Driftwood Children's Theater Presents: Cinderella by Ruth Newton

Cue the wavy lines across the television screen circa 1990 Saved by the Bell when Zach would reminisce about a dream that he had, and lets travel back to my living room where in a pink plastic camping chair in front of the TV is a younger me (6 yrs old to be exact) glued to the magic of Cinderella.  I loved the music and I loved GusGus, as much as one can love an animated mouse!

Cinderella holds a special place in my heart and childhood and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to interview Sara Henry, the Director/Producer of the Driftwood Children's Theater production of... drumroll ....Cinderella!

Sara, how long has Driftwood had a Children's Theater program?
Driftwood has had a "children's" theater program for 20+ years.  I got involved with Driftwood through children's theater over 20 years ago.  A few years ago the program faded into the background and then two years ago, I was offered the position of children's theater director.  (I accepted because I am crazy!) 

So, it is not a relatively new program! That is fantastic!

Who is involved in this weekends production and how are you involved?

I am the director/producer of "Cinderella" at McDermoth Elementary.  Alex Eddy is the musical director as well as having written the music and lyrics, Jerrod Phelps is the vocal coach, Anna Norkoski is the choreographer and Rhoda Norkoski is the pianist. 

From which school are the students who are performing from?

McDermoth PTO approached me last spring and asked if Driftwood, and me, would be interested in doing a kid's show there, instead of using Missoula.  I jumped at the opportunity because, not only is this a great opportunity for the kid's program at Driftwood, but it keeps it LOCAL!  Which is always a great thing!  The team began talking and meeting last summer to decide what show we would do.  Finally, in September, we decided to do Cinderella, by Ruth Newton.  

For those of us who are not familiar, Missoula Children's Theater is a traveling theater company that can be hired to come to your school and cast the students in a stage production.  However, as Sara said, it does not keep the Theater local, which makes what you wonderful people are doing so great!

Cinderella is a wonderful choice for a children's play. Will there be musical numbers as well?

We chopped up the script and told Alex "Ok, now turn what we cut out into songs!"  By mid-February we had a show!  

How long have these students been rehearsing?

We began rehearsing with the kids about 3 weeks ago.  It has been a lot of work with the kids in a very compressed amount of time.

Will other schools be able to participate in the future?

We have heard that other schools are interested but this is a full time job, and we as a team are volunteers and have spent countless hours outside of our other jobs (and all the other shows we do!) to do this, so we will have to be a little picky about what we choose to do next year.  Although, we would LOVE to do this again.  It has been such an awesome experience and a great opportunity for Driftwood!

Can you tell me the dates and times of the performance?
We open on Friday, May 11th at 6:00pm, have a show on Saturday, May 12th at 6:00pm and Sunday, May 13th at 1:00pm and it is FREE!  The show will take place at McDermoth Elementary.

Sara herself is an accomplished actor and I hope will not mind if we pull an old photo out of the vault from Grays Harbor College during her participation in the drama departments One Act Plays!

 photo courtesy of GHC