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Photo by Steve Johnson Kids were asked to give their best monster roar during Monday's casting call for "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" at the Craterian Ginger Rogers Theater. Kids get a taste of the stage `Snow White' auditions draw 150; theater activities run all week By VICKI GUARINO Courtney Perry had read the book and seen the movie, but the White City 10-year-old wasn't sure that background would give her an edge for what lay ahead. `Snow White' plays Saturday A cast of some 60 Rogue Valley youngsters will present the Missoula Children's Theater adaptation of "Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs" two times on Saturday. Performances will be at 3 and 7 p.m. at the Craterian Ginger Rogers Theater, 23 S. Central Ave. Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for children under 12. Shows will be full-scale musical productions, complete with scenery, props and costumes. The theater group also will present acting workshops at the Craterian for any youngster interested in acting. No auditions will be held, but enrollment will be limited, so parents should call the Craterian for information, 779-3000. Workshops begin at 3 p.m. and cost $2. On Wednesday a session on actors' tools will be offered for youngsters ages 9-12. On Thursday a session on improvisation will be offered to middle school and high school-age students. She was part of Monday's huge casting call for "Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs" at the Craterian Ginger Rogers Theater. More than 150 kids showed up for a scant 60 parts in the Missoula Children's Theatre production. Theater hopefuls filled the Craterian plaza in Medford early, then climbed to the stage and shouted, giggled and grimaced their way into fairy tale roles. The casting call began a week of Children's Theatre activities at the Craterian. Along with the daily cast rehearsals, staff will present youth acting workshops for any interested student. The program concludes Saturday with afternoon and evening performances of "Snow White." The event is sponsored by Craterian Performances. It is one in a series of weeklong summer youth theater experiences being staged across the Northwest by the nonprofit Missoula Children's Theatre. For Courtney, the experience was all new. She had auditioned and performed in school productions before, "but not in front of people I don't know." Her music teacher at Mountain View Elementary School encouraged her to give "Snow White" a try. Besides, she said as she headed to the stage,"it's fun to have people watch you." Turns out that Courtney will have lots of people watching her. When the curtain rises on "Snow White," Courtney will be one of a dozen or so forest animals on the stage. Theater directors cast parts ranging from a small colony of bats -- mostly 5- and 6-year-olds -- to Snow White herself during a boisterous two-hour group audition that put all of the hopeful thespians on stage at once. An incredulous Kathleen Galbraith, 14, of Medford, walked away with the title role. She said she had no idea how she won the honor. "It's her hair," said her sister Erin Galbraith, 15, flipping Kathleen's blonde locks. Erin will join the cast as one of a covey of Black Forest Creatures -- mysterious spirits of the show. Of course, Kathleen said, she wanted the leading role. But she insisted she also would have been perfectly happy working behind the scenes as one of the student assistant directors, who also were cast on Monday. Kathleen said her stage experience includes one "very, very, very small role" in a Rogue Music Theater show. Missoula Children's Theatre co-director Carrie Mallino cast Snow White as she did other roles. Youngsters were picked for their loud, clear voices, expressive movement, and -- most important in a large cast loaded with grade-schoolers -- the ability to be quiet and follow direction. The task of finding the show's Snow White has its own particular set of challenges, Mallino said. "Snow White has to be someone who can just be sweet without a drop of sarcasm," Mallino said, "and that sometimes isn't easy when you have teenage girls." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA