MONTANA REP
EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH
FALL TOUR 2017
It’s the summer of 1919, and Alice
Greenough, a teenage spitfire raised near Red Lodge,
Montana, is on her way to her first rodeo competition in
Forsyth. Her dad always kids that “she has more nerve
than brains.” Maybe that’s because her idea of fun is
riding buckin’ broncs named Whirlwind, Lightning,
and Bone Crusher. But before she even reaches her
destination, this ride on the rails opens her mind to a
bigger world than she ever imagined.
Alice, who wears her smile like her hat—big and wide—
can’t help talking to strangers on the train, whether
it’s a charming but ruthless copper king, a dedicated
suffragette, or the yarn-spinning artist known as the
Michelangelo of the West. A Helena ranch hand with
movie-star looks turns her head, but it might be a scruffy
powder monkey from the copper mines who steals her
heart.
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In the meantime, this bronc-buster who tames tornados
doesn’t flinch when a stick-up man holds a gun to her
head, but the spooky predictions of a mysterious fortuneteller could rattle her to the bone.
Hear the whistle blowing? Hurry up now and climb
aboard—this train’s about to leave the station.
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Told in under 55 minutes, this comedy rolls
across the Big Sky state via steam locomotive, following
teenage cowgirl Alice Greenough as she encounters a
who’s-who list of famous Montanans. Alice will need
that ‘iron will’ she’s known for, because this train ride will
prove every bit as exciting and challenging as sticking to
the 1,200 pounds of buckin’, snortin’, and kickin’ muscle
that’s waiting to greet her at her first rodeo competition!
We take special care in choosing our
fall tour plays, selecting works that captivate the
imaginations of our young audience and speak to issues
they face. To that end, we review Montana middle school
and high school curricula and solicit suggestions from our
community liaisons throughout the year.
Reserve the best dates
for your performance
and workshops today.
The Phantasmagorical Journey
of a Future Rodeo Queen
by
Jay kettering
Because our goal is to book this tour by the end of May
2017, we encourage you to call or email soon to reserve
the best dates for your venue. Your early reservation is
greatly appreciated.
Please contact:
Teresa Waldorf / Educational Outreach Coordinator
(406) 243-2854 / [email protected]
www.montanarep.org
umarts | College of Visual and Performing Arts | School of Theatre & Dance
MONTANA REP EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH
FALL TOUR 2017
The Phantasmagorical Journey of a Future Rodeo Queen
Notes from the Playwright
A lice Greenough broke a lot of bones.
This was one of things that first
jumped out at me when I began my
research for this play. Of course,
there were other historic bonebreakers—Evel Knievel comes to
mind, but when Evel went flying
through the air, he wore a helmet.
Alice wore a hat.
I also discovered that this Big Sky
Country has produced a lot more
famous folks than I had realized. But
there were other reasons Alice made
it to the top of my list. As a young
girl, Alice was ‘breakin’ horses—big
horses—not the cute Shetland
ponies of the petting-zoo variety.
These were fully-grown horses who
had never been ridden before, and
how you ‘broke’ a horse was to
stay on it until it bucked itself to
exhaustion.
By the age of 17, Alice was already
an expert horse racer and bronc
rider, with roping and trick-riding
skills to boot! When she started
competing in rodeos, her dad would
tell her to “take Willy with you,”
and by that good ol’ boy phraseology,
what he meant was she should take
her willpower with her. Boy, did she!
Grit, guts, determination, willpower,
whatever you want to call it—she
always brought it with her. This
fierce competitor went on to become
the best in the world and she seemed
to be having nothing but fun along
the way.
I imagine Alice, a true pioneer
of the rodeo, would’ve been the
perfect model for the brush strokes
of Charles M. Russell—all action, all
color, all drama.
So that’s how I approached the
writing of this play set in 1919.
I tried to keep that idea in mind
when I went looking for moments
of Alice interacting with the slew
of Montana celebrities she meets on
the train. That seemed to work well
because her history is neither old
nor dusty: it is as alive and kickin’ as
that young cowgirl trying to stick to
a horse named Earthquake.
And it’s because of that, when the
actor playing Alice comes on stage
and tips her hat and smiles, well, I
think you’ll find that smile turning
the past into the present.
—Jay Kettering
u
“I really think they should
keep going to schools
because they taught me
that if I practice, practice,
practice, that one day that
might be me up there.
Plus they always do
great shows.”
Student, CMR High School, Great Falls
www.montanarep.org
umarts | College of Visual and Performing Arts | School of Theatre & Dance
Who is Who?
Alice Greenough: A stylish teenage
spitfire who can rope and ride with the best
of them. She is all grit and determination and
smiles on her way to becoming a champion
rodeo athlete. Age 17.
