Cheers to young actors, sponsors

A classic tale, lots of young local actors and a Saturday at the theater — how can you go wrong? The answer is simple, you can't.

Each year, the Missoula Children's Theatre travels around the region holding auditions and putting on plays featuring local youngsters. The students, from kindergarten to seniors in high school, help create the sets, act and help direct the play.

It gives them a chance to participate in all aspects of theater in a fun way — and even better, the community gets to see the results of all the hard work this weekend.

However, as wonderful as all of that is, equally as great is the fact that the production was made possible by the Pend Oreille Arts Council and Litehouse, Inc. That funding, along with some from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Idaho Commission on the Arts, and other private foundations, is what keeps art — in all its varied and wonderful forms — a part of a community.

Art enriches our lives and adds color to otherwise gray days or moments. It may be a song that captures your mood when you're feeling blue or it may be a painting that lifts your soul. Or, it just may be, a residency like the Missoula Children's Theater production of "The Jungle Book" which gives young actors (and non-actors, too) a chance to shine and hear the applause and cheers of their families, friends and neighbors.

It's wonderful when local organizations like POAC and local companies like Litehouse care enough about the community and its youngest citizens to turn wishes into reality.

When you attend the play — there are two performances, one at 2 p.m. and the other at 7 p.m. on Saturday at the Panida — add an extra cheer or two and a round of applause for these folks, too. It's well deserved.

Caroline Lobsinger is the managing editor of the Daily Bee.