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Camelot comes to life
The king of England was simply having "one of those days." A wandering ghost was terrorizing his kingdom as he received news of a grumpy giant and angry dragon threatening his villagers.
But those challenges were mere child's play compared to dealing with the in-your-face attitude of his cynical wife, compounded by the non-stop demands of his bratty son.
It was all in a day's work for King Arthur.
On Saturday afternoon, the world of Camelot came to life in Mountain Home as the Missoula Children's Theatre presented King Arthur's Quest at Mountain Home High School.
About 60 local area students took the stage during two performances that day to tell the story of these legendary knights, crafty wizards and seemingly sinister villains.
This weekend's shows followed just five days of rehearsals after an open casting call April 11. During the week, the cast spent at least four hours each evening memorizing their lines and cues to prepare for each curtain call.
Despite a last-minute casting change, Alisha Fabbi from the theater company credited these children and teens for tacking the challenges associated with the compressed production schedule.
"They did a fantastic job," Fabbi said.
Memorizing all of this dialog in just five days "was pretty tough," said Chris Garza, who portrayed King Arthur.
"The pace was faster than what I'm used to," he said. A junior at the high school, Garza admitted the toughest part was learning the songs "because I'm not a very strong singer."
A veteran of the high school's Encore Company acting group, the Quest was Garza's eighth appearance on stage.
"My brother was in Encore, and a couple of my best friends inspired me to get involved in acting," he said.
Compressing the rehearsals into such a short amount of time "worked, but it took a lot of effort," said Samantha Fugit, who played Guinevere. In addition to the challenge of remembering her own lines, it was equally tough remembering the stage cues, the sophomore admitted. "If you don't know your cues, you tend to miss your own lines," she said.
Following her experiences with King Arthur's Quest, the teen expects to become part of the high school's acting troupe.
"I was born an actor; just ask my mom," Fugit said. "I like being the center of attention, being very dramatic and being a character."
Megan Roberts, a third grader at East Elementary School, has similar theatrical dreams.
"Ever since I was young, I've always wanted to be an actor. It's just a big dream of mine," said Roberts, who played the White Squire -- a character that sees the good side of life.
Sponsored by the Mountain Home Arts Council, the Missoula Children's Theatre company travels to communities once every two years to produce plays like this. Arriving in Mountain Home on the tail end of their yearly performance schedule, their stop here marked their 12th show in just 12 weeks.