Begging, Crying, Meowing . . . and Sweating

Missoula Children's Theatre has been in Dickinson this week, and the girls have been participating daily in their workshops and rehearsals (recall this) culminating in two performances today of Cinderella. (The girls were in MCT's productions of The Little Mermaid last summer and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs the summer before.) The performances (and the rehearsals throughout the week) were at the public high school just a few blocks away, so Susan and I walked over to "take in the show" this afternoon. We were as proud as could be! Here are some details about Cinderella along with photographs of our little thespians:

Here's the entire troupe, including the two MCT staff, Josh (standing farthest left) and Danny (standing farthest right). As they travel from site to site with the show, they take turns acting and directing. In Dickinson it was Josh's turn to play Patches, a character whose purpose is to keep the plot moving along throughout each scene; and it was Danny's turn to direct. Anyhoo, can you spot the three Mobergs in the crowd?

Here, I'll zoom in to help you out. Now do you see all three of them?

Suzanna played one of the beggars. Compatriots of Patches, the beggars have several song/dance numbers with him, do most of the scenery shifts during scene changes, and ultimately have to beg outside the king's castle the night of the ball that Cinderella attends.

Hillary played Cleo, the cat. Cleo mostly fights with/runs from Fido, the dog; but both are transformed and put to use when Cinderella needs a proper staff to get her to the royal ball.

Abigail played one of the town criers. They make announcements for the king and assist the prince as he goes door to door after the ball, looking for the owner of the glass slipper left behind the night before. And they cry continually, whether making sad or happy announcements. (Get it? Town criers who cry all the time?)

Suzanna, Hillary, and Abigail pose following the performance. After all their begging, meowing, and crying, they were pooped. And after having done all that in heavy costumes in an auditorium without air conditioning, they were sweaty, too (as were we audience members, to be frank). They were too hot and sticky for hugs after the show, but once they got home and cleaned up, they got congratulatory hugs and kisses . . . and supper and dessert at Dairy Queen!

P.S. While we were eating at DQ, a group of teenagers came in with a few adults to eat. They caught our attention for a couple reasons: one, we overheard them talking about their being in town for a mission trip (perhaps to help victims of the tornadoes?); and two, one of them carried with him a life-sized cardboard cut-out of President Barack Obama!

The young man carrying the President displayed absolutely no embarrassment and behaved as though it were the most natural thing to be hefting him around. He tried to get the President to sit in a booth or in a chair at a table, but neither option worked because of the President's lack of flexibility. So the teen propped the six-foot-tall President atop a table and leaned him against the corner. The young guy's this-is-completely-ordinary demeanor, his groupmates' ongoing jokes about the cardboard cut-out, and the general ridiculousness of the situation overall had us laughing throughout the evening. How bizarre--and perfectly wonderful!

Before they left, the teen announced, "The President has to use the facilities"; and as he lugged the cut-out down the hallway to the restroom, I had visions of his taking photos of the President in front of a urinal. Inside the restaurant, he took photos of the President's taking a bite from a burger and taking a sip from a soda. Outside, he took photos of the President's posing near a tree and standing at the "May I take your order?" speaker for the drive-through window.

Who knows why this teenager had a life-sized cardboard cut-out of President Obama or what compelled him to lug it around Dickinson. But it was so silly and unexpected and harmless that we were grateful for the levity!