Local children to star in 'The Jungle Book'

Monday night children from the Platte Valley gathered to audition for “The Jungle Book.” Friday and Saturday, they will perform for audiences after only four days of play practice, thanks to the Missoula Children’s Theatre.

The first performance is 6:30 p.m. Friday at the Platte Valley Community Center (PVCC). The second performance is at 2 p.m. Saturday at the PVCC.

The Missoula Children’s Theatre staff invites the Platte Valley to join them as they direct a 50 local students as a bunch of Jungle Book characters trying to catch a tiger by the tail. The Jungle Book is an original musical adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s classic.

The local cast of “The Jungle Book” includes Campbell Grabow as Mowgli and Chloe Schumaker as Young Mowgli (the man-cub), as well as Maya Zeiger as Bagheera (the panther) and Douglass Campbell as Akela (the leader of the pack), and Claribel Oiler, Shelby Randall, Haylie Wells, Nicole Bauer, Annamaria Aponte, Jaden Campbell, Katharine Backen and Makenzie Sheils make up the wolfpack.

Also featured are Kelsey Hytrek as Mother Wolf, Garrett Sperry as Father Wolf and Gabriel McDonald, Marilee Williams, Rebecca Irby and Kelli Ramiller as the Wolf pups. Katelyn Bifano is featured as Shere Khan and Sophia Powell plays his sidekick Tabaqui (the jackal). Nag and Nagaina (the cobras) are Sophia Diaz and Aspen Sewell. Darzee (the bird) is played by Madison Johnson, Charli Powell is featured as Hathi (the master elephant) and Makenna King performs the role of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi (the mongoose).

Other featured performers include Bethanny Illig (leader of Kaa), Mya Bower, Anna Bartholomew, Kelsy Muhamet, Dany Bateman, Samantha Fiedor, Emily Gonzales, Katherine Fiedor, and Bailey Glode as Kaa (the rock-python) and Graham Randall as Buck (a buck.) Monkeyin’ around throughout the entire show are the Monkey-People, played by Julia Butler, Koen Shahadey, Anthony Campbell, Nolan Sheils, Nathaniel Williams, Jolie Lusch, Audrey Schwerdt, Rachel McDonald, Taylen GrantierSwigert, Cody Sewell, Rosemary Hernandez, Maggie Elder and Natalie Follum. Kaitlyn Campbell, Kelly Glode and Savannah Wells have served as Assistant Directors all week.

Admission to both performances is by donation at the door. The Missoula Children’s Theatre residency in Saratoga is brought to you by the town of Saratoga with support from Carbon County School District No. 2 Recreation Board.