Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher Veloicaza | SINGAPORE (July 29, 2016) – The U.S. Navy Region Center Singapore (NRCS) community...... read more read more
SINGAPORE (July 29, 2016) – The U.S. Navy Region Center Singapore (NRCS) community shared laughter and drama as the Missoula Children’s Theatre (MCT) actors and tour directors along with children of military service members and DoD civilians assigned to NRCS, took to the stage July 29, 2016, to perform a rendition of Aladdin at the upper patio of the Terror Club.
The performance featured a small group of NRCS children and Missoula actors who rehearsed during the week prior to the performance. For the MCT tour directors, these performances are a great venue in bringing the military community together.
“This has been a very busy week in that we rehearsed several hours a day leading up to the final performance,” said Carlysle Garland, tour actor/director with Missoula Children’s Theatre. “One of the basic tenets that we and Missoula Children’s Theater promote is teamwork."
During the performance, Garland welcomed the audience and gave a short prologue to the play. In this rendition, Aladdin obtains the magic lamp of the genie with wishes to date princess Dory, played by Sadie Edlavitch. Along his journey, Aladdin who was played by Kainalu Szewczyk, sought advice from and his mother and the Genie, played by Garland. In the meantime, plotting in the shadows to steal the lamp from Aladdin was the Sultan, played by Ben Edlavitch. The Sultan was successful in stealing the lamp from Aladdin but soon realized he didn’t know how to summon the genie.
Meanwhile, princess Dory and Aladdin both had a successful date without Genie’s support as Aladdin found out that being himself was all that was needed to gain the admiration of the princess. Towards the end, the Sultan, was not able to summon Genie and eventually returned the lamp to Aladdin and all was forgiven.
For Szewczyk, playing a lead role in the play was an eye-opening experience.
“Playing the main character was very exciting and I enjoyed learning all my lines and imagining how Aladdin would say them and how he would act,” Szewczyk added. “This was my first acting experience so I was very happy to be chosen for the part. Learning how to act was fun and when we auditioned, the tour directors gave us the opportunity to act in different situations and as different people. This has sparked my interest in acting for sure, and inspires me to want to be on the Disney Channel or Nickelodeon that much more!”
According to Garland, these performances are an excellent way to boost an individual’s confidence and overcome the fear of being in front of large audiences. In addition, participating in Missoula Children’s Theater productions are just plain fun. Even for those who only had small roles in the play.
“My favorite part of being in this play is the acting and going over the scripts,” said Matthew Deguire, who played a vagabond. “It helped me to feel comfortable so much that I really look forward to being in the next play.”
With the week-long rehearsals and time spent with the children, the entire effort definitely made an indelible impact among the Navy Region Singapore community and its youth.
“I’m actually a little sad the experience is over,” Szewczyk said. “The tour directors were great to work with and it was cool getting to know the other kids and even make a few more friends who share a common interest. It was also interesting (and helpful) to see other kids acting skills and abilities.”
As the world's largest touring children's theatre, the MCT International Tour has filled an important morale-building need on U.S. military bases for over 20 years, according to the official MCT website. The organization contracts with U.S. Navy Child & Youth Programs (CYP), Air Force Youth Services and Army Child & Youth Services (CYS). The MCT International Tour makes regular stops to Singapore and with the success of this season’s performance, the NRCS community looks forward to their return later this year.
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| Date Taken: | 07.29.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 08.05.2016 04:07 |
| Story ID: | 206158 |
| Location: | SG |
| Web Views: | 193 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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