SHORT AND SWEET : It’s a Wonder How Missoula Children’s Theatre Puts ‘Alice’ Together So Fast

As a veteran of family car trips, I have a special admiration for the blue genie in “Aladdin.” Not only can this guy zap up a truckload of baklava and belly-dancing camels without breaking a nail, when it’s time to hit the road, he can stow all those wondrous powers in a space smaller than your average lunch box.

But even the genie could take some pointers from the folks of the Missoula Children’s Theatre. This season, the Montana-based touring company will send 17 two-person teams across the United States and beyond, cramming enough good stuff into a standard mini-truck to build self-esteem and learning skills in 35,000 young people.

Toting costumes, technical equipment and years of theatrical know-how, one of those teams arrived in Costa Mesa on Monday. Its mission: to select 50 young actors ages 6 to 14 and, in less than a week, help the youngsters create a fully staged performance. On Friday, audiences can share in the payoff when the kids and MCT actor-directors Julie Grover and Troy Rudeseal present a musical version of “Alice in Wonderland” in the Robert B. Moore Theatre at Orange Coast College.

MCT, founded in 1970, was originally intended to bring theatrical experience to children in out-of-the-way spots such as tiny Sunburst, Mont., where the company recently marked its 20th visit. It has since expanded its reach into larger markets and now involves youngsters from Chicago’s Southside to Tokyo, with tentative plans for tours in England, Germany and Turkey. The company, headed by founder Jim Caron, has about 20 different scripts in its repertoire, all of them based on classic children’s stories.

“Alice,” adapted by former MCT company member David Simmons, is the eighth production in as many years at OCC (past shows have included versions of “The Fisherman and His Wife” and “Snow White”) but, according to Caron, this one is something of a departure from MCT tradition. Normally, to include the maximum number of actors, the shows are written to include large choruses. But, except for a few lobsters, the majority of roles in “Alice” are speaking parts. And, added Caron, because the title role is especially demanding, MCT teams divide the part among three actresses of three different sizes.

(In Costa Mesa, Alice will be played by Corinne Hart, 12, of Huntington Beach; Marisha Goldhamer, 12, of Fountain Valley; and Ashley Thomas, 13, of Irvine.)

The decision not only allows more girls to play a central part, it also neatly solves the technical problems posed by Alice’s growth spurts. Caron won’t reveal how the actors manage Alice’s telescoping size except to say that it happens “in the blink of an eye” and enhances the show’s “general zaniness and fun.”

“Alice” is a combination of characters and scenes from Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking-Glass.” There are familiar characters such as the Mad Hatter, the Dormouse, the Queen of Hearts and the White Rabbit, as well as a handful of quirky fantasy animals.

To help youngsters portray this colorful crew, MCT designers had to create costumes that were more exotic than those of their typical show, but could still be easily altered with ties, Velcro or snaps to fit the dozens of differently shaped children who would wear them.

The effort was worth it, said Caron, because of the way “Alice’s” untraditional characters have helped youngsters unleash their creative abilities. “And,” he added, “our directors like it because they can transform the characters more to suit each kid’s abilities.”

Helping children mold their roles to themselves, instead of the other way around, is one of the most important ways MCT advances its goal of building self-esteem through a positive on-stage experience, explained Caron. And the brief rehearsal period helps underscore the message.

“The kids are put in a situation where they have to work intensely on a project,” noted Caron, “and at the end of the week at the show, when their family and friends and the kid who makes fun of them on the schoolyard stands up and cheers for them, you can see them thinking. They spell it out for themselves: ‘Hey, if I study for that test as intensely as I rehearsed for that show, I’m going to get an A.’ They’ve made the connection between performance and real life.”

Of course, the kids aren’t the only ones getting the benefits.

“We had a letter last month from the mother of a 6-year-old paraplegic girl,” recalled Caron. “It seemed the tour directors managed to blend her into the show so it was hardly noticeable that she was in a wheelchair.

“Her mother wrote that for a week ‘you have taken the word handicapped out of our lives, and we thank you.’ If stuff like that happened once a year, it would make all this worthwhile. And it happens all the time.”