Little Mermaid

Annabelle is taking part in a really cool activity this week. The Missoula Children's Theatre is in Elizabethtown, and she has been cast as a Sea Scout in their production of "Little Mermaid."

MCT is an amazing organization! They travel all over the country (and even overseas), putting on a show a week with children from the community. They bring the costumes, the scripts, and the props, but the talent is all local.

Monday afternoon was the audition. Annabelle was one of 148 kids vying for 50 to 60 parts. They stood the kids on stage by height in a giant circle and went around, over and over again, having them say things like their name and age (first in a regular voice, then in a snooty voice, then in a happy voice) and a couple of different lines ("So . . . ya wanna get married, eh?"). As they went around, the 2 directors would pull kids and move them around to different places in the circle.

It was a tense couple of hours, but Annabelle came away with a part, and so did her friend Matthew. (They are the only kids from their middle school who tried out. I saw a mom in uniform, but everybody else appears to be from off post.) This works out beautifully for me and Matthew's mom, as we are able to share the chauffering duties.

They rehearsed for 2 hours after the audition on Monday night. Yesterday and today rehearsals are from 6:30 to 8:30. On Thursday they are there from 4:00 to 8:30.

The curtain comes up on Friday, with a morning performance for area schools and a night-time public performance. Fred, Mike, and I are going to go on Saturday afternoon for the final show.

I can't wait! I got to see just a few minutes of rehearsal when I went to pick them up last night, and it's amazing how much they had accomplished in just 2 days.