Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties

Nearly 1,000 students attend show at Historic Ironwood Theatre

IRONWOOD - Nearly 1,000 local children from Iron, Gogebic and Ontonagon counties attended performances of "Once Upon A Wolf" at the Historic Ironwood Theatre on Tuesday.

The show was performed by the Awkward Stage Youth Drama Club, and there was no fee for the kids to attend.

"We did this same sort of thing last year, giving an opportunity for our first-timers to have an audience," club director Mary Hansen said.

"We had 800 to 900 kids at that one performance last year, and some schools were left out, so we thought we would do two shows this time and have everyone included."

Actors portrayed classic characters from fairy-tales, but with a twist. Old Granny Stinky Feet was the narrator, telling stories featuring the Big Bad Wolf.

However, the wolf decides he doesn't want to be the bad guy anymore, and inserts himself into other stories, like "Goldilocks and the Three Bears," "Cinderella" and more.

Students in the audience interacted with the actors of the stage, answering questions, laughing and telling the wolf what he could and couldn't do.

"My actors just went with it, and we had a blast," Hansen said. "The whole reason for this was giving back to the community, to show these kids there is something more out there than video games and television. From their reactions to the show, it was like they had never seen something like this before. It was so cool to see."

The show was performed this past summer, but the club decided to show it again to the youth. However, weather played havoc on the practice schedule, making things move quicker than expected.

"We have been practicing once a week on Mondays, and then we were thwarted by those snowstorms," Hansen said. "This Monday was the first time were able to get on the stage, and it was the first time I knew what my set design was going to look like."

Despite the challenges, Hansen said everything went great.

"My cast rose to the occasion," she said. "It's been wonderful, and we have some new people in lighting, new people backstage and people performing."

The goal is to continue to show for local schools into the future, hopefully inspiring other kids to join the club.

"Don't worry about joining," member Tom Lardinois said. "We're all awkward here."

For more information, call the Ironwood Carnegie Library at 906-932-0203 or the Historic Ironwood Theatre at 906-932-0618.

 
 
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