By Melanie Jacob
Journal Editor
After only a week of rehearsing, elementary and high school kids from Humboldt, Watson, Lanigan, and St. Brieux pulled off Missoula Children's Theater performance of
"Blackbeard the Pirate" on Sept. 13.
"It was great; I was very happy with the turnout," said Tanya Schuler, president of Arts Humboldt. "The audience was what we hoped for. I would say there was over 200 people at the afternoon performance and about 120 at the evening show."
Missoula Children's Theatre managed to recruit a total of 55 youth all together, starting from kindergarten all the way up to the senior level of high school. Of those that participated, 52 were from Humboldt and one came from each of the other communities. They spent every evening from the beginning of last week practicing and rehearsing at Humboldt Collegiate Institute.
"Most of the responses for actors came from the younger kids, which is usual," said Brian Grest, the facilitator for the project. "But you need those older kids to take on the leadership roles."
Practice started at 4 p.m. and finished at about 9 p.m., with different age groups coming in for specific time slots so as to get the appropriate coaching.
"When they audition, they know it's a week long commitment," said Schuler. "But the directors are so full of life and dynamics that there was no problem holding the kids' attention."
During the performance, it was obvious all actors and actresses were enthusiastic and prepared. Despite a couple hiccups here and there in the first show, there were many chuckles and outright laughter throughout the play.
"The parents are always so happy their kids are able to participate and be a part of that," said Schuler. "By the time Saturday came, the kids were so excited to show their parents what they had done. As far as I know, everything was smooth sailing."
The play focused on a beach resident and his storytelling about pirates from long ago to a bunch of "beach bums," whose only goal was to find buried treasure. The script had many neat little jokes and quips tossed in, as well as characters with humourous personas. It also had a plot twist built in that led to a moral at the end of the story: the real treasure is family and friends.
