Missoula Children's Theatre directors Clara Hirsh and Amanda Elaine Dyke encourage students auditioning for roles in the next production "Wiz of the West." Students demonstrate their "I'm sooooo cold" acting ability. The theatre production is on stage at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m., Jan. 26 at the Rosemary Clarke Middle School. Tickets are $3 for students and $5 for adults. Advertisement

The Missoula Children's Theatre will perform for Pahrump this weekend.

MTC started with humble beginnings as a home-based effort in Missoula Mont., to produce theater. Now it is an international organization on a mission.

The mission statement is "the development of life-skills in children through participation in the performing arts" and it works like this.

Theoretically and in fact, life has changed drastically over the last 50 years. Childhood is no longer simple and rearing children is complicated by driving influences of achievement and success. From academics to sports and on to the social interaction of young people, pressure to get the best grades, score the most points or have the most friends is creating pressure on our children.

MCT approaches them with awareness of their conditional environment and strives to use participation in the performing arts as a vehicle to develop social skills, communication skills, self-discipline, a good work ethic, how to be a team player and promote self esteem.

Performances once limited to larger cities have branched out to include rural communities like Pahrump.

Loretta Lindell of the Pahrump Arts Council admits to being the catalyst that brought Missoula Children's Theatre here. "I lived in Montana for 15 years and knew of the children's theater," she said. "I brought the concept to Pahrump about eight years ago when the arts council started getting grant money from the town."

MTC has 18 sets of directors she said, and by scheduling ahead of time, Lindell says PAC can sponsor a children's theatre twice a year.

"The cost for bringing a set of directors here to do the performance is $2500. Plus we have other expenses, like advertising and accommodations," Lindell said.

The revenue from ticket purchases pays the overhead, the fee for the directors comes from grant money and whatever is left goes into the building fund for the proposed new cultural arts center, to be located in the Calvada Eye.

"Wiz of the West" is a musical take-off on The Wizard of Oz, and will be on stage in two performances on Saturday, Jan. 26.

The show starts at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. at the Rosemary Clarke Middle School. Tickets are $3 for students and $5 for adults, and are available in advance from ACE Hardware or just before show time at the door.

Call PAC, 751-6776 for more information.