FORT JACKSON, S.C. -- Look out Broadway; Fort Jackson's got talent.
Tomorrow the installation's youngest stars will get their chance to shine as they perform in a live musical.
Showtimes are 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. at the C.C. Pinckney Elementary School Auditorium, where Fort Jackson children will share the spotlight in the Missoula Children's Theatre's production, "Beauty Lou and the Country Beast."
"The show is going to be fantastic," said Mandi Jung, one of two Missoula actor/directors heading the production. "It's going to be funny, with lots of singing and lots of high-energy dancing. The audience is really going to be impressed."
Jung and her colleague, Matt Loehrke, held auditions Monday morning to cast about 50 children for the production, which is a modern-day interpretation of the classic fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast, but with a country-western twist.
Jung said she and Loehrke looked for very specific qualities in the mostly novice actors to cast for the show.
"We're looking for kids with a loud and clear voice and a big, expressive body and face," Jung said. "But more than anything, we're looking for kids who can follow directions and police their own behavior because we only have a week to put this together, and we want everyone to be really successful."
The cast members were required to commit to four days of four-hour rehearsals. Those chosen to be main players were required to stay for an extra two hours of rehearsal following Monday's audition.
"It's just a week, but it's hard work," Jung said. "A lot of these kids have never been in a play before, so there are going to be times during the week when they'll think it's too difficult."
By Day Two, some of the young thespians were already feeling the pressure.
Darius Dilworth, 9, who was cast in a key role as Dusty, a farmhand, stayed for the first rehearsal and began football practice that same night. He said he was reluctant to go back to rehearsal Tuesday morning.
"I was worn out from all that work," Darius said. "But I didn't want to quit."
And that's something his mother, Kim Dilworth, said she wouldn't let him do.
"I told him you can't participate one day and quit the next," Dilworth said. "So I told him to stick with it. This is a chance to experience what goes on behind the production of a play - to learn lines, to put in the work and be on stage. It's a great opportunity."
Cindy Andre-Noel, director of Outreach Services at Child, Youth and School Services, who helped coordinate the collaboration with the traveling theater company, said she thought participating in the program would give the children a chance to explore their talents and study the craft of acting.
"It's going to give the kids opportunities to learn how to express themselves," Andre-Noel said. "They'll also learn more about acting as a career. Some kids don't realize it is a profession, that there are people who teach acting, and that you don't necessarily have to be on the screen to be considered an actor or actress."
Darien Kronen, 12, who moved to Fort Jackson less than two weeks ago, said she hopes performing will help her overcome her shyness. Darien was cast as the young Beauty Lou.
"I think this will help me to be brave when I talk in front of people," Darien said.
Jung said children like Darien will learn more than just better public speaking.
"The great thing about theater is you get to practice being a human," Jung said. "You get to practice problem solving; you get to practice being a mother, or a sister; whoever you want to be.
"Through theater, we're teaching them skills like team building, self-confidence, articulation and movement," she said. "We're helping kids reach a new stage."
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