Jeannette Rankin: A true pioneer for
women’s rights. The first woman to hold
federal office in the U.S. and a life-long
activist for justice. Age 39.
Pretty-shield: A medicine woman of the
Crow Nation and iconic representative of the
beauty and spirit of her people. Age 63.
Catarina: A gypsy fortune teller who never
lies (unless it works better than the truth).
Age unknown.
Charles M. Russell: The cowboy artist
who beautifully captured for posterity the life
of indigenous peoples and their collision with
the men of the old West. Age 55.
William A. Clark: A copper king and,
as Mark Twain portrayed him, the very
embodiment of Gilded Age excess and
corruption. Age 86.
Shamus O’Leary: A ‘powder monkey’
at Butte’s Orphan Girl mine. Responsible for
loading dynamite in the mines and stealing
Alice’s heart. Age 17.
Frank “Gary” Cooper: A Helena
ranch hand with looks that could turn
heads, including Alice’s. He is destined for
Hollywood stardom. Age 18.
Maurice Hilleman: A microbiologist,
specializing in vaccinology, who is credited
with saving more lives than any other
medical scientist of the twentieth century.
Age 5 months.
William the Kid: Horse rustler,
gunfighter, and train robber. No relation to
Billy the Kid. Age 22.
Henry Jones: Train conductor. No
relation to Casey Jones. Age 45.
MONTANA REP EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH
FALL TOUR 2017
The Phantasmagorical Journey of a Future Rodeo Queen
Schedule a
Performance
Acting
Workshops
Our 2017 tour runs from September
5 through November 17. The cost
this year is $550, which includes
the 55-minute performance and one
workshop. Additional workshops are
$75 each. As always, we do not want
money to be an issue and will do
our best to accommodate everyone
interested in this theatrical and
educational opportunity.
These 45- to 75-minute workshops
are designed to fit into your school’s
schedule. Each workshop can
accommodate up to 35 students and is
best held in an open space but can also
be conducted in a typical classroom
setting. We try to be as flexible
as possible.
As we intend to book this tour by
the end of May 2017, we appreciate
early performance reservations.
Please call soon to
get the best dates for
your venue.
(406) 243-2854
Teresa Waldorf
Educational Outreach Coordinator
Large Print
programs are available upon
request for community shows. Scripts
can be made available to schools
with hearing impaired students for
presentations via American Sign
Language.
Workshop ONE:
WHAT IF?
Bringing Historical
Figures to Life
What if you were a teenager in
a Butte mining disaster?
What if you were the daughter of a
copper king at an ice-cream social?
What if you were a traveling
performer, fortune-teller, artist, or
photographer in early 1900s Montana?
Workshop Two:
Theatricality
vs. Reality!!
Students will learn the difference
between staging something in a
Theatrical manner and a manner
involving Realism. Using short excerpts
from familiar stories and tales, students
will “stage and block” their own group
scenes in the most theatrical manner
possible and then discuss how they made
their decisions, chose roles, and used
their bodies to suggest furniture, set
pieces, props, weather, time of day, etc.
“I really enjoyed thinking
on my feet and inventing
different situations.”
Student, Thompson Falls Middle School
Students will engage in a series of
improvised scenes to answer just that.
“The workshop was great;
it taught us a lot about
different acting skills
that we can use not only
in acting but in our
everyday lives as well.”
Student, Plains High School
www.montanarep.org
Teresa Waldorf / Educational Outreach Coordinator / (406) 243-2854 / teresa.waldorf @umontana.edu
MONTANA REP EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH
FALL TOUR 2017
The Phantasmagorical Journey of a Future Rodeo Queen
The Playwright
Source Materials
Jay Kettering fell in love with
theatrical writing the first time
he heard an actor speak his words
and understood that the words he
had written no longer belonged
to him. Surprisingly, it was a
great feeling. Jay earned his BA
in English/creative writing at the
University of Montana in 1982 and
is currently a working writer living
in Missoula. Raised in the Saddle is
his latest commissioned play for
the Montana Repertory Theatre’s
Educational Outreach; previous
productions included: Writing Wild:
The Adventures of Jack London and
An Unladylike Battle for Survival
in the Sunnyside Library. Montana
Public Radio produced Jay’s radio
comedy trilogy, Notes from the
Huntley Project, the first episode
of which, My Dad and Pre-Socratic
Thought, won best Audio Play at
the 2016 Moondance International
Film Festival. Jay’s one-act play,
Flotsam, Jetsam and Bill, premiered at
the Theatre of Western Springs in
suburban Chicago in 2015. Constant
inspiration comes from his local
writing group, the Zoola Writers. To
help pay the bills, he drives for Uber,
so give him a call and he’ll give you
a ride and tell you a story.
