Robin Hood On Stage At St Rose School

By Laurie Borst

On the afternoon of October 30, approximately 50 students from St Rose School auditioned for parts in the Missoula Children’s Theatre presentation of Robin Hood. Missoula Children’s Theatre is an organization that comes to schools with costumes, props, sets, etc, and casts school children in the roles.

During the audition session, students were asked to sing, dance, read some lines, pantomime and follow directions. Some budding Oliviers and Berhardts were in attendance.

Asked about her reasons for auditioning, Stephanie Haas, a third grader, said, “I like to express myself. I do Irish step dancing, too.”

Fifth grader, Lena Harris said, “I’ve never acted before.”

Jack Brubaker, a fifth grader, stated, “I watch a lot of movies. I always wanted to be an actor. It seems so fun.”

Stephen Walsh felt it was a lot of fun to be on stage, and see all the people in the audience.

Missoula Children’s Theatre sends two directors for each performance. Melissa Carroll and Renée Roberts are leading the St Rose cast. Both started with Missoula in June of this year. Both have bachelor of arts degrees in performance theater.

Two-person teams go out to about 40 school productions each year. All of the teams from Missoula combined stage about 1,300 programs each year.

Many of the St Rose students were in the production of Pinocchio staged last year with the staff of Missoula.

The students and directors will follow an intense rehearsal schedule every day after school and again in the evenings preparing for the production on Saturday afternoon, November 4. There will be two performances at 2 and 7 pm in the church hall.

Tickets will be available at the door, $10 for adults, $6 for children 13 and under. There is no charge for children under 3.