The Frog Prince Cast Takes The George Daily Auditorium Stage
Missoula Director Shelby Coleman works with kids during 2017 auditions. (photo provided)
OSKALOOSA, IA — Oskaloosa’s finest young actors take the stage in The Frog Prince on Saturday, January 21 when Missoula Children’s Theatre and 64 local students pair up for two performances. Deep in the royal swamp, a lonely Frog retrieves a golden ball for Princess Prim in exchange for friendship, but the spoiled princess doesn’t want to live up to her part of the bargain. With the help of the other swamp residents, Frog realizes that friendships are made, not bought.
The local cast features Maycie Stanbro as the Swamp Frog, Andrew O’Day as the Castle Frog, Taylor Deney as Ollie the Aspen Tree, as well as Natalie Wayne as the promise-breaking Princess Prim. Her sisters, Princess Proper and Princess Peppy, are played by Isabel Harvey and Abby Brees. Grace Richardson, Jade Ryan, Emme Josko, Gavin Higgins, Abigail Lindgren, Elijah Pearce, Jade Whitley, and Rhiya Massey play the bumbling Knights. Soren Pearce is featured as the Alligator and the slimy, yet kindly, Swamp Things are played by Finley Pearce, Maxwell Pearce, Anderson Keough, Elliot Nelson, Marshall Smith, Madi Hol, Morgan Drost, Annalysa Baker, Max Josko, Lydia Rayl, Bella Pollock, Isabella Stutting, Anna Vermillion, Matthew Phillips, and Emma Chamberlin. The Flashy Flamingos are Gabrielle Atwood, Amber Lindley, Brooke Richardson, Amari Trujillo, Sarafina Gituma, Breauna Fenton, Sarah Phillips, and Reagan Higgins. The Ducks are played by Lauren Patton, Arianah Edwards, Opal Toornstra, Kylynne Roberts, and Owen Jensen. Molly Prendergast plays the busy Fly, trying to make a quick escape from the nasty Venus Fly Traps played by Lillian Carr, Isis Edwards, Noah Jensen, Makenzie Banicky, Aniston Fairbank, Lilia Morris, Ruby Prendergast, Alexis Anderson, Cadence Stutting, Aubrey Kaisand, Tierney Thomes, Juliet Josko, Malcolm Toornstra, Sam Gillespie, Fiona McDaniel, and Parker Morrison. Serving as Assistant Directors are Becca Sirovy, Isaiah Winegar, Joanna Thury, and Gareth Stefanc.
The touring directors arrived on Monday with a set, costumes, props, and make-up – everything it takes to put on a play except the actors. The team held an open audition on January 16th and cast 64 local students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The kids will spend the week learning their lines, blocking, music, and choreography in order to perform twice on Saturday, just five days later.
“We always look forward to this week, because it’s a professional show that features kids from Oskaloosa and surround communities,” said Education Director Andy McGuire. “It’s nice that we’ve been able to do this for 17 years because it shows we’ve been able to value our youth enough to make them part of our professional season. We have a great group of young people who work hard all week and it’s really fun to see.”
Don’t miss The Frog Prince at the George Daily Auditorium on Saturday, January 21st at 3 p.m. and again at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $5 for students and $10 for adults and are available by calling 641-672-0799, online at www.georgedaily.org, or at the George Daily Auditorium box office. Missoula Children’s Theatre is sponsored by MidWestOne Bank and Kiwanis Club of Oskaloosa.
