Area Youth Perform The Frog Prince with MCT

 

February 6, 2019

On Monday, students from the Meadowlark Elementary and the Chinook Jr./Sr. High School auditioned for parts in the Missoula Children's Theatre production of The Frog Prince. Their were two performances held at the Chinook High School Auditorium on Saturday afternoon. Pictured above is the cast of the play following the afternoon performance.

A week of intensive practice sessions with the Missoula Children's Theater (MCT) Tour Actor/Directors culminated for area youth on Saturday, February 2, at 1:00 p.m. and again at 3:30 p.m. at the Lloyd Sweet Auditorium at Chinook High School with a full stage musical production of The Frog Prince.

Conceived and written by Michael McGill with music and lyrics also by McGill, the story is set in the royal swamp and features a lonely frog and a selfish princess in starring roles. Hoping to perform a favor and gain a friend, the Frog agrees to retrieve a golden ball which Princess Prim has dropped into a well. However, once she has what she desires, the spoiled princess doesn't want to live up to her part of the bargain. She puts her royal knights on alert and tries multiple tricks to dodge her promise. Fortunately, Frog gets some good advice from Ollie, the wise old aspen tree; Bert, the well-read alligator; and the kindly Swamp Things. The Ducks, a busy Fly, and a pat of dancing Flamingos also come to Frog's assistance as the Frog's servant tirelessly works to set right things that go awry. Even kind Princess Proper and spunky Princess Peppy get involved, despite the trouble caused by the mischievous Venus Fly Traps. As fate would have it, the story's hero becomes a Prince (formerly known as Castle Frog) and realizes that friendships are made, not bought.

The local cast of The Frog Prince included Hannah Schoen as the Swamp Frog, Dentin DePriest as the Castle Frog who transforms into a Prince, Lilly BearCub as Ollie the Aspen Tree, and Addison Olsen as promise-breaker Princess Prim. Her sisters Princess Proper and Princess Peppy were played by Rilee Molyneaux and Alexus Seymour.

Ashlyn Jensen, Kaeleigh Main, Brooklyn Terry, Grace Buck, Lance Pitkanen, Elizabeth Main, Madilyn Gruszie and Gus Buck depicted the bumbling Knights; and Kiera Hellman was featured as Bert the Alligator, while Ayzlee Kelly, Charlie Buck, Chyler Standiford, Lyla BearCub, Wyatt Oliver, Laura Danley, Cassidy Darlington, Xavier Ymzon, Kiley Huravitch, Zoë Scofield, and Caitlyn Lankford made up the slimy, yet kindly, Swamp Things.

The flashy Flamingos were portrayed by Mekayla Brown, Hope Huckabee, Olivia Bartlett, Rylin Collins, Jeni Mord, and Amanda Mulonet; while Sasha Anderson, Makenzie Miller, Rian Molyneaux, Kendle Lankford, and Nevaeh Christensen led the way as the Ducks.

Akaysha Kelly, as the busy Fly, tried to make a quick escape from the mischievous Venus Fly Traps, played by Aurora Crawford, Silas Ymzon, Norah Zellmer, Abby Danley, Maysen Olson, Claire Buck, Jorie Miller, Bentlie Dennis, Sadie Allred, Ashtyn DePriest, Piper Skoyen, Taylyn Collins, Teagan Britt, Brooklyn Sohn, Isaac Ymzon, and Cali Van Voast. Julie Finley served as the accompanist.

Ali Thompson with the MCT acted the roles of the Queen, Maria von Fly Trap, and Henrietta Jones-a servant to the prince. Her associate, Kayla McSorley served as the Director and Stage Manager for the production. Upon their visit to Chinook, the third school on their tour schedule, the two young women had been with MCT for only a month.

At the audition session held on January 28, the pair told the 54 students, ages five through twelve years old who had gathered, that the success of the show depended on their commitment as well as on three other factors: loud and clear voices, big and expressive actions, and an ability to listen and follow directions. After that set of directives, Thompson and McSorley led the group through a series of exercises in vocal and emotional projection, memorization, gesturing, facial expression, choreography, and singing. Two of the lines used to measure these skills were "Don't look at me; I'm only the babysitter!" and "Getting a date is harder than I thought." At other times during their selection of roles, Thompson and McSorley asked for quiet feet and zero voices.

The Missoula Children's Theatre production of the Frog Prince main characters, from left to right: Ollie Aspen Tree (Lilly Bearcub), Bert the Alligator (Kiera Hellman), Princess Prim (Addison Olsen), Princess Proper (Rilee Molyneaux), Castle Frog/Prince (Dentin DePriest), Princess Peppy (Alexus Seymour), Swamp Frog (Hannah Schoen).

According to Tammy Edwards, a first-grade teacher and Meadowlark School's liaison to MCT, the cast's commitment came through, "The play featured a lot of young talent, and the singing was particularly good. The kids looked like they were enjoying themselves, and their hard work showed."

A project in part supported by Art Works, the National Endowment for the Arts, and a grant from the Montana Arts Council-the Missoula Children's Theatre residency was brought to the community by the Chinook School District with financial support from the Chinook Lion's Club, Chinook Community Chest, and the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation. Funds are also raised through admission fees.

Julie Terry, mother of one of the cast members and an English teacher at Chinook High School, said: "I'm so thankful for the people who give of their time and resources to make MCT a reality for our children. Brooklyn had a lot of fun as Knight #2! All the children did a wonderful job-the singing was especially great this year!"

 
 

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