Local students to perform Sleeping Beauty

Chance Carter and Alyssa Cooper of Missoula Children's Theatre are in Cathlamet this week to direct Wahkiakum School District students in a production of Sleeping Beauty.

All 40 K-12 students who auditioned for the play were cast, including Matthew Hargrove, 13, who will accompany the performance on piano. On Tuesday, he was already zealously practicing the music for Saturday's performance. He saw the music for the first time on Monday.

The two directors, Carter and Cooper also led three workshops this week. The first was a Marvelous Mini Musical with kindergarten students. They took sixth grade drama students through drama games and third and fourth grade students learned about stage makeup.

The students will practice after school every day this week. There will be two performances on Saturday. The first is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. followed by a second showing at 5:30 p.m.

Tickets are $8 for adults and $6 for students at the door. Tickets are $6 for adults and $4 for students if purchased before Saturday.

This year the WHS Broadcast Club will film the play and sell copies of the recording.

This is the seventh year that Tina Merz, a teacher at the John C. Thomas Middle School, has been involved.

"We paid for this year's Missoula Children's Theatre with what we made last year," Merz said. "We didn't have to fundraise. We don't make any money, just enough to bring them back each year."

Merz expressed gratitude to Columbia River Ranch for housing the two actor/directors from MCT.