CONWAY — The Conway Community Arts Association will present its first children’s play, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs by Maurice Berger, Thursday through Aug. 5 at The Lantern Theatre, 1021 Van Ronkle St. in downtown Conway.
“It’s completely geared for kids,” said Cindy Romeo, director. “Parents will enjoy it, too. It’s part of our regular season, but it’s the first time for us to do a kids’ show. We hope it goes over well. If it does, we will do more.”
Romeo said the play “is pretty much true to the story” that most people associate with the Walt Disney version of the classic fairy tale.
“We don’t have the Disney costumes, but we have the Evil Queen, Snow White … and the Stage Manager,” Romeo said.
“The Stage Manger interacts with the audience. He comes on stage and announces that the audience is about to see a play, and it turns out he is in the play as well. He’s a guard, the huntsman, the voice of the mirror and the prince at the end; he even plays a dwarf.”
When the Stage Manager is not portraying a certain character, he’s in the audience getting the kids on stage.
“Every single kid in the audience will have a part in the play,” Romeo said. “Some may be trees when Snow White has to hide; some will be dwarfs. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Romeo said the play runs “about 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the ad-libs with the audience.”
Haley Tynes of Conway plays Snow White. Originally from Fairfield Bay, Tynes is a graduate of Shirley High School and is a senior drama major at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. She last appeared with CCAA in 2010 when she had a role in A … My Name Is Alice.
Tynes said she is having fun with her character of Snow White.
“I’ve never played the heroine before,” she said with a smile. “It’s a new experience. It’s also my first children’s show, which is a really great experience.”
Upon graduation in May 2013, Tynes said she might consider going to graduate school.
“If I do go, I will probably go into costume designing,” she said. “I pulled a lot of the costumes together for this show. It’s what I really enjoy. But if the opportunity comes along for me to act, I might do that, too.”
Jordy Neill of Conway appears as the Stage Manager, Huntsman/Prince and others. The son of Cindy and Randy Romeo, Neill is a graduate of Conway High School and has studied theater at UCA. He most recently appeared with the Arkansas Shakespeare Festival at UCA, and following his appearance in Snow White, he will move for a few months to Sonoma, Calif., where he will appear with the Renegade Players.
“I’m in and out of the audience,” Neill said of his role in Snow White.
“I’ll be out there, wrangling the children, picking them to do stuff, telling them how to do it,” he said with a laugh. “It’s fun. I get to do all sorts of different stuff.”
Neill last appeared with Conway Community Arts in The Dining Room in 2009.
Erica Monday of Maumelle, who plays the Evil Queen, has acted with CCAA once before, in a one-act, Graceland, that was presented in 2011.
“I’ve never played a villain before,” she said, smiling. “I’ve always been the nice girl.”
Monday, who appears in frequent productions by the Maumelle Players, is a physician’s liaison at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock.
Show times for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs are 2 and 7 p.m. Thursday, 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. and 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday, and 2 p.m. Aug. 5.
Tickets are $6 each. Reservations are highly encouraged, as seating is limited. Reservations can be made by emailing Con wayLanternTheatre@gmail.com or by calling (501) 733-6220. Current season ticket holders may receive two tickets for each season pass they possess.
For more information, visit the website www.conwayarts.org.
River Valley Ozark, Pages 145 on 07/29/2012