FREE RESOURCES: Behind the Scenes [ Page 8 ]
Background info about the stories and themes of ArtReach's plays
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This page (Page #8) has stories and helpful info from behind the scenes of ArtReach productions!  Push back the curtain and check out all these great ArtReach titles: Treasure Island, The Reluctant Dragon.  Don’t forget, a Teachers Guide will come with your School Play Package and contain lots more background articles and info about your play!

Pirates! Sword fights! Gold!
Eastern Oregon Regional Theatre performs ArtReach's Musical Treasure Island

 By Lisa Britton Go! Eastern Oregon, Baker City

Jim Hawkins is having a bad day.

It's one of those days where nothing goes right.  First, he missed the school bus.  Then he dropped his essay in the mud and couldn't present it to his class.

"The kids are having a ball. It's a fun one."
Treasure Island for Kids to Perform Treasure Island Musical Playscript
Characters of ArtReach's Treasure Island (from left, Scarlett Scott, Zoe Griffin, Marilyn Novak and Marquesa Peterson)
come to life in a production by Eastern Oregon Regional Theater.
Also, Siena Heights University School Tour, Adrian MI

And when he gets home, he finds out his mom is making tofu patties and bean sprouts for dinner.  "What is this? Torture Jim Hawkins Day?" he says.  He ends up in his room until he changes his attitude.  Frustrated, Jim just wishes that people had more imagination and less work and school and tofu.  He'd rather be a pirate sailing the high seas and searching for gold and fighting with a sword. 

Then, suddenly, there's a knock at the door and in strides Billy Bones, a "nightmare of a pirate" who demands that Jim fetches his sea chest.  And just like that, Jim Hawkins plunges into the world of "Treasure Island" in this youth production presented by Eastern Oregon Regional Theater. 

"The kids are having a ball. It's a fun one," said Cindy Ratterman, who is directing the play.

"In strides Billy Bones, a 'nightmare of a pirate'"
Billy Bones is pirate in Treasrue Island Play Kids Perform in Treasure Island
ArtReach's Treasure Island - Siena Heights University School Tour, Adrian MI

The cast of 24 ranges in age from 5 to 16 - plus one adult, John Brockman, who plays Long John Silver.  

The show opens Friday, April 12 at 6 p.m. with a special ticket price of $8.  More performances are set for Saturday, April 13 at 6 p.m. and Sunday, April 14, at 3 p.m. Tickets are $10 adults, $8 EORT members and $5 students. 

The second weekend of shows is April 19-21 - 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday.  All shows are at the theater, 2101 Main St.  New and familiar faces Ratterman said auditions drew a lot of youngsters who are new to the stage, in addition to actors who will be familiar to the audience. 

Rehearsals started about two months ago, and the actors have learned lines as well as songs and dances.  And the audience can join, as well.  "There are fun songs - people can sing along with us," Ratterman said. 

"There are fun songs - people can sing along with us."
Musical Playscript for Kids Junior Play for Kids Treasure Island Musical Play
ArtReach's Treasure Island - Siena Heights University School Tour, Adrian MI

"It'll be an immersive experience," Marquesa Peterson, who plays Captain Smollett, said with a smile.  She and Justin Wolfe, who plays Billy Bones, are the lone high schoolers in the play.  Although the play is based on the novel "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson, it has been adapted by Kathryn Schultz Miller to be "a musical participation play for young people to perform." 

Ratterman said the kids have helped build props, such as treasure chests made out of cardboard boxes. Also, the play requires set changes and the cast helps change scenes from Jim's bedroom to a ship on the ocean to the jungle at Skull Island. 

The play runs about an hour. To buy tickets in advance, visit easternoregonregionaltheatre.com or call 541-523-9652. Tickets are also sold at the door.   "Treasure Island'  This youth production is presented by Eastern Oregon Regional Theater over two weekends: April 12-14 and April 19-21.

Orr's Rising Stars bring ArtReach's 'The Reluctant Dragon' to life
TAMI MOSSER Staff Writer, The Daily Record

ORRVILLE -- They're called the Rising Stars, and this time, they're going to tell a tale about a dragon.

The youth theater division of the Orrville Community Theater will present "The Reluctant Dragon" on Saturday, Oct. 22, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 23, at 2:30 p.m. at the theater in the Save-A-Lot Plaza on Hostetler Road in Orrville.

A minimum $5 donation per person is asked for tickets, which are available at the door or by calling 330-439-2051.

According to director Staci Hochstrasser, "The Reluctant Dragon" is "the story of a king who hears there's a dragon and wants him killed, but then realizes he is a nice dragon and wants to save him."

"12-member cast has kids ranging in age from 7-12."
Reluctant Dragon in ArtReach's play Students Perform in classic play
A Children's Theatre, Mesilla, Las Cruces NM - ArtReach's The Reluctant Dragon

The play is based on an 1898 children's story by Kenneth Grahame and formed the outline of a 1941 Disney film. The script being used by the Rising Stars cast has been adapted by Kathryn Schultz Miller and is offered through ArtReach Children's Theater Plays.

The 12-member cast includes children ranging in age from 7-12, Hochstrasser said. "We have kids from Wooster, Orrville and Norton, Wadsworth," she said, "so we have them from a lot of surrounding areas." 

"It helps get them out of their shyness."
Children's Playscript for Reluctant Dragon Reluctant Dragon written for kids to perform
A Children's Theatre, Mesilla, Las Cruces NM - ArtReach's The Reluctant Dragon

The idea, the director said, is not just to learn lines, go on stage and say them. The Rising Stars program is, rather, a workshop-type experience in which young actors can learn their craft and it is hoped they have fun, too. "It helps get them out of their shyness and their shells," Hochstrasser said.

Following "The Reluctant Dragon," will be the organization's annual Christmas musical, "Christmas Double Play," which will be performed Dec. 2, 3, 9 and 10 at 7 p.m. and Dec. 4 and 11 at 2:30 p.m. For more information, contact the theater at 330-439-2051.

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