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.