Traveling theatre brings 'Aladdin' to Hayden
Anna Kramer will perform in the Missoula Children's Theatre's travelling production of 'Aladdin'. The play will be in Hayden Canyon Charter, where Kramer and other students learned the play in a series of five days, to perform it March 17 at 6:30 p.m.
JOSA SNOW/Press
Students from Hayden Canyon Charter practice a song from the upcoming pop-up play, Aladdin by the Missoula Children's Theatre. The play is produced from start to performance in five days featuring students from the school, who learn their lines and parts during that time.
Hayden Canyon Charter student Katelyn Littlefield will play a goat in the upcoming play ‘Aladdin’ by Missoula Children’s Theatre.
“I have a lot of conversations with the donkey and the palm trees,” she said.
The goat is a role Katelyn feels totally ready for on her fourth day of practice, with the show on the fifth day, or 6:30 tonight in the Hayden Canyon Charter auditorium. It is free and open to the public.
“It was a lot easier to put a lot of my acting from dance into my role, when I’m moving and not just talking,” she said.
Katelyn, an eighth grader, wanted to audition with 170 other students for Aladdin because of her background in performing and dance. She was one of 60 kids who were selected to be in the pop-up play.
Missoula Children's Theatre is a national organization that produces plays across the country, each done in five days. They have 43 teams on tour at any one time doing classic stories and plays that are original works by the theatre company.
Theatre tour directors Kelson Bouman and Dillon Merritt traveled to Hayden Canyon Charter to audition kids, teach, rehearse, set up, direct and perform a play in five days.
Perfect is not the goal, though the resulting performance is wildly entertaining.
MCT sends two actors in a van across the country, loaded with set pieces, costumes and everything they need.
Host families will typically take the actors in. Merritt and Bouman trained together and are in just their third week of production, or fourth if you count their week of training. They now also live together and road trip together, and the whole process has gotten them very close.
Bouman thinks he’s building lifelong friendships.
“Being able to adapt is a big skill,” he said. “Each group of kids is different, each group of kids learns differently.”
With it being just their third week directing, (or fourth) Bouman and Merritt share in the learning experience they work to create with the students.
“You do one day of it, and the next day you’re getting better,” Bouman said. “We’re improving every day.”
They’re jumping into the deep end of theater production, right alongside the kids they coach, who are jumping into the deep end of performing.
“It's definitely reassuring, knowing that you can process these things so quickly,” Katelyn said.
Bouman had a few nerves on his first day, but he feels like he’s strengthening a muscle and he’s learning to trust himself and feel confident in each challenge.
The fast-paced five day plays are geared to teach adaptability, create a sense of urgency and expose kids to their capabilities.
Bouman joined Missoula Children's Theatre to perform, act and explore, but also to be a part of a community.
His Missoula acting coach, Mica Clarkson is the director of special education at Hayden Canyon Charter, and a former Missoula Children's Theatre director. She pushed to have the theater company come to the school because she’s seen what it can do for students.
“People are surprised at how we’re able to pull this all together,” Clarkson said. “It’s a miracle to see it come together.”
That's true for those performing, and for audience members.
“It isn’t about having a finished product, it’s about the process,” Clarkson said. “The product though, I truly believe folks will be impressed. It brings a lot of joy and light.”
