MONROE - Rain on Saturday canceled a lot of activities, but for 10 kids at The Stage on 16th Avenue, fur and feathers were a flyin'.
A Monroe Theatre Guild workshop, Masks and Mime, gave the young actors, ages 8-12, an opportunity to create masks and perform "Peter and The Wolf," an instrumental fairy-tale about a little boy and his woodland friends.
"(For) Some kids who just don't like to speak, they can put on a mask and be someone else," said Suzanne Miller, one of the workshop instructors.
The workshop started at 10 a.m. with the participants reading the story of Peter and the Wolf.
In just five hours, each student chose an acting part in the production; made a mask to match the part; and learned to use only body and hand movements to retell the story.
At 3 p.m., they presented their work to friends and family at the theater.
"I like working with fake fur," Carley Berndt said. She also liked scaring the audience with her costume, she added.
Berndt, 12, and Abigail Carus, 11, shared the part of The Wolf. They were busy cutting fur to create their own unique wolf mask, while Bird, Duck and Cat were rehearsing on stage.
Ruth Joy Tuttle, 9, played Bird.
"My favorite part was the gluing. I don't know why, but I like to glue," she said.
Tuttle's parents, Craig and Helen Tuttle, Monroe, thought the play was "great," and said they did not have to coax Ruth Joy to participate in the workshop.
"We just told her about it, and she wanted to do it right away," her mother said.
Ruth Joy said she likes to act, but when she found out the workshop instructors were Miller and Nadine Whiteman, she was "all for it." Miller had been her art teacher, and Whiteman goes to her church.
Katie Miller, 9, playing Cat, liked painting the masks, but being on stage was "very fun," she said.
"I love to have a main part. I love being on stage; it's just my thing," she said.
Rachel Meier, 9, said she was the only one who wanted to be Grandfather. Her mask sported a very long white beard.
Emma Gunter, 9, played Peter, and Jillian Heidenreich, 9, played Duck.
Jacob Meier, 9; Joe Hauck, 8; and Hallie Signer, 8, shared the part of The Hunter.
"You get to use (Nerf) guns," said Meier, about his chosen part.
Hauck agreed. "It's a real cool part. You get to shoot people (in the audience)," he said.
Signer didn't have a pat answer for why she chose to be one of the hunters.
Her mother, Tracy Signer, appreciates the Monroe Theatre Guild Youth Workshops.
"They are perfectly suited for this age group," she said. "They're well-run, and they have wonderful instructors and assistants."
Whiteman and her daughter, Anna, directed the actors through their blitz rehearsals.
Whiteman said she had not directed a production of Peter and The Wolf in about 15 years.
"And not with masks," she said. "This is a whole new experience."
The Masks and Mime participants enjoyed a full day of theater experience in acting and costumes and got to take their masks home. Even Duck, who somehow was saved, had a good head of feathers left.
Peter and the Wolf was written in just two weeks in April 1936 by Sergei Prokofiev for a children's theater in Moscow. He constructed the music as a child's introduction to the orchestra. Each character has a musical theme played by different instruments: Peter by the strings, the bird by the flute, the duck by the oboe, the cat by the clarinet, the wolf by the French horn section, the hunter by the Timpani drums, Grandfather by the bassoon.
The Mask and Mime workshop was the first of its kind for the MTG's Stage Right Youth Theatre Company series. The next workshop for 8- to 12-year-olds will be an eight-hour "Play In A Day" event May 2 for King Arthur and The Magical Sword and the Stone. The free performance will start at 4:30 p.m. at The Stage. The workshops are not free, but scholarships are available. For more information about the workshops and MTG, go to http://www.monroetheatre.com/.
A Monroe Theatre Guild workshop, Masks and Mime, gave the young actors, ages 8-12, an opportunity to create masks and perform "Peter and The Wolf," an instrumental fairy-tale about a little boy and his woodland friends.
"(For) Some kids who just don't like to speak, they can put on a mask and be someone else," said Suzanne Miller, one of the workshop instructors.
The workshop started at 10 a.m. with the participants reading the story of Peter and the Wolf.
In just five hours, each student chose an acting part in the production; made a mask to match the part; and learned to use only body and hand movements to retell the story.
At 3 p.m., they presented their work to friends and family at the theater.
"I like working with fake fur," Carley Berndt said. She also liked scaring the audience with her costume, she added.
Berndt, 12, and Abigail Carus, 11, shared the part of The Wolf. They were busy cutting fur to create their own unique wolf mask, while Bird, Duck and Cat were rehearsing on stage.
Ruth Joy Tuttle, 9, played Bird.
"My favorite part was the gluing. I don't know why, but I like to glue," she said.
Tuttle's parents, Craig and Helen Tuttle, Monroe, thought the play was "great," and said they did not have to coax Ruth Joy to participate in the workshop.
"We just told her about it, and she wanted to do it right away," her mother said.
Ruth Joy said she likes to act, but when she found out the workshop instructors were Miller and Nadine Whiteman, she was "all for it." Miller had been her art teacher, and Whiteman goes to her church.
Katie Miller, 9, playing Cat, liked painting the masks, but being on stage was "very fun," she said.
"I love to have a main part. I love being on stage; it's just my thing," she said.
Rachel Meier, 9, said she was the only one who wanted to be Grandfather. Her mask sported a very long white beard.
Emma Gunter, 9, played Peter, and Jillian Heidenreich, 9, played Duck.
Jacob Meier, 9; Joe Hauck, 8; and Hallie Signer, 8, shared the part of The Hunter.
"You get to use (Nerf) guns," said Meier, about his chosen part.
Hauck agreed. "It's a real cool part. You get to shoot people (in the audience)," he said.
Signer didn't have a pat answer for why she chose to be one of the hunters.
Her mother, Tracy Signer, appreciates the Monroe Theatre Guild Youth Workshops.
"They are perfectly suited for this age group," she said. "They're well-run, and they have wonderful instructors and assistants."
Whiteman and her daughter, Anna, directed the actors through their blitz rehearsals.
Whiteman said she had not directed a production of Peter and The Wolf in about 15 years.
"And not with masks," she said. "This is a whole new experience."
The Masks and Mime participants enjoyed a full day of theater experience in acting and costumes and got to take their masks home. Even Duck, who somehow was saved, had a good head of feathers left.
Peter and the Wolf was written in just two weeks in April 1936 by Sergei Prokofiev for a children's theater in Moscow. He constructed the music as a child's introduction to the orchestra. Each character has a musical theme played by different instruments: Peter by the strings, the bird by the flute, the duck by the oboe, the cat by the clarinet, the wolf by the French horn section, the hunter by the Timpani drums, Grandfather by the bassoon.
The Mask and Mime workshop was the first of its kind for the MTG's Stage Right Youth Theatre Company series. The next workshop for 8- to 12-year-olds will be an eight-hour "Play In A Day" event May 2 for King Arthur and The Magical Sword and the Stone. The free performance will start at 4:30 p.m. at The Stage. The workshops are not free, but scholarships are available. For more information about the workshops and MTG, go to http://www.monroetheatre.com/.