Missoula Children’s Theater is celebrating its 24th year of productions with “Beauty Lou and the Country Beast.”

This western spin on “Beauty and the Beast” will be performed at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Bradford Area High School auditorium.

For many, Missoula offers the chance for those with an interested in theater to be able to express themselves. And for Reagan Dolan, it is a chance for her to escape from reality for a while.

“I want to pursue acting, and Missoula has helped me come out of my shell. I would tell everyone not to hold back because theater could be your chance to break out,” stated Dolan.

She has been an 8-year member of the program, and even got to attend the performance camp in Missoula, Montana. She attributes the camp with helping improve her acting, singing and dancing skills.

She will be playing young Donna Rae in the production.

Those involved with Missoula participate in a day camp and theatre workshop, which this year is from Monday until Saturday at BAHS from 10 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.

The days are filled with performance practices as well as art projects and activities relating towards the show.

The Arts in Education committee through the Bradford Creative and Performing Arts Center also tries to always plan activities integrating art, music and even science to keep minds fresh over summer vacation.

Through a contract with Missoula, those involved locally are informed on plays that are touring, and then can reserve a certain week for the performance. Missoula then comes to them with a contract. Typically, most of the information is received sometime in December in order to make plans in advance.

Missoula has performances all of the United States, as well as other countries.

“We offer an opportunity that is usually something not close to our area. To be in a performance can be unusual for a small area like this, and we bring that to them,” said Terri Leven, director of the Missoula Children’s Theater in Bradford.

Leven feels that theater is important for children to be involved in because it gives them the chance to develop an interest in performing, provides a chance to work with others as a team, and to build skills that they will carry with them off the stage.

“My favorite part of theater is you have live people performing on a stage and it might not be the same all the time,” stated Leven. “You see communication, and you get to entertain, surprise and connect.”

For the second year in a row, the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts at St. Bonaventure University has brought its art mobile to town.

The art mobile is a van full of art projects and activities for the children to participate in.

Since the performance is western themed, a committee member brought in her horse, “Strawberry,” for everyone to interact with on Tuesday.

The children then made pool noodle horses — which they will be riding Friday to the Pavilion at Bradford Regional Medical Center for a live performance of their musical numbers. They will also be making cowboy hats, as well as bandanas.

Shelby Art, Lorin Turner and Alyssa Melder are among the team helping out with production this year.

According to Art, all three love seeing the kids grow as individuals, and witnessing their performance skills as well watching them learn.

“One of the most rewarding parts is seeing the children develop confidence within a number of days, and seeing them grow as performers, because that’s our mission,” said Art.

Truman Forbes, an 8-year member of Missoula, says that the experience has helped him to come out of his shell, as he used to be pretty shy.

Forbes said, “I love being able to get together with friends to do something I love. You can perform at any age. It has really helped me meet a lot of new people and improve my public speaking skills.”

He will be playing the Imaginary Friend in the production.

For Isaac McCormick, who will be playing the Beast, his favorite part of performing is being able to look out into the audience and see all of the people.

“Don’t be scared to do it,” says McCormick. “I had stage fright before and this gave me the chance to get over that.”

For some, they have been in the program for as long as they could walk onto the stage and perform, and that is the case for Jenny Jones, a 13-year member.

This will be her last year to perform for Missoula, and she will continue to pursue her passion for theater in the future, but her focus will be on mathematics.

Seeing her light up when asked about her years as a performer really helps one to understand how much this chance means to so many individuals.

“I started because my grandma was a chair at BCPAC, and I stuck with it because of how it has improved my life, especially with confidence,” said Jones.

She attributes her experience with Missoula for breaking her out of her comfort zone, and giving her the chance to step out.

When asked what she will miss most, Jones said, “What I will miss most about Missoula I think is the joy of entertaining people.”

General admission for the performance is $5, and tickets are available at the door the day of the show, as well as in the BCPAC office.

The cost for Missoula is $100 per student. For more information, contact Terri Leven at (814) 368-6431 or the BCPAC office at (814)362-2522.