B-OPS thespians, led by PFCT actors/directors present ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’
Twenty-seven Butterfield-Odin Public School (B-OPS) thespians in grades 5-12 – led by a duo of directors/actors from the Prairie Fire Children’s Theatre (PFCT) – presented the classic children’s story, Jack and the Beanstalk on the B-OPS school stage Friday evening, March 31 and Saturday afternoon, April 1, following an intense week of rehearsals.
The magic of the beans – and the ribbon in the sky – teamed with character portrayals, took audiences on a fascinating trip to the land of imagination.
Auditions and rehearsals for the performance began on Monday, March 27, and continued after school and into early evening each day of the week, leading up to showtime.
Prairie Fire Children’s Theatre’s pair of professional actors/directors on hand for the week included Bobby Duncalf, who also appeared onstage as The Ringmaster/The Giant and Audra Giachino, who portrayed the roles of the Storyteller/Lucia the Giant’s Wife.
+ B-OPS cast/crew:
- Jack – Danny Ambrocio-Sanchez.
- Jessie, Jack’s Friend – Julie Saunders.
- Jack’s Mother – Abbey McDaniel.
- Old Jeb – Aidan Hiebert.
- Enoch Slumlord – Jordan Dougherty.
- Prissy – Mckenna Steinbrink.
- Sally – Madi Whitney.
- Milky – Kali Xayaphonesongkham.
- Princess Harp – Jennifer Perez.
- Goose – Kylie Fisch.
- The Carnies – Bobo (Norely Sanchez), Coco (Berenice Morales), Stella (Addison Hanson) and Carnie (Maggie Wegner).
- The Birds – Toucan (Devon Aguilar), Peacock (Kaiyana Xayaphonesongkham), Owl (Emerson Fisch), Turkey (Jaelyn Haler) and Bird (Kayla Torres).
- The Orchestranians – King Harmony (Luis Morales), Queen Melody (Mercedes Lenning), Bass (Mahryn Dougherty), Treble (Mackenzie Christensen), Major Minor (Victoria Navarrete) and Horn of Plenty (Diana Rodriguez).
- The Trolls – Dalton Braaten and Carlos Rodriguez.
- Sound, Lights and Stage Crew – Valeria Morales, Juan Morales, Aracely Anaya and Michael Nett.
About the Prairie Fire Children’s Theatre
The Prairie Fire Children’s Theatre (PFCT) is a professional touring theatre company based in Barrett, and has been bringing a theatrical experience to communities across the upper Midwest since 1987. Prairie Fire tours year round to over 200 communities providing a week-long professional theatrical experience. Prairie Fire not only specializes in touring a variety of original musical adaptations of classic children’s tales, but also has a touring program for junior high and senior high schools. In addition, Prairie Fire is available for theatrical workshop residencies. Prairie Fire is a proud recipient of he Minnesota Alliance of the Arts in Educational Programming.
Throughout the entire year, Prairie Fire Children’s Theatre sends two professional Actors/Directors to a community for the one-week residency. Local children fill the roles, and PFCT provides everything needed to do the show. After a week of rehearsing, the cast performs the play twice on the weekend.
Following is a photo gallery of play characters; photos courtesy of Jill Saunders:
