Missoula Children’s Theatre gives local students the chance to act

Above and below: Beauty Lou and the Country Beast was a hit Saturday.About 250 came out to the cultural centre to see 40 children act in the play after a week of hard work with Missoula Children’s Theatre. – Stephen Dafoe Photos

by Morinville News Staff

The Missoula Children’s Theatre’s litte red truck rolling into town has become an annual occurance in Morinville, providing upwards of 60 children the opportunity to audition, rehearse, and perform an entertaining twist on a classic story.

The crew of two came to town to put on The Wizard of Oz in 2014, Little Mermaid in 2015, Jungle Book in 2016, and Treasure Island in 2017.

This year was no exception as Missoula taught students the ropes of Beauty Lou and the Country Beast, a rural take on Beauty and the Beast sponsored by Investor’s Group.

The play tells the story of Beauty Lou, the oldest daughter of the bronc-bustin’ balladeer buck. Upset that a miner took the prize for growing roses, Lou calls him a beast and wishes he’d also take on the look as well.

Years later, when Lou’s family’s farm is at risk of being lost, she meets the beast and works with him to save the family.

The moral of the story was the importance of looking past first impressions and appearance.

This year’s lead roles went to Elyse Hughes as the Younger Beauty Lou and Skylar Boissonnault as the older Beauty Lou. Matthew O’Connor played Slim, Joey Bourgeois played Dusty, and Miller Sloan played Fleabite Clyde. Evan Charrois played the Beast/Imaginary Friend.

Younger daughters included Madeline Joslin, Parker Huot, Taliyah Hann, Karsyn Richardson, Clara Smith, and Marcella Baril.

Older daughters included Erika Woodruff, Emma Winfield, Brielle Winsor, Jordan O’Connor, Kalen O’Connor, and Ryenn Marczak.

Amaya Blaney, Scarlett Lavallee, Brianna Logan, Callie Edwards, Elia Jacobs, Lorelai McPhee, Ebony Ziemmer, Tate Sloan, Leon Larocque, and Aaliya O’Hara took roles as Country Folk.

Joella Bedford, Willow Neuman, Mikaela King, Abriella Hjelsvold, Aubree Ziemmer, amilia Neuman, Paisley Hjelsvold, Lolie Bijou, and Ronnalyn Baril all played Barnyard Critters.

Missoula has been in existence for 45 years. In 2018, the company will work with 65,000 students in 18 countries.

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