From left, Marty Wampler, Alexis Rindlisbacher, Jacob Wheeler, Michel Hitz and Devin Packard practice a song and dance for a performance with the Missoula Children’s Theatre in 2007.

PRAIRIE CITY – A one-hour production. Fifty-four young actors and actresses. It may not seem like much at first, but wait until you hear the rest of the story.

Tour actresses Chelle Robinson and Amanda Dyke arrived at Prairie City School on Monday morning, April 23, to conduct auditions for the Missoula Children’s Theatre’s latest production, “Beauty Lou and the Country Beast.”

By Friday, April 27, the child actors were ready to perform.

Students in kindergarten through grade 12 had been invited to audition, and those selected to perform had just four days to learn the performance from beginning to end. Their intense rehearsal schedule consisted of seven sessions (four-and-a-half hours a day) in the mornings and afternoons. Depending on how large the part, the student might attend one or all of the sessions.

In this short period of time, the children learned the required lines, staging, songs, and movement.

The play tells the story of young Beauty Lou, who is upset by an unappreciative miner at the county fair, who won the blue ribbon for his beautiful roses. In her anger, Beauty Lou wishes that he would “look like the beast he is.”

Years go by, and Buckaroo Bonnie (Beauty Lou’s mother), when in danger of losing the family farm, meets the miner-turned-beast. In order to save her family, Beauty Lou agrees to befriend him. Eventually, they both learn to look past first impressions and appearances to see the beauty inside.

The cast included: Younger Beauty Lou (Taytum Wise), Older Beauty Lou (Madison Purnell), Slim (Amy Black), Dusty (RJ Bryant), Fleabite Clyde (Kenny Purnell), the Beast and Imaginary Friend (Alex Titus), Younger Daughters (Hanna Demming, Samantha Molt, Amaya Zweygardt, Cynthia Puente, Marlayna Woodbury, and Tiffany Bryant), Older Daughters (Josie Sharp, Breanna Doty, Kailey Kell, Kristy Madsen, Kelly Woodworth, and Justice Strong), Country Folk (Karissa Richardson, Riley Sharp, Devin Packard, Chenise Mutchler, Garrett Hitz, Brandon Gillihan, Ethan Camarena, Marty Wampler, Karissa Keith, Dereke Clark, Jacob Wheeler, Michel Hitz, Caleb Madsen, and Alexis Rindlisbacher), Barnyard Critters (Marnie Woodbury, Josiah Hoeffner, Hailee Wright, Kayle Wright, Macy Strong, Adolfo Ceja, Haley Pfefferkorn, Patrick Wampler, Brianna Zweygardt, Veronica Rindlisbacher, Aramis Alvarez, Ariana Ceja, Morgan Wise, Megan Camarena, Sarah Ennis, Sierra Dahlen, Matthew Krisman, and Hayley Fast), and Assistant Directors (Triston Emmel and Marika Woodbury). Buckaroo Bonnie was played by both Robinson and Dyke.

The Missoula Children’s Theatre was co-founded by Jim Caron and Don Collins in 1970. Currently, MCT tours all 50 states, two Canadian territories and four provinces, and 16 countries. The mission is “the development of lifeskills in children through participation in the performing arts.”

Because this production takes so many students out of school, the classroom experience can be very interesting.

“We just keep plugging away,” said second-grade teacher Christie Winegar. “We do some review, and some fun stuff.”

“It’s a great opportunity for the kids to get up and perform in front of the community,” said Principal Kevin Purnell. “They have fun, learn that hard work and responsibility pay off, and produce a great product.”