Kids Mat presents Once Upon a What???

The Malta High School auditorium was the scene of a rather hilarious play put on by the cast and crew from this year’s Kids Mat Summer Theatre Camp last Thursday. The play was hosted by Art Spot and Montana Actors’ Theatre.

The play named Once Upon a What???, was performed by a cast of twelve kids that spent four days learning the play under the direction of Kids Mat interns Oriah and Theron Williams of Havre.

“It was awesome,” Theron said. “It was amazing. Every time we do a kids camp, it changes us a little bit for the better. They are so creative. So generous and rambunctious, very energetic and it just makes the day fly by and you wish it were longer because you just have so much fun with them.”

The couple was very appreciative of the support from Malta’s local businesses and the families of the young actors and actresses.

“We had a lot of help from local sponsors,” Oriah said. “This is definitely the most sponsors we have ever had for a Kids Mat Camp. It was amazing to see the amount of support we received in Malta.”

As for the play itself, Gracie Nelson played a convincing mind control villain named Hypron in the Superhero Crew.

“I can hypnotize with my power,” Nelson said.

Nelson’s favorite part of the play was when she hypnotized Curious Girl played by Hallee Hencz.

Nelson mentioned that she was comfortable on stage, but she had some jitters.

“I was still terrified but I tried to be brave,” Nelson said.

In the play, Nelson also had the chance to hypnotize her best friend Bella Rich who was the play’s live action narrator.

“It was funny,” Rich said.

Rich mentioned that she has been in quite a few plays including last year’s Kids Mat camp.

“Last year was my first year, so I wanted to get into every acting thing,” Rich said.

She mentioned that this year’s play ranked really high.

Bella’s favorite part of the play was the intro, where the light crew repeated missed where the spotlight was supposed to be.

“I was walking in and I was yelling at the light’s person,” Rich said.

In last year’s play, Balloons to Paris, Rich starred as the Pink Cow, so being the live action narrator showcased her growth as a young actress.

“In this one we got to interact more and write the script.

One actor, Elijah Seymour from Billings played Scott in the Monster Crew.

“It was fun,” Seymour said.

He mentioned that his favorite part of the play was the dancing portion at the end of the play.

Seymour displayed impressive break dancing moves which included a minute long move he calls the “spinwheel.”

“I only do it once a day,” Seymour said.

All cast and crew were: Space Crew: Emma Ereaux as Princess Mae, Bridger Benton as Cookie, Gracee Hencz as Shadow Walker. Monster Crew: Ava Sawicki as Stacie, Dana Pankratz as Elizabeth, Eli Seymour as Scott, Halle Sawicki as Anna. Superhero Crew: Hallee Hencz as Curious Girl, Adreanna Nelson as Vista, Gracie Nelson as Hypron and Bella Rich as Narrator.

The Mat program has been running in Havre for over a decade but last summer was the first time the program has branched out along the Hi-Line. Those areas included Malta, Chinook and Hays.

“The turnout was great,” Theron said. “So we’re the second generation to be travelling.”

Theron and Oriah are both students at MSU-Northern and have been a part of Kids Mat for the past several years, but this summer is the first that the couple has travelled together outside of Havre.

“I have to say that Theron and Oriah did an amazing job with the kids,” Kathy Bagley of Art Spot said. “They got their cooperation right away. They were able to work them through the different processes very easily. The kids really bonded with them and it was just amazing to see them listen, go through what they wanted to do and came up with a really amazing performance.”

Bagley was impressed with the time and effort that went into the play over the four day camp.

“Those days flew by,” Bagley said. “Those kids went home tired. I had the grandparents telling me how they had to settle them down and have them take naps.”

Art Spot is a 501C3 company and donations from the show went to the Art Spot. The donations will be used to help fund the Little Splatters Preschool Performing Arts. For more info about Art Spot, stop by the Art Gallery at Malta Business Center on First Street.