After 20 years, the Missoula Children’s Theatre to return

After an absence of 20 years, the Missoula Children’s Theatre is returning to the Belleville area to put area children on stage for a show.
On Nov. 14, the Belleville Area Council for the Arts received unanimous board approval to be a “presenter” of the theatre and approved sending a deposit of $500 to Missoula, Montana, to seal the contract.
Early plans call for the Missoula Children’s Theatre to come to town in the spring to help local children put on a play called “The Pied Piper.”
The total fee for the program is $3,700 and includes an open audition, intensive rehearsals, two public performances and three enrichment workshops. Additional services may be purchased. The $3,200 final payment is due the day of the performance.
As part of the deal, the Belleville Area Council for the Arts has the responsibility to provide: housing for two people for seven nights in either a homestay or motel, a piano and accompanist, two rehearsal spaces (one preferable the performance space, the other at least classroom size), and the “playing area” (the area in front of the set) which must be at least 28’ wide by 10’ high and 16’ deep.
The performance area and other details are yet to be determined said Barbara Rogalle Miller, who is organizing the project. She recalls the late Josephine Chapman and Mary Herring were very active in the early years of Missoula Theatre in this area.
The Missoula show history in Belleville:
• 1992: Beauty Lou and the Country Beast
• 1993: The Wizard of Oz
• 1994: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
• 1995: Alice in Wonderland
• 1996: Rumplestiltskin
• 1997: Pinocchio
• 1998: The Wiz of the West
• 1999: Sleeping Beauty
Miller said she remembers the first year they called for children to audition for the Missoula Children’s Theatre, only seven showed up. She said the last year it was here, 130 children showed up to audition.
Miller said she and her son Philip were driving home through Montana last summer, when they saw a sign for the community of Missoula.
“Do you want to go there?” Philip asked, Miller recalled. She did. That’s when they reconnected with the children’s theatre group and were pleased to find Missoula had a file on Belleville.
Miller brought the proposal to the Belleville Area Council for the Arts and BACA supported the project.