fbpx

It’s Pumpkin Time in Whitefish

By Beacon Staff

In a nearly empty theater, April Vogel sat at a piano and looked over a stack of scripts and notes. In front of her were four members of the Whitefish Theatre Co. Young Actor Performance Troupe, preparing for this year’s performance of “It’s Pumpkin Time, Charlie Brown!” – the classic Halloween tale by Charles Schulz.

“I can’t hear you!” she said, stopping often to give notes to the young performers, all between the ages 11 and 13.

After noting where they should stand, how they should recite their lines and where to look, the troupe began again, now going into the classic scene of Charlie Brown trying to kick the football Lucy’s holding.

“Can’t hear you!” she said again.

“This is how rehearsal works,” Vogel said.

And members of the Young Actor Performance Troupe, established by the theater company last year, have been attending a lot of rehearsals as they prepare for two shows on Saturday, Oct. 29 at the O’Shaughnessy Center in downtown Whitefish.

The troupe was established for children in grades six through 10. Twice a year auditions are held for spots on and off stage for two annual productions, keeping with the theme of “theatre for kids, by kids.”

Vogel is the theater’s director of education and organizes the youth performances. She started the program to give the young actors an outlet for their passion. A passion, she said, that provides life skills.

“I’m filling their tool box constantly with things that’ll make them good citizens,” she said.

Vogel picked Schulz’s Peanuts Halloween story because of the humor the play invokes and issues it addresses, even decades after the story was penned. She said while the primary audience is children, the story lines are relatable to any age.

With a number of items depicting Charlie Brown on her piano top, April Dawn Vogel directs Whitefish Theatre Company’s Young Actor Performance Troupe rehearsal of “It’s Pumpkin Time Charlie Brown!” at the O’Shaughnessy Center.

A highlight of the event will be a real pumpkin patch created inside the theater with pumpkins donated from Super 1 Foods. Kids will be able to sit among the pumpkins and some will be able to take one home. Vogel said it’s the perfect place for the community to pause for a moment and relax.

“We’re so fast paced and busy now, it’s great to have the kids come and sit in a pumpkin patch and enjoy the humor of Charles Schulz,” she said.

For the young actors who put on the show, it’s mostly about fun. All of the children participating have been in plays and shows before and Vogel said they are all advanced for their age, including 11-year-old Grayson Gorian.

“Well if you’re playing a mean character, you don’t get in trouble because you’re supposed to be mean,” she said. “And it’s fun and I like the costumes.”

All of the kids said they loved being in the plays, though their reactions were mixed as to if they wanted to do it for the rest of their lives. Some want to be famous, others secret agents.

Vogel said that whatever they do, they’ll be successful because of the skills they’ve learned on stage, including not being scared of being in front of a crowd.

“It’s scary at first because your heart is like ‘ba-boom, ba-boom’ and then you realize it’s just like rehearsal but they’re people in the seats,” Gorian said.

“It’s Pumpkin Time, Charlie Brown!” will be performed on Oct. 29 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. There is a suggested donation of $5.