More than 40 children ranging in age from kindergarten through high school have spent the last week learning all aspects of theater and preparing for two performances of a special adaptation of Little Mermaid on Saturday.
One of the two traveling Missoula Children’s Theatre Directors this year is Nina Ballon of New Orleans, Louisiana.
“It’s basically three Mermaid sisters who all want to go visit the world above and in all their journies to the land and seeing the Royal Family. And how they think ‘oh this is going to be amazing’ and then maybe under the sea might be better for them. It’s going to be really fun. We have so many different characters in the show, lots of colors, movement, and songs.”
And while it is a challenge, co-director Susie Mishkin from Georgia and Ballon says it’s amazing what even the smallest participants can learn in a week.
“Sing, dance, move, act. Anybody who is backstage we help them figure out what they are doing whether it is helping kids or running lights. We made sure they are in good hands too.”
Miskin and Ballon both were theatre students in college and auditioned for a number of companies at a big theatre conference where they were hired by Missoula. They were trained for a week in Missoula to explain how the program works. This is their third week of the summer traveling to a different city in an F150 pickup truck with the entire set and all the costumes carefully packed inside.
Mishkin says after the audition on Monday, there were two two-hour learning segments a day with a 15-minute break between them. She says the student actors learned everything by Wednesday, Thursday they do dress and have their pianist there to do live music, and Friday they have a dress rehearsal in preparation for the two shows on Saturday. The program also works to develop several students in off-set positions such as assistant directors.
Everyone is welcome to see the final productions at 3:00 and 5:30 on Saturday. Tickets are available at the door prior to each show. The cost is $5.
This year’s two Missoula Theater Directors in Salem are Nina Ballon and Susie Mishkin.
