Children’s classic ‘Snow White’ opens on Mitchell stage today

• Magic mirror

Abigail Adams, left, who plays the Queen and Sammy Pooley, the magic mirror at a rehearsal for the Mitchell Area Community Theatre children’s production of “Snow White.” The MACT show opens at 7:30 p.m. today at the Pepsi-Cola Theatre for the Performing Arts. (Jennifer Jungwirth/Republic)

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The Mitchell Area Community Theatre will hold its summer children’s theater program this weekend.

The childhood classic “Snow White” was chosen, and the show opens tonight on the Mitchell stage.

“Snow White” is at 7:30 p.m. at the Pepsi-Cola Theatre for the Performing Arts. The show is also at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $5 and are available at the theater or by calling 996-9137.

Each year, the MACT selects a children’s play. This year, directors Allison Day and Brianna Sejnoha chose “Snow White” because of its “cute script” and its inclusion of a large cast. Thirty-five children were cast in “Snow White.” Thirty-eight are involved with the production, including those that help behind the scenes with lights and costumes.

The script follows the original format of the classic Disney version of “Snow White.” However, the character names differ to make it more comical, Day said. Instead of “Sneezy,” “Sleepy” and “Happy,” there are “A-Choo,” “Snores-ALot” and “Giggle-Toes.” And instead of “Prince Charming,” the “Huntsman” is the one that can awake Snow White from slumber.

Day, who will be a senior at Mitchell High School, and Sejnoha, who will be a freshman at Augustana College this fall, have both been involved in theater. They started rehearsing with the cast two weeks ago, with the help of parents. The cast was split into sections, so not all the kids had to show up to rehearsal at once.

Handling almost 40 youth has been challenging, Day said, especially with all the excitement being in a play has brought to them.

Although a young cast, Day and Sejnoha said that the students have really begun to understand how to develop characters on stage, especially those characters that are opposite of their normal behavior.

“We tell them you’re a completely different person than you are in real life. It’s confusing for them at first, but after a while they get familiar with the idea that they can be someone else,” Sejnoha said.

“I’m not afraid to be myself. I like to go out there and just ‘Ahhh,’ ” said 11-yearold Thea Patrick while throwing her hands in the air with dramatic flair.

Patrick, who plays the Evil Queen, said her part was easy to get into. She was able to use a lot of “crazy actions and have a crazy voice” for her part. Having the infamous poison apple as her prop was fun, too, she said.

Patrick’s castmate, Abigail Adams, plays the Queen.

“I get to have a lot of attitude and expression,” Adams said.

Tags: life, entertainment, theater, youth