Missoula Children’s Theatre (MCT) held their rendition of the Snow Queen at the Souris Valley Theatre’s Frehlick Hall on September 20, in coordination with the Estevan Arts Council’s Koncerts for Kids series.
The MCT is the largest touring children’s theatre in the U.S. It has been touring extensively for 35 years, and will visit more than 1,200 communities per year, with more than 36 teams of tour actors and directors. A tour team arrives in a given town with a set, lights, costumes, props and make-up, and everything else required to put on a play, except the cast.
Auditions for roles in the play took place on Sept. 17, with dress rehearsals taking place over the last few days.
The show featured 62 local youth’s, ranging from kindergarten to Grade 12, who made up the entirety of the play’s cast, according to Melina Granberg, chair for the Estevan Arts Council.
“This will be my sixth year involved with this program,” said Granberg.
“We absolutely love working with Missoula, we often have kids that are quiet, or shy, and they come and try this out and it really changes their whole school year or just their year all together. The kids learn a lot about working in a group and about the world of theatre.”
Youths who were interested in performing in this year’s show auditioned for roles on Sept. 17, and have spent the time since rehearsing lines and learning their various roles. Entry to perform in the show is free to youth’s, and they are only asked to sell $10 of raffle tickets to help keep the program going.
There were two showings of the Snow Queen, at both 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Sept. 22.The show takes audience members on a journey with fun-loving Hobgoblins to the land of coloured ice, as they tell the tale of a young girl and her quest to find her best friend.
“Missoula really provides these kids with a great experience,” said Granberg.
“Some of these children might not have ever had an interest in theatre or anything like this before and some of them will leave with a love of theatre that might last their whole life. They work extremely hard, and spend the whole week getting ready for the show and it’s just insane to see how much they can learn and remember in such a short time.
The Koncerts for Kids series, hosted by the Estevan Arts Council, has a mission statement of being dedicated to opening the hearts and minds of local children to the world of the arts and culture, in a fun and family-friendly manner according to Granberg.
“The kids always really love it every year,” said Granberg.
“We’ve got a lot of kids that are repeats every year and as soon as they see the little red truck roll into town they know that its Missoula and they start to get excited. So we would definitely like to keep doing these events in the future for as long as we can.”
