On Monday, April 24, the Missoula Children’s Theater’s little red pickup truck pulled into the parking lot ready for a six-day theater experience at Crown Point Junior Music Academy. Back in Pacific Beach for the third time this school year, Missoula Children’s Theater’s little red truck is no stranger to the area. In October 2022, PB Elementary School hosted “Johnny Appleseed” and in January PB Middle School presented “King Arthur’s Quest.”
Meet Evan Rumler and Morgan McCane, two Missoula Children’s Theater directors and actors who orchestrated the week-long Missoula Experience of “Rumpelstiltskin.”
Both Rumler and McCane have their bachelor of fine arts degrees from Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Ind. Rumler has been touring with MCT since May of 2022. Morgan has been on the road with MCT continuously for the last two years. McCane and Rumler are scheduled to visit about 45 schools this year.
MCT traces its serendipitous roots back to the summer of 1970 when Jim Caron, an unemployed actor, was searching for a mission in life, on his way from Chicago to a friend’s wedding in Oregon when his aging Volkswagen van broke down. The nearest service station was – fortunately and fatefully – in Missoula, Mont. While waiting for the van to be patched together, Caron noticed an audition poster for “Man of La Mancha.” Just for fun, he auditioned and was cast in the role of “Sancho.” He developed an instant and lasting friendship with Don Collins (the actor playing “Don Quixote”), and together they organized a company of adults to perform plays for children on a make-shift stage in a local movie theatre. The plays, as well as the idea of developing live theatre for kids, were well-received in Missoula. And the rest, as they say, is history.
So how did these directors organize an audition on the first afternoon? In a two-hour block?
Missoula directors Rumler and McCane took students through a 90-minute audition process. Rumler gave the nervous – yet soon-to-be actors – the secret to a successful audition: “Speak in a loud and clear voice, use big, exaggerated body and facial movements, and listen and follow directions the first time.”
This advice set the stage for the auditions to start. Students silently organized themselves into one large square, tallest to shortest, counted off in a loud voice, and expressively announced their first and last names and their age, and with that, the auditions were underway.
Next came the “line readings,” repeating a phrase or sentence back to McCane and Rumler with expressive and exaggerated facial expressions and gestures. Older students repeated: “I like my hamburger with ketchup, mustard, and onions… but no pickles.” The youngest actors repeated: “Get in the back… I’m driving.”
By 4:30 p.m. the auditions were over and “Rumpelstiltskin” had a cast.
On the second day of rehearsals, the villagers and principal cast members were first. Rumler started by teaching choral lines and introduced initial choreography steps. The younger cast members, the “bees” and the “gnomes,” were later on the second day’s rehearsal schedule. Each ensemble group of actors (wizards, villagers, gnomes, and busy bees) appears on stage several times during the play. Each group has choreography and lines to learn over the next three days.
“These next three days we run the show. We practice the individual scene’s songs, choreography, and dialogue each afternoon from 2:30-6:30 p.m.,” McCane said. “We practice the play all the way through.”
Friday was day five, the costumes came out. The “busy bees” got their wings and singers. The wizards finally dressed in their robes. The King and Queen are fitted for the crowns. Performance day was 24 hours away.
By 1:45 p.m. on Saturday a line formed for the 2:30 p.m. show. Standing room only! For the 5 p.m. performance, there is even less standing room.
