In the jungle, the mighty jungle, there was no lion to speak of. Instead, there was a vicious tiger named Shere Khan to contend with.
Fortunately, the 60 young actors from Morinville and area who took part in last weekend’s production of The Jungle Book at the Morinville Community Cultural Centre were well prepared to contend with the tiger.
More significantly, they ably contended with the challenge of putting on a one-hour musical theatre production with only six days from audition to performance.
“In a week they learned all their lines, all their songs, and all their dances,” director Katrina Sebastian said. “That’s very impressive.”
Protecting young Mowgli from the vicious human-hating Shere Khan seems a relatively easy task in comparison.
Yet for the Missoula Children’s Theatre, the Montana-based theatre troupe that has now put on three such performances in Morinville in as many years, the process has had plenty of refinement.
For 40 years the company has put on its travelling show, using local talent to fill local stages, in all 50 of the United States and 17 countries around the world.
There are currently four different roving productions, which reach about 750,000 audience members and include 65,000 actors each year.
Sebastian explained although she’s only been with the company for a little less than a year, she sees firsthand the kind of benefit it can have for young actors.
“Some of these kids might grow up to pursue theatre professionally, but for a lot of these kids it’s just a good way to get life skills,” she said. “The discipline and confidence are a big part of performing.”
As for working with the young cast in Morinville, she had nothing but praise for their work ethic and the fact they learn so quickly.
“I’ve been really impressed with this group,” Sebastian said. “A lot of them are familiar with the process of putting on a show, and even if they’re not, they’re fooling me.”
For many of the young actors in the show, working with Missoula Children’s Theatre is the first significant on-stage experience they’ve ever had – with the exception of a few school plays here and there.
James Macleod-Fleming, who played the role of a snake named Nag, The Jungle Book was the first time he’d been involved in a musical production of this size – and as of Friday’s last rehearsal, he was pleased with the experience.
“I had some friends who were coming to it, and I just wanted to try something new,” he said. “If they have another one, I’ll definitely audition for it.”
He said while it’s a bit intimidating to learn the lines and actions in one week, he said he overcame that simply by working hard to get ready – both during rehearsals and on his own time.
“Once I got my character, I looked at my lines every night and I’ve only got a couple lines,” he said.
Missoula Children’s Theatre veterans Conan and Doveina Bolen, both 12, obviously enjoyed the experience – they both took part in the 2014 production of The Wizard of Oz and last year’s The Little Mermaid as well.
Conan said he had little theatre experience prior to auditioning in 2014, but the experience on that show was enough to convince him to keep coming back.
“It was really fun being with other people,” he said. “And it was really welcoming.”
For Doveina, she intends to keep auditioning until she reaches her goal of getting one of the lead roles. While she didn’t achieve that goal this year, she said she would keep trying.
Regardless, she said the process has helped improve her confidence getting up in front of a crowd – she struggled during an audition for a school play but overcame that challenge for this current role.
“I tried out for a school play but I didn’t make it because I froze (during auditions),” she said. “I didn’t remember what I was doing; that’s probably why I didn’t make it.”
All three of these young actors said they will happily audition for Missoula Children’s Theatre again, should the opportunity arise.
Sebastian said the 60 actors involved range in age from just five all the way to 18. The more prominent speaking roles tend to go to the older actors, but the production has roles designed for all age groups.
The youngest group was assigned to the group of monkeys.
“For the youngest group, they have two songs and some of the younger kids get lines, but for the monkey group most of it is unison speaking and singing,” she said.
Sebastian said the wolf pack comprises some older kids, who have a few lines, while Kaa the rock python is another group role with still a few more lines and some more complicated choreography.
“They each have their own individual costumes, but they just hold the shoulder of the person in front of them, like a big snake,” she said.
The older actors who are more capable of learning more complicated lines and blocking tend to be awarded the lead roles – those who may be more capable of learning and remembering more lines.
“So much of the work is the kids going home and learning their lines, and they really step up,” Sebastian said.
Warren Masoske, whose has had at least one of his two daughters involved in all three Missoula Children’s Theatre productions in Morinville, said he appreciates the way the shows provide some diversity to extra-curricular activities.
“There’s not a lot of avenues for theatre in our community,” he said. “There’s the typical sports and athletics, but from an artistic point of view, this is something different.”
He added he has seen first hand the benefit his own kids get from it, not just from getting to meet new friends but also in that their confidence continues to grow year after year that they’re involved.
“That’s what we’ve seen with both of our kids,” he said. “The first year they’re very timid and the next year they’re more confident.”
Providing that venue for young actors to get involved in cultural pursuits like theatre is one of the town of Morinville’s main goals in its current strategic plan – one of the pillars of which is to promote culture.
Communications co-ordinator Felicity Bergman said the positive community response to the productions – for the last two years there have been more actors auditioning than there were roles – is a significant part of the reason they keep getting invited back.
“What’s exciting about Missoula itself is it allows the community, and the kids specifically, to become part of the show rather than just watching it,” she said. “It allows children the opportunity to try out theatre and art, if they haven’t had that opportunity before.”
For more information about Missoula Children’s Theatre, visit www.mctinc.org.
