Local casts steals the show during Pied Piper performance

PHOTO GALLERY: The Pied Piper

Featuring a cast of Socorro County children the Missoula Children’s Theatre presented two productions of Pied Piper for a delighted public at the Macey Center on the New Mexico Tech campus on Saturday.

Presented by the Socorro Consolidated Schools, the City of Socorro and the NM Tech Performing Arts Series, the classic children’s tale of a greedy city council for the rat-plagued town of Hamelin was once again relived by the audience in attendance.

The MCT team of Hannah Knittig and Clara Bellot conducted auditions on Monday and it was a hectic week as the youngsters learned their lines and worked through their staging.

While Knittig directed, Bellot was double cast as she took on the lead role as Hamelin’s always hungry mayor and Queen of the Rats. While she gave a great performance, Bellot often found herself at the mercy of fans whose adoring eyes were cast upon their children and grandchildren who often upstaged the lead character with whimsical lines and their over-the-top reactions.

The cast of the A-Plus theater production included.

Liam Demorest (Pied Piper), Jada Reid (Sara), Jameson Grigg (Mayor’s son), Eva Armstrong (Mayor’s daughter), Dru Cadol (Mayor’s younger daughter).

Council members – August Lyons, Zahra Sahyoun, Zea Shillington, Cree Whitney.

Hamelin Administrative Team (HAT) – Analie Montoya, Rodrigo Morales-Brindle, Amelia White.

Barbers – Kellen Demorest, Aria Larsen, Rafael Morales-Brindle, Remington Ortiz.

Cooks – Anisa Behnampour, Taizsha Corkern, Sourina Esmaeilpour, Olive Lyons.

Town Kids – Kaylee Atwood, Marion Jones, Emiliana Lopez, Vedy Patidar, Shianne Sanchez.

Rats – Arianna Armijo, Delsa Behnampour, Lydia Bowles, Ruby Chavez, Lemuel Grigg, Connor Hughes, William Kimble, Tue Luong, Aariv Puedlal, Israel Ocampo, Brandon Shillington, Enoch Whang, Alana White.

Asst. Directors – Claire Larsen, Emilie Turner. Accompanist – Kaitlan Grigg. Lights – Jenny Cyphers, David Phillips. Sound – David Phillips. Videographer – Juan Reuda.