Local thespians hit stage

SUPERIOR – Despite having only one week to learn their lines, the performance of Cinderella by Superior Elementary went off without a hitch.

The April 25 show was produced by Missoula Children’s Theatre, a traveling stage show that comes to any school or organization and teaches kids how to act and even direct for a week. 

Ethan Kelsey, Elle Streeter and Emily Larson filled the student assistant director positions for the week, working closely with MCT.

“It’s really amazing, because people are worried if they forgot their lines by the day of the performance,” said Samm Mathess, tour actor and director for MCT. “They actually don’t, they’re usually good on their own.” 

The Cinderella show began on Monday, April 21 with auditions and culminated on Friday, April 25 with the performance. That gives both MCT and the performers only four days for tryouts and rehearsals, on top of learning all the lines for the play, which was approximately an hour and a half long. 

The play required auditions for each position, which took place on Monday for two hours. After, students were informed about the casting of the show and learned who received each part as 54 students participated in the play. 

“It’s actually a shortened week,” Mathess said. “We usually do Monday through Saturday, but Superior Elementary is doing a Monday through Friday rendition which is the same length.”

This rendition of Cinderella was written in 1983 by MCT, which is slightly different from the original Cinderella. 

“We added beggars and talking pumpkins so all age groups can get involved,” Mathess said. 

Besides the beggars and pumpkins, the version also features the classic characters like the evil stepmother, Cinderella’s stepsisters, the king and the prince. 

Both Mathess and Nick Hanni, another tour actor and director, are both personally qualified to put on the performance as both hold theatre degrees. MCT requires an extensive training program before each is allowed to work with the kids.

On performance day, Hanni was on stage with the kids playing the part of Patches, a rag covered young man who is the leader of the beggars. 

Mathess didn’t perform in the show herself, but handled all backstage operations like keeping the kids focused before having to go on stage.

The company travels to all 50 states and 17 countries. Personally, Mathess has traveled with the Cinderella performance to Montana, Idaho and Washington. 

Even though traveling from city to city isn’t anything new, each performance has its own set of challenges.

“The biggest challenge isn’t the performance itself, but having new actors every time,” Mathess said. “Having different kids every week takes a day or so to get acclimated which is the most difficult part.”

However, on performance day, all the young actors were ready. Each student played his or her part flawlessly, not missing a beat. 

Along with the tour actors and directors, MCT travels with its own lighting, costumes and stage props.

“We’ve been to a lot of smaller schools and some where 200 kids have auditioned,” Mathess said. “So Superior isn’t the smallest. We’ve seen all sides of the spectrum.”