Jungle Book Is Coming To Town

Many of us have read and treasured Rudyard Kipling's stories about life in India. One of my favorites was the Jungle Book. Of course it has also been made into movies and animated features. But for me, the book is the best way to experience his stories. When you read a book you can put your own animation in your mind. It might become even more vivid that seeing it in living color on a large screen. Your own imagination can bring a super high density to any images the words bring to your mind.

This winter a group of young people is reliving those stories through a production of the Community Council of the Performing Arts. They began rehearsals during their Christmas break and will continue until their first public performance on Feb. 20. Many hours will be spent in bringing these images to the stage at the Fox Theater.

The director, Kathleen Day, has a unique way of fitting the actors into their parts. She is asking each one, whether they are taking a human role or an animal role, to think about this portrayal and find a way to make it individual to the actor. They are not just learning their lines and entrances and exits, they are learning what it might feel like to be a monkey, a wolf, or a child in India.

The early evening practices cause a disruption to families' suppertime schedules, but the time spent by Kathleen and her assistant, Allison Fast, are more than doubled for any child in the cast. Finding the costumes, planning ahead for the week's rehearsals, staying until the last child is picked up, plus knowing the script better than any of the cast members could be a full time job. However these women both already have full time jobs and are giving this time so that children and youth of our community can have this experience. The ones in the cast will never forget their roles and the feelings that this experience gives them. The children and youth in the audience will have a new appreciation for one of our great authors, and hopefully will want to read more of his works.

I'm guessing that several children will wish that they had tried out for the auditions and could be sharing the fun and excitement of the story.

One of the better things about the production is that the cast varies in age from around 8 years old up to high school students. Often our activities for young people are broken down into age groups. They usually don't have the chance to share with young people of other ages. This production gives an opportunity for several ages to work together and learn to appreciate and help each other.

Since many in the cast are not old enough to drive themselves there are often parents sitting in the back rows of the cold theater waiting for their child to be ready to go home. The cast members never seem to be eager to go.

They each enjoy the time under the lights and their association with each other and with the two women who are helping them bring their roles to life.

Nevada is fortunate to have the CCPA, fortunate to have the dedicated board members and sponsors which make such events possible, but most of all Nevada is fortunate to have volunteers who are willing to give their time and talents to bring live theater to our town. We are also fortunate to have patrons who will come to see the plays and concerts. They make it all worthwhile.