News

Actors teach the stage locally

By Scott Wagar

06/25/2013

Over the weekend at the Holwell Auditorium, numerous children from the local area presented a successful production of the Missoula Children’s Theater “Beauty Lou and the Country Beast,” which brought smiles and proud hearts to the theatergoers who attended the event.

MCT is a professional stage company from Missoula, Mont., which provides a week-long theatrical residency to local kids.

The children’s stage company has been touring for more than 30 years and visits close to 1,100 communities each year, which includes every state in the nation, four Canadian provinces and a number of countries overseas.

“Our mission is the development of life skills in children through participation in the performing arts,” stated the MCT’s website. “Creativity, social skills, goal achievement, communication skills and self-esteem are all characteristics that are attained through the participation in this unique and educational project.”

The theatrical group comes to communities with two professional tour actors-directors who drive themselves up in a red truck filled with costumes, props, make-up, sets and lighting to present a full-scale musical, along with workshops to teach kids about different aspects of theater and putting on a performances.  

What MCT doesn’t bring in the back-end of the truck are the actors who will perform in the musical – the actors are provided within the communities the play is being presented.

Making the trip to Bottineau from MCT this week includes actors-directors Jessilee Windhaus and Mario Orallo-Molinaro, along with Kepler Correia, MCT’s tour facilitator.

Windhaus is from Sacramento, Calif., and holds a bachelor of arts degree in theater and dance from California State University, Sacramento. In her professional career, she has played Maid Marian in “Robin Hood” and Hodel in “Fiddler on the Roof.”
Windhaus also has a passion for improv and is a member of the ComedySportz improv club in Sacramento.

Orallo-Molinaro is from Seattle, Wash., and is a graduate of Western Washington University with a bachelor of arts degree in theater arts. He has spent three summers employed with the Summer Youth Theater Institute at WWU; touring with the Mulitcultural Outreach Tour and being an improv ensemble member of the Upfront Theater and The Dead Poet Society at WWU.

This is Windhaus and Orallo-Molinaro first year with Missoula Children’s Theater and they are excited to be part of the MCT experience.

“When you do children’s theater, MCT is often the company that pops up as one of the most well known if not the best children’s theater to work for,” Windhaus said. “I teach improv to high school kids back home. So, I really kind of have a passion for teaching theater and such to kids.

“And, it is a really awarding experience. It’s great to see how happy it makes the kids and how it brings smiles to their faces,” Windhaus added. So, it is a cool thing to be part of, and as a performer it is a lot of fun doing a show like this that is kind of whacky and fun.”

Orallo-Molinaro stated that he became part of Missoula Children’s Theater for the same reason as Windhaus, and enjoys giving children the opportunity to be part of the stage, especially for children in rural areas.

“I like to teach them on how to be in front of a large crowd, especially for kids who have never in their lives been around large crowds,” Orallo-Molinaro said. “Bringing a show like this, and giving them the opportunity to say one line, or be an animal or creature, or transform into a character, it is really rewarding for them and for me.”

On Saturday the local kids gave two performances of “Beauty Lou and the Country Beast,” which was conceived and written by Jim Caron and music and lyrics created by Michael McGill.

The area kids sang, danced and performed with all their hearts, which touched the hearts of Windhaus and Orallo-Molinaro.

“Bottineau has been a great experience,” Windhaus said. The community has been nice, supportive, hospitable and the kids are a dream to work with. They (the children) are well behaved and have been loving to us.”

“This town has so much art,” Orallo-Molinaro said. “When the arts are being cut all around the country we get to come to a place like Bottineau where the arts has such a huge value; and, to see everyone team up and come together through the arts is such a huge treat for Jessilee and I.”

Correia stated that those actors-directors who get chosen to come to Bottineau are always the envy of those who do not. Correia said that when the actors-directors speak of the places they have been in this area of the country, Bottineau and its theater is always their favorite.

“The actors-directors know that when they come to Bottineau they are going to be spoiled by the people here with their generosity,” Correia said.
Windhaus and Orallo-Molinaro will be bringing the Missoula Children’s Theater to 10 different towns this summer in North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

After Windhaus and Orallo-Molinaro complete their summer, Windhaus will be going back to Sacramento to do stage performance and improv, while Orallo-Molinaro will first pursue an acting career with plans of teaching theater at the college level in the future.

Bottineau Community Theater and North Central Electric Cooperative sponsors the Missoula Children’s Theater visit to Bottineau.