Three days into the summer theater camp at the Alhambra, and the “Rapunzel” cast members were figuring out their roles.
There were grelims in the house. And wood elves. A prince or two and a maiden with magical hair. There were pixies, trolls, ogres and a few goats.
A goat must “gallop” into the scene, actor/director Elizabeth Avery called out from the stage Wednesday afternoon as a few dozen children waited for the action to shift to their roles.
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“I think it’s amazing what they accomplish in one week,” said Molly Campbell, the education coordinator for the Pennyroyal Arts Council.
Twice a year the Missoula Children’s Theatre, a Montana-based nonprofit, sends two actors to Hopkinsville with costumes and scripts for some 50 children to learn how live theater comes together. They’ve been helping the arts council put on shows in Hopkinsville for more than 25 years.
The summer campers got their “Rapunzel” roles on Monday and most of them return every day through Friday to learn their lines and rehearse the scenes. They will have dress rehearsal Friday and perform Saturday afternoon for family members and anyone else who wants to see the show.
Avery and her co-director, Tyler Bowlin, are traveling from town to town this summer to help local groups put on theater camps for children. In many places, they will be working in a school gymnasium, a community center or a YMCA.
Campbell has seen the reaction every year when the Missoula staffers get their first look inside the fully restored, 90-year-old Alhambra Theatre.
“They come in our theater and they are amazed,” she said.
The Missoula camp offers a theater experience for children who might not otherwise ever learn what it takes to create a live performance. Some children return for several years in a row.
The summer camp is $50 and anyone who signs up is guaranteed a part in the cast or crew. The arts council also offers a winter Missoula camp, usually in January or February, which is free and requires try-outs. Normally about 100 children audition for one of 65 or so parts.
Campbell said she appreciates what the camp offers children who often have different learning styles.
“Kids that can’t pay attention in class might be glued to their seats in a theater,” she said.
For the past 12 or so years, the Missoula staff members working in Hopkinsville haved stayed with former arts council board member Maggie Selvidge in her home.
“They are all interesting and so multi-talented,” said Selvidge, a retired English and French teacher. Selvidge and her late husband, Roger, came to Hopkinsville from Albany, Kentucky, in 1968 to accept jobs in the local school system.
Most of the Missoula employees are recent college graduates who studied theater, she said.
Avery and Bowlin arrived at Selvidge’s house with a cooler of food, but she wanted to cook a meal for them. She served a meatloaf supper that included okra, corn on the cob, sliced tomatoes and red-skin potatoes from Hoover’s vegetable stand in Todd County.
Selvidge said she’s saved most of the Missoula show programs from the years she hosted the young actors. She can scan their names and recall details about them and the shows, she said.
Another long-time participant in the Missoula camps is keyboard player Lynda Wilson. She gets the sheet music ahead of the camp and is present for most of the rehearsals.
Others who work for the arts council help out during the week. For the live production, someone needs to be backstage “to keep a lid on the little ones” so they don’t get too rowdy in between scenes.
“The theater can be a great learning experience,” said Campbell.
The campers will perform “Rapunzel” at 2 p.m. Saturday. The Alhambra Theatre is on South Main Street next door to the Christian County Courthouse. Tickets are $8 online or $10 at the door.
Flynn Enterprises sponsors the Missoula camps for the arts council.
The “RAPUNZEL” cast and crew are:
- Emily Voss and Rebecca Wood as Rapunzel
- Judah Fancher and David Minemyer as the Princes
- Maryah Howard as Madame Gothel
- Jace Ritli and Naomi Fancher as Rapunzel’s parents, Maurice and Monique
- Evelyn Bangart, Kaley Bangart, Maliyah Brown, Ella Minemyer, Ella Sims and Jennie Watts as the Wood Elves
- Jackson Clark as the Troll
- Eleanor Knight and Norah Mathis as the Ears of Corn
- Grace Kelly as the Potato
- Annabelle Burley and Alyssa Minemyer as the Unicorns
- Caroline Boyd, Livvy Bush, Kaylena Moore, Bostyn Russell as the Pixies
- Jaci Kate Addison, Ava Blake, Nora Harrison, Hadley Mathis, Vivian Wheeler as the Gremlins
- Sophia Knight, Evie Strickland, Raina Tabb as the Billy Goats Gruff
- Olive Burley, Amelia Card, Carolina Strickland and Raleigh Burley as the Three Bears and Beaver
- Harper Kidd, Torah Rau, Victor Erdahl, and Jonah Hudgins as the Ogres
- Sylvie Burley, Aniston Cannon, Eliza Card, Lilly Fincham, Mallory Lancaster, Markei Murray, Zynlee Rodgers, Lily Spurr, Addy Sims, Gemma Wheeler and Ellery Whitaker as the Mushrooms
- Mary Perry has served as assistant director
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. She spent 30 years as a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition.
