second performance.   

The Missoula Children’s Theatre is focused on bringing the experience of a fully produced play into the lives of the children recruited to play the roles, as well as giving the directors a chance to hone their skills at organizing and producing a play with so many moving and disparate parts.  The MCT stages productions all around the region, from Montana and Wyoming to Idaho and elsewhere.  The project is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Montana Arts Council.  The tour itself was sponsored by the Cosmic Crisp apple company from Washington state.  Locally, the MCT was brought in as result of efforts by the PTO, with support from Hess Pumice and the Oxford Peak Arts Council.

The costuming for the play all came from the MCT’s “big red truck,” which necessitated finding actors to match the available sizes.  Beyond that, the lighting and sound work was provided by Ada Campbell with the help of Jeff Richins.  The accompanist was Lorna Perry.