Missoula Children's Theater brings classic to impromptu stage
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 10 years AGO
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | January 12, 2016 5:00 AM
MOSES LAKE — A crowd of about 60 kids danced and sang their way through two performances of “Sleeping Beauty” on Saturday. The shows were the culmination of a week of rehearsals with two actor/directors from Missoula Children’s Theater.
Chance Carter and Alyssa Cooper of MCT arrived last weekend in Moses Lake. On Monday, they held auditions and, of the crowd that showed up, selected 59 kids for the cast as well as four assistant directors. For the next five days, the kids learned their lines, songs and dances, and by Saturday, they were ready to perform.
Ciara Shuttleworth, director of Columbia Basin Allied Arts, had nothing but good things to say about the entire adventure. CBAA brought the MCT program to town as part of its Green Turtle children’s theater series.
“The Missoula Children’s Theater people were great,” she said. “They have total control over the whole thing. All I have to do is deal with the lobby.”
The next show in the GreenTurtle Series is “Curious George,” which takes the stage March i6.
The cast of “Sleeping Beauty”:
Younger Sleeping Beauty: Sarah Dale
Older Sleeping Beauty: Alice Dale
Scarella: Morgan Tolley
Lady-in-Waiting/Madame Butterfly: Rachel Puhlman
King: Ezra Wright
Queen: Kennedy Kilmer
Spot: Lauren Tolley
Town Crier: Abigail Dale
Fairies: Sophie Butterly, Jeniffer Carlson, Madison Dale, Stella Depew, Sophia Gardner, Makenzie Haring, Ana McCabe, Jori Pierce, Grace Selmann, Mckennah Solders, Lexi Stevens, Jenna Whitaker
Trolls:
Will Anderson, Tyson Fuller, Robbie Mensonides, Kyler Pankey, Cody Stutzman, Palace Attendants: Stella Butterly, Courtlynn Cardwell, Mya Dale, David Delp, Celeste Depew, Miranda Dorman, Julia Heaps, Dakota Jensen, Melody Lake, Brendan McLain, Kylie McLauchlan, Carsen Owens, Sophia Persichini, Mayah Puhlman, Chloe Scontrino, Calista Shelton, Paige Tolley, Jocelyn Vasquez
Caterpillars and Butterflies:
Laurelynn Cardwell, Kallee Castillo, Brooklyn Clark, Hannah Cook, Marybel Corona-Oronia, Caitlin Decubber, Kristen Depew, Sarah Estudillo, Sofia Estudillo, Ethan Jensen, Gaberilla Koalitzber, Adriana Kowalski, Grace Nixon, Jayla Pierce, Matti Stevens, Maddie Turner
Assistant directors: Kaylee Carpenter, Azlynn Dutton, Riley Farman, Dolcemia Gardner
Accompanist: Donna Warner
The Jester: Chance Carter
Director: Alyssa Cooper
ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
'Cafe Murder'
Dinner theater comedy draws audience into mystery
MOSES LAKE — The audience plays detective at “Cafe Murder,” taking the stage Friday and Saturday in Moses Lake. “Cafe Murder,” a collaboration between Columbia Basin Allied Arts and Sunshine Performing Arts, is a dinner theater production in which guests enjoy a meal and a mystery play and then solve the mystery themselves over dessert. “Dinner theater is basically the great American pastime for the arts,” CBAA Executive Director Shawn Cardwell wrote in an email to the Columbia Basin Herald. “It’s being offered in towns all around us, but not here in Grant County, so we thought, ‘Let’s do it!’”
Handbell choir keeps up ringing tradition at Othello church
OTHELLO — It’s difficult enough for a director to keep musicians in line when they’re all playing at the same time. But when members take turns with just one or two notes each, well, then it gets complicated.
Locals compete in Dancing with the Moses Lake Stars
MOSES LAKE — Volunteer firefighter Brian McGowan took home the coveted mirrored ball trophy at Saturday night’s Dancing with the Moses Lake Stars. “This has been a life goal,” McGowan said. “Definitely, since I was a little kid, this has been a dream of mine.”