Josephy Center Hosts: " The Emperor's New Clothes"

This year's performance will be The Emperor's New Clothes.  “Dress for success” is good advice that the Emperor takes wholeheartedly, wanting to impress new friends. But where to stop? When the clothes (and other people’s opinions) become more important than the people of the kingdom, trouble brews. To help their beloved Emperor find the way back to his heart, his true friends create an elaborate “birthday suit” for the Emperor to wear for his birthday parade celebration. The Emperor quickly and humbly learns that sometimes “less is more”!

The Missoula Children’s Theatre (MCT), the nation’s largest touring children’s theatre, has been touring extensively for more than 40 years now from Montana to Japan, and will visit nearly 1,200 communities this year with up to 44 teams of Tour Actor/Directors. A tour team arrives in a given town with a set, lights, costumes, props and make-up, everything it takes to put on a play…except the cast. The team holds an open audition and casts 50-60 local students to perform in the production. The show is rehearsed throughout the week and two public performances are presented on Saturday. All MCT shows are original adaptations of classic children’s stories and fairytales . . . a twist on the classic stories that you know and love. Also included in the residency are three enrichment workshops presented by the Tour Actor/Directors. Creativity, social skills, goal achievement, communication skills and self-esteem are all characteristics that are attained through the participation in this unique, educational project. MCT’s mission is the development of lifeskills in children through participation in the performing arts.