IF YOU GOMADISONVILLE* What: "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs."* When: 6 p.m. Saturday.* Where: Barker Learning Center at Hiwassee College, nine miles southeast of Sweetwater off Highway 68 (directions at hiwassee.edu).* Admission: $10 adults, $5 students.* Phone: 423-442-3210.* Website: monroearts.com.LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN* What: "Alice in Wonderland."* When: 7 p.m. Feb. 4, 1 p.m. Feb. 5.* Where: Fairyland Elementary School, 1306 Lula Lake Road.* Admission: $10 adults, $5 students.* Phone: 706-820-1171.* Website: www.walkerschools.org (click on Schools, then FE)SAVE THE DATEMissoula Children's Theatre will begin residencies in two more towns in the region this spring.* Week of April 4: Museum Center at Five Points, Cleveland, Tenn., "The Tortoise and the Hare."* Week of June 13: Harris Arts Center, Calhoun, Ga., "The Little Mermaid."
Molly Ballenger made her stage debut two years ago as a dancing Dust Bunny in a production of "The Princess and the Pea." The fun she had in that nonspeaking role led her to try out last year for "Pinocchio," said her mother, Lee Ballenger. As a Pleasure Island Kid, Molly learned a few lines of dialogue and a couple of songs.
The 9-year-old fourth-grader is hoping to be involved next week when Fairyland Elementary hosts a return visit by Missoula Children's Theatre. Auditions for "Alice in Wonderland" will be held Monday, and public performances are scheduled at the end of the week.
The tours are a 40-year-tradition for MCT Inc., which also produces a children's theater and a community theater in Missoula, Mont. Each year, up to 1,300 communities host one of the 48 teams of actors/directors in weeklong residencies, according to www.mctinc.org.
They arrive with everything needed to mount a show -- except the cast. The productions are adaptations of old favorites, with the plots thickened for greater participation.
In Madisonville, Tenn., the Missoula production of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," to be presented Saturday, features not just the eight title characters but 60 local children in grades K-12.
"It's amazing what they can accomplish in a week," said Mary Hendershot, executive director of the Monroe Area Council for the Arts. This is the 13th year MACA has hosted Missoula, she said, and past participants have gone on to community theater.
"It inspires them to pursue other things," Hendershot said.
By mid-June, arts centers in Calhoun, Ga., and Cleveland, Tenn., also are due for the Missoula magic: a whirlwind week of rehearsals culminating in a stage full of young thespians ready for the spotlight.
Ballenger said Missoula's bag of tricks is impressive, particularly "when you think what it would take for a school to produce something so elaborate."
"They bring the set, all the costumes, all the makeup," she said. "It's so well done."