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The Andes Central School District played host to Missoula Children’s Theatre directors Calliope and Amber to present the play, “Cinderella”, the week of March 18th - March 22nd. It was an exciting week filled with a lot of hard work from some very dedicated Andes Central students. On March 22nd the actors presented “Cinderella” twice with 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. showtimes. Some of the play leads were kind enough to take some of what little free time they had that week and share some of their thoughts and experiences. These students included Adara Hopkin, Madilyn Janis, Sadie Antelope, Ellani Aungie, and Ian Long Jr.

Adara Hopkins

Adara Hopkins played the part of Beauty, the stepsister. Adara is the daughter of Charles and Tracey Hopkins. Adara went into the after-school auditions with the hopes of getting a part as one of the stepsisters, and lo and behold that was the role she was given. Adara has quite a bit of experience when it comes to school plays and has been a part of eight plays previously. She wanted to try out again this year for the play because she has been a part of the Missoula Children’s Theatre plays every year since she was a kindergartener and has always enjoyed her experiences.

Her experience overall with being a part of plays and the Missoula Children’s Theatre has been a lot of fun; although she is honest and does admit it can be a bit stressful at times. For Adara’s role, she rehearsed after school for about four hours each day that week. During auditions, Adara had to say the line “wait, it’s that way”. For Adara the hardest part of acting is trying not to laugh during a scene that is supposed to be serious. Her favorite acting scene from “Cinderella” was the my lovingly daughters scene. Overall Adara enjoyed her experience and hopes to continue to be a part of the Missoula Children’s Theatre plays each year.

Madilyn Janis

Madilyn Janis played the part of the Stepmother. Madilyn is the daughter of Dwight Josh and Marlene Janis. When she auditioned for the play, Madilyn was hoping to get the role of Stepmother. This was the third year that Madilyn was a part of the Missoula Children’s Theatre play. Madilyn said that even though it was fun overall working with the rest of the cast, rehearsals were stressful. She rehearsed for about two hours before actual play practice, during play practice and another two hours after play practice in order to give a stellar performance.

Madilyn tried out for the play because she thought It would be a fun experience and because it is “Cinderella”. The phrase that Madilyn had to say during auditions was also, “wait, it’s this way”. Like Adara, Madilyn also found that the hardest part of acting was trying not to laugh during the serious scenes. Madilyn’s favorite scenes from “Cinderella” were the finally and the lovely daughter scene. Overall Madilyn enjoyed her experience and would like to continue to be a part of the Missoula Children’s Theatre plays in the future.

Sadie Antelope

Sadie Antelope played the part of Cinderella. Sadie is the granddaughter of Pamela Hein. Sadie went into the auditions with the hope of getting the part of Lovely. Sadie has quite a bit of experience with the Missoula Children’s Theatre plays as she has been a cast member on four different plays. Like her castmates, Sadie also found rehearsals fun, but pretty stressful. For Sadie’s role, she rehearsed about 90 minutes a day to get ready for the final performance.

Sadie did not have any special reasoning when it came to trying out for the play, “Cinderella”. When asked how many lines her character had in the play, Sadie said that she had more than 20 lines to memorize. Sadie also had to say the line, “wait, it’s that way” in addition to “no” in her auditions. The hardest part of acting for Sadie was trying not to laugh. Sadie’s favorite scene from the play was when the stepsisters, Lovely and Beauty, are tugging on her. Overall, Sadie enjoyed her experience being a cast member of “Cinderella” and hopes to once again be a part of the next Missoula Children’s Theatre production that comes to Andes Central.

Ellani Aungie

Ellani Aungie played the part of Lovely, the stepsister. Ellani is the daughter of Colleen Fox and Darrel Dion. When Ellani auditioned for the play, she was just hoping to get one of the stepsister parts. Ellani has been a part of four Missoula Children’s Theatre plays. When it came to rehearsing for the part of Lovely, Ellani had to rehearse for four hours each day after school. Ellani tried out for “Cinderella” because she enjoys acting and looked forward to being a part of the cast.

“Wait, it’s that way”, was also the line that Ellani said in auditions to show the directors just how expressive she could be. Trying not to laugh during serious scenes was the toughest part of rehearsals for Ellani. The “Cinderella” scene that was Ellani’s favorite was the scene where Marilyn Janis (the stepmother) sang the solo, her lovely daughters. Ellani had a great experience being a part of the “Cinderella” play and hopes to get to be a part of the next Missoula Children’s Theatre play.

Ian Long Jr.

Ian Long Jr. played the role of the King. When he auditioned for “Cinderella”, he was hoping to get the role of the King. Ian had been in one Missoula Children’s Theatre play previously, “The Jungle Book”. Not only did Ian practice after school during the four-hour rehearsals, but he also worked hard on his lines at home. Ian tried out for the play because he thought it would be a fun experience. As the King, Ian had six lines. Ian’s auditioning lines included the phrase “how do you do?” repeated several times and “get back to work”.

The hardest part of acting for Ian was remembering when to present the shoe to the prince. When asked what his favorite scene was from “Cinderella”, Ian responded with that he did not have a favorite scene because he liked all of them. Overall, Ian enjoyed his experience as a cast member of “Cinderella” and would like to be a part of another Missoula Children’s Theatre production.

The directors and actors of the Missoula Children’s Theatre were Calliope and Amber. They are both relatively new to the Missoula Children’s Theatre family, having only been a part of the team since January. In “Cinderella”, both Calliope and Amber play the role of Patches, a beggar and narrator throughout the play. The pair only had two weeks of training to learn the entire “Cinderella” show before going on the road to teach their first group of kids. Each cast of “Cinderella” can have up to 64 students and is open to students grades K-12th. When it comes to auditions and finding the right students for the play, the directors are looking for clear and loud voices; big and expressive bodies and faces; good listeners; and students that can follow directions.

Calliope has been performing since the age of 5. She attended the AMDA College of the Performing Arts and also has her BFA in Musical Theatre. She is originally from Arkansas. Calliope’s favorite part of the week is getting to watch the students grow and seeing them enjoy their experience with performing. The best part about being in the Missoula Children’s Theatre for Calliope is getting to explore a new place that she has never been to before each week.

Amber has a BFA in Musical Theatre from Southern Arkansas University and also attended Mississippi School of the Arts. She is originally from the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. Amber’s favorite part of her week at Andes Central was watching the student who played Rags, the prince, add his own flair to the movement in the Beggar’s Lament scene. He really made the scene his own, which is what being a part of the Missoula Children’s Theatre performances are all about. Another fun part of her week was when she filled in for one of the towncryers during rehearsal due to a student out with an illness and it was a scream. The best part for Amber of being in the Missoula Children’s Theatre is getting to see the different groups of kids do the show and the things that they add to make the play their own. It is exciting for her to see the huge amount of growth in such a short time and the surprises during the process.

The pair get a week off after leaving Andes Central. After their time off they will be heading to Dubois, WY for their next performance of “Cinderella”. Thank you to all the cast and crew for their hard work to put together such a wonderful performance. Congratulations on a job well done!