For the past three years, Lowry Elementary School has hosted the Missoula Children's Theatre. My son, Connor, who's now a third-grader, would rather have his hair set on fire than perform publicly, so until this year, I never had any contact with Missoula beyond seeing the performances. This year, however, my daughter Janna is in kindergarten and was therefore eligible to audition. She's much more of an attention grabber than Connor is, so there was no question but that she was auditioning.
Missoula Children's Theatre provides a week-long residency "starring" 50-60 students in a full-scale musical. MCT has been touring now for more than 30 years in all 50 states and internationally. Their mission is the development of life skills in children through participation in the performing arts. A team of two professional tour actors/directors comes to Lowry with scenery, costumes, props, make-up and basic lighting--everything it takes to put on a play--except the cast. This week-long residency begins with an open group audition and culminates in two public performances. Fifty to sixty students are cast and rehearse throughout the week, learning lines, songs and choreography to perform as an ensemble in producing a full-length musical.
Following my friend Libby Neid's example, Janna and I discussed beforehand that she might not get a part. We ran through the scenarios of her getting a part but not her friends getting parts, and the opposite, namely that her friends would get parts but not her, and that she needed to be gracious and considerate, whatever the outcome.
When Lowry first hosted Missoula, back in 2006, the production was The Frog Prince. I can't remember how many children auditioned, but I do remember that there were too many children for everyone to get a part, and I heard stories second hand about parents who were really steamed the day after the auditions. Allegedly one father even went so far as to write a letter to the principal to complain that his kindergartener didn't get chosen.
In 2007, not as many Lowry students auditioned for The Little Mermaid, so MCT was able to find a role for everyone who came out. After the fall out from the prior year, the Lowry Parent Teacher Organization, which fully funds the cost of bringing MCT to the school, made sure parents were well aware in advance that auditioning did not guarantee a part in the play.
This year MCT is producing Robin Hood at Lowry. There was no school on Monday, January 7, so auditions were held right after school on Tuesday. The first step of the audition was for the kids to line up from tallest to shortest, and then they counted off: 87 children. Leanne Golledge, the parent liaison from the PTO, confirmed to me that there were only about 60 roles and that 27 children would indeed be leaving without having been given a part in the musical.
The tour directors from MCT, Steven Thomas and Samantha Cook, did an impressive job of auditioning so many children at one time. They demonstrated what they were looking for in cast members: loud voices and clear enunciation; exaggerated body movements so that even audience members in the back of the auditorium would understand the action; an ability to follow directions; and the commitment to attend all the rehearsals. Steven and Samantha kept the kids laughing and engaged for most of the two hour audition. The children had to go down the line saying their names and ages, first expressing happiness and then expressing anger. Steven and Samantha then had smaller groups of five to eight kids recite lines and perform action from the play. Some of the older children, particularly the girls, really hammed it up to get themselves noticed.
When the directors needed to confer between themselves, they gave the kids "discussion questions" such as, "What do you like best, dark chocolate, milk chocolate or white chocolate? Discuss it with your neighbors," to keep the kids occupied and to prevent them from overhearing.
About an hour and 30 minutes into the rehearsal, one of Janna's friends left the line and came over to where the parents were sitting to ask her mom for a drink. Janna soon followed. It was probably the kiss of death for both of them; the directors surely wouldn't want kids who weren't going to stay engaged through the long rehearsals.
Finally, the moment of truth. The kids all sat together in one big group in the middle of the auditorium, and the directors called up by name those children who had been selected. They started with the youngest kids, who will have non-speaking roles playing skunks. Only two kindergarteners were chosen and the rest were first graders. Janna wasn't one of the two picked.
Part of me was glad that Janna wasn't chosen. None of her closest friends was picked, either, and she never shed a tear. In fact, her first words to me were, "Can we do this again next year?" I am not an evening person, and the rehearsals go on from right after school until well past our bedtime. It would have been a stressful week, and Janna would have had to miss her ice skating lessons at Big Bear. Still, as a parent it's hard to acknowledge that everyone doesn't appreciate how wonderful, unique and charming your children are. And while Janna didn't display any disappointment, there were lots of kids who immediately burst into tears and, according to their parents, cried for hours.
I spoke with several parents whose children were bitterly disappointed and was pleasantly surprised by their upbeat attitudes. "Although no one wants to see their child disappointed, and Gigi was very disappointed, I think the experience has been very good for her, " explained Lisa Emerson, mother of second grader Gigi Emerson. "It is so important for children to learn how to deal with not being picked for something they really want to do. It gives us, as parents, the opportunity to guide our children through dealing with disappointment, looking for the good in it and thinking about how to do better next time, (or just encouraging them to try again next time). Our children will become better people if they can learn how to overcome disappointments in life, and this is a start to that lesson."
At Wednesday night's PTO meeting, PTO President Debbie Stark (disclosure: her youngest child got a part but not her oldest) said that she was hoping that next year, the parents can organize a choir with all the children who auditioned butdidn't get parts in the play. Debbie expanded on her rationale. "I know that we can not shelter our children from all disappointments. And when they do happen, it is an opportunity to teach them coping skills as well as how to bounce back and try again. That said, our school does not have a year-round drama program with many opportunities for our children to take the stage. This is the one opportunity for many of our young children to explore the theater and performance. It is a safe space for them to see how they like being in front of an audience - to teach them about the importance of practice and teamwork and self confidence and overcoming butterflies -- the beginnings of skills that are important throughout life. There is just no reason for enthusiastic youngsters with an interest in being in the play to be seen going home with tears in their eyes. They may not get the role they want, but we can certainly find a way to include them as part of the show by way of a chorus or other role in the production."
I like Debbie's idea and think it's a good compromise. Leanne Golledge told us that MCT even has songs that we can use for a chorus, although parent volunteers will have to do the teaching, since there's no time for the MCTdirectorsto take on an additional role. The kids are savvy enough to know that being in the chorus isn't the same as getting a role in the play, but at least they will be part of what's going on behind the scenes and they'll have a better understanding of what the production entails, and if they like it, they can start working on getting a shot for a role next year.