MIRROR, MIRROR. . . : Local Talent Will Be Reflected in Missoula Children’s Theatre Production of ‘Snow White’

Until recently, my strongest impression of Montana came from Big John, a former college classmate whose idea of high art was target tobacco-spitting and a perfectly executed “Montana Charge,” a popular beer-drinking method that involved ingesting maximum brew in minimum time.

Fortunately, the Missoula Children’s Theatre has since raised my sights. Based in the university town of Missoula, MCT’s touring companies seek to boost children’s self-esteem by featuring them in professionally staged musical productions. On Saturday, roughly 50 Orange County children ages 5 to 18 will have that chance when they appear with company members Deny and Christine Staggs in two performances of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” at Orange Coast College’s Robert B. Moore Theatre in Costa Mesa.

Relative newlyweds (they married the day before their tour began in September), the Staggs are getting a crash course in parenting during their nine-month tour, juggling the roles of casting agents, directors, choreographers, morale-boosters and shoelace-tiers in every town they visit. They also appear in the show, (she as the wicked Queen Bella, he as Witless Woodsman turned Handsome Prince), but as company founder Jim Caron explains, it, their most important role, on stage and off, is to create a positive experience for their young cast.

“The adults are really there as safety valves,” Caron said by phone from MCT’s Front Street Theatre. “The plays are written so that often they are the ones who initiate dialogue or mood changes, but it’s just a way to support the children’s roles. Their primary purpose is to help the kids succeed.”

When it was first founded in 1970, MCT shows featured all-adult casts. Children were eventually added and in 1973, when the company was asked to perform “Snow White” in tiny Mile City, Mont. Caron, unwilling to take his young actors across the state in the middle of winter, hit upon the idea of combining local children with professional actors.

“This was a little cowboy town; I was nervous that we wouldn’t be able to find seven kids to play the dwarfs,” he recalls. “When we got there, there were 450 kids waiting to audition.”

Today, MCT has 10 two-person teams on the road each year, presenting one of 10 different adaptations of classic children’s stories. To date, more than 150,000 children in the United States and Canada, Singapore and Guam have participated in MCT shows, and a German tour is in the works for next spring.

In every town they visit, the teams hold open auditions. After casting, the young actors, many of them newcomers to the stage, participate in four intensive after-school rehearsals, learning basic choreography, blocking and characterization. The end result, said Caron, is a polished, energetic show for the community and a valuable “life skills” lesson for the cast.

“We’re in the business of teaching social and communication skills, of making sure that children succeed,” said Caron. “For us, the best part is when the curtain goes down and we see the light bulb go on over these kids’ heads as they realize they’ve done something wonderful in a disciplined way, and that those people out there are applauding for them.”

Children play an integral part behind the scenes, too. At each stop, six to eight high school youths act as assistant directors, helping to do everything from design lighting to running lines with the cast. The formula is a great help for all concerned, said Caron.

“With some of these kids who have directing experience, (the MCT team) can rough up a scene and leave, then come back an hour later and it’s as sharp as a tack.”

Not coincidentally, realizing one’s potential is the message in MCT’s version of “Snow White.” In Caron’s adaptation, those who gaze into the celebrated magic mirror are rewarded with a glimpse of their inner beauty.

Further script alterations have been made to adjust for the age differences of the show’s central characters. For example, after his encounter with the magic mirror turns him into the Handsome Prince, 27-year-old Deny Staggs must romance a Snow White as young as 12 or 13.

The solution? After the prince plants a gentlemanly kiss on the sleeping Snow’s forehead, the fair maiden’s lashes flutter open as she utters her first words to the man of her dreams.

“Yuk!”

What: The Missoula Children’s Theatre presents “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”

When: Saturday, Nov. 16, at 2 and 4 p.m.

Where: Robert B. Moore Theatre, Orange Coast College, 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa.

Whereabouts: From the San Diego (405) Freeway, exit at Fairview, and drive west. The theater is located near OCC’s Arlington Street entrance.

Wherewithal: $4 to $6 in advance; $5 to $8 at the door.

Where to call: (714) 432-5880.