Missoula Children's Theater co-director Joe Godburn, left, goes through lines with "King Backwards," played by Alex Graff. Graff and more than 50 other area kids from first through 12th grade will present an unconventional version of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" on Saturday. (Lorri Sughroue/McCook Daily Gazette) [Click to enlarge]

Special to the Gazette

Venture into the terrifying Black Forest with Snow White and her friends this Saturday when the Missoula Children's Theatre and more than 50 local students perform "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs."

Billed as an original musical adaptation, it is safe to say that this is not Walt Disney's oscar-winning version of the Brothers Grimm story. Gone are Dopey, Bashful, Sneezy and Sleepy, having been replaced by characters like Whiner, Bob, Witless and King Backwards. Audiences of all ages will be treated to a fresh look at this classic favorite, for a performance that is sure to thrill audiences of all ages.

The local cast features Erin Premer as Snow White, Faith Swanson, Abigail Mohr and Joey Anderjaska as her forest friends, Phineas, Foxy and Fernando, and Alex Graff as the King.

Also featured are Elizabeth Weidner as Queen Bella, Trevor Carper and Joseph McCarty as the Queen's Henchmen, Laura McCarty as her Magic Mirror, and Ethan Hayes, Caitlin Hiatt, Steven Hinze, Lindi Johnson, Erik Nielsen, Allison Priddy and Allie Tolliver as the seven Dwarfs.

To complete the ensemble, Bethany Atkins, Savannah Fulgham, Sydney Johnson, Sarah Jones, Rachel Gordine, Anna Graff, Chris Messinger, Shelby Rowe and Madison Snyder will appear as the scary Black Forest Creatures.

Jakob Anderjaska, Raven Arasmith, Candace Coleman, Grace Rowe, Brynn Golden, Cleo Walker and Zane Walker appear as the band of evil Bats.

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Snow White's colorful variety of fearless Forest Animal friends will be played by: Tyler Carper, Shayne Coleman, Ahria Golden, Andrew Graff, Kylee Hauxwell, Megan Helberg, Chase Hurdle, Sophia Hutchinson, Kerrigan Klien, Hope Rowe, Sheina Reagan, Kelsey Schwab, Marshall Sides, Shelby Stevens, Sydney May Stewart, Courtney Thompson, Tori Tietz and Becca Tietz.

Throughout the week Asic Helberg has served as local Assistant Director to the professional tour director team of Sheena Bergeron and Joe Godburn of the Missoula Children's Theater.

"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" will be presented at 3 and 7 p.m. at the McCook High School Auditorium. Tickets for all seats are $4 and are available at the door.

The Missoula Children's Theatre residency in McCook is brought to you by The Southwest Nebraska Community Theater Association with support from The McCook Optimist Club and the McCook Arts Council.

Comprised entirely of K-12 students from Indianola, McCook, Culbertson, Cambridge, Hayes Center, Danbury, Stratton and even visiting students from Wisconsin, this cast anxiously auditioned for their roles at the beginning of the week and has been rehearsing for just a few short days.

The MCT tour directors are confident that you will be amazed by what they have accomplished as they present a production complete with singing and dancing.

MCT is proud to say that more than 65,000 young people will participate as performers in the Missoula Children's Theatre International Tour Project this season. More than 1,200 communities in all 50 states, two Canadian territories and four provinces and 16 countries will be visiting communities from Anacortes, Wash., to Andersen, Guam and even McCook, Neb.

Missoula Children's Theatre was founded in 1970. Today, 50 tour teams are currently touring the globe with original musical stage productions, written especially to provide intense and fun weeks of teaching life skills to young people through the art of theater.

For more information about this or future children's theater projects please feel free to call Trevor Premer at (308) 345-7419.