Starting them young with no strings attached: Missoula Children's Theatre's "Pinocchio&

On Nov. 2, children from the community of La Crosse performed “Pinocchio” in the main theatre of Viterbo University’s Fine Arts Center. The show was directed and produced by members of the Missoula Children’s Theatre (MCT), a traveling nonprofit that seeks to kindle a love for the performing arts in children around the world.

Auditions for “Pinocchio” were held the afternoon of Oct. 28, less than a week before the two performances. MCT brought the set, score, script, costumes—everything necessary for the production, save a cast, which the community of La Crosse was happy to provide. It’s theatre in a highly condensed form and, for many of the children who participated, this was likely their first experience participating in a performance of this kind.

The plot was straightforward; the delivery charming. Elderly woodcarver Geppetto wishes that her “most handsome puppet” could be her son, and the Blue Fairy, who watches over the enchanted trees from which that puppet was made, grants Geppetto’s wish. Pinocchio must then prove that he can be good in order to complete his transformation into a real boy, but that proves difficult in the midst of such bad influences as the mean-spirited Stromboli, the conniving and desperate Fox and Cat, and the lazy Candlewick and his “far-out” gang.

In the end, with just a little help from his conscience, Jiminy Cricket, Pinocchio manages to not only save himself and his mother from a whale that has swallowed her, but also to prove himself worthy of becoming a real boy.

Obviously, given its time constraints, this show wasn’t the pinnacle of theatrical achievement, but that’s okay—perfection was never the goal. Rather, MCT aims to give children, everywhere, the opportunity to be a part of a community arts effort. And who knows? Maybe some of the performers from this production of “Pinocchio” will decide to pursue ever greater artistic and theatrical goals in adulthood—maybe even through Viterbo’s own theatre programs—and they’ll have MCT to thank for helping them discover a passion they otherwise wouldn’t have known that they had.