Cowgirl Alice Greenough,
by Elizabeth West
“This has been my favorite
day of school yet. I wish
we had drama in school.
You’re doing a great job!”
Student, Boulder School, Boulder
Bold Women in Montana History,
by Beth Judy (to be released by
Mountain Press in March 2017)
More Than Petticoats:
Remarkable Montana Women,
by Gayle C. Shirley
Trails Plowed Under: Stories of
the Old West, by Charles M. Russell
Jeannette Rankin, First Lady in
Congress, A Biography by Hannah
Josephson
Pretty-shield: Medicine Woman
of the Crows, by Frank B.
Linderman
Recollections of Charley Russell,
by Frank B. Linderman
The Gary Cooper Story,
by George Carpozi Jr.
Mugwumps in Montana 1900
Fighting The Old Copper Collar,
by Dan Cushman
Mile High Mile Deep, by Richard
O’Malley
Frequently
Asked Questions
Do we need to provide a stage for
the performance?
No. We have performed in libraries, lunch
rooms, gyms, and larger classrooms.
Do we need to provide lights and
sound?
No. We arrive with our own set, lights,
sound, and crew.
Do you need help setting up and
tearing down?
Yes. We greatly appreciate student help
with load-in and load-out!
How many people can attend the show?
Any number can come to the performance,
depending on your space. However, the
workshops are designed for a maximum of
30-35 participants, please.
Who determines the times of the
performance and the workshops?
You do. We can accommodate almost any
schedule. In schools, we often present a
morning performance, eat lunch with your
students, and then conduct one or two
workshops in the afternoon. Community
performances are usually in the evenings,
and the workshop is optional.
Montana: An Uncommon Land,
by K. Ross Toole
The Last Best Place: A Montana
Anthology, edited by William
Kittredge and Annick Smith
100 Montanans: Our Pick of the
Most Influential Figures of the
20th Century, published by the
Missoulian
Northern Pacific: Main Street
of the Northwest, a pictorial
history by Charles R. Wood
www.montanarep.org
Teresa Waldorf / Educational Outreach Coordinator / (406) 243-2854 / teresa.waldorf @umontana.edu
MONTANA REP EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH
FALL TOUR 2017
“
Reviews: What Others Say
Growing Up in
Wonderland / 2015
“I think that learning how to deal with
emotions within yourself probably would be
the biggest thing I took away from this. And
just showing empathy to other people. That’s
always a helpful skill. I liked the rainbow of
desire that we did. I think that being able to
connect on an emotional level to a person is
probably one of the more important skill sets
in life. Whether you are in a job or in class or
whatever, I think you can probably use that.”
2015
Growing Up in Wonderland
Student, Ronan High School
Once Upon a Time
in Ancient Greece / 2014
2016
Brontë to the Future!
Brontë to the
Future! / 2016
“I really loved the show. Especially
the puppet moves because they
were amazing. And I liked how they
moved and acted with their bodies
and kind of knew what was going
on and what to do at certain times.
And I thought that was super cool
to memorize such fast paced lines in
such a time frame. And I just thought
it was really cool.”
Student, Flathead High School
Montana Repertory Theatre
Professional Theatre-in-Resisdence
MONTANA REP is funded in part by grants
from the Montana Arts Council (an agency of state
government), The Dramatists Guild, and The Shubert
Foundation, with support from the Montana State
Legislature, the University of Montana, the Montana
Cultural Trust, NorthWestern Energy, Dr. Cathy Capps,
Dr. Sandy Sheppard, Jay Kettering & Gwen McKenna,
and Jean Morrison.
www.montanarep.org
“There was a tentative shyness among the
kids as the workshop began, but by the end a
majority of the kids were actively participating
and having a blast! I even heard students
talking about their performances to other
classes! It is neat to watch them express
themselves.”
2014
Once Upon a Time in Ancient Greece
Teacher, Custer County District High School
Mark Twain’s Diaries
of Adam and Eve / 2013
“When you guys acted out this play, it felt
like I was watching something real, apart
from reality, but very real. You pull your
audience into the story so well that at the
end of the day, we all blinked to see our real
surroundings. It was great! Also, the workshop
afterwards was wonderful and brought a lot of
people (including me) out of their shells.”
Student, Joliet High School
2013
Mark Twain’s Diaries of Adam and Eve
An Unladylike Battle
for Survival in the
Sunnyside Library / 2012
“This was a spectacular play. Fortunately for
our school, we have been able to host these
great productions for several years. This year’s
production is one of the student’s favorites.
A serious topic was humorously presented
with terrific characters. Several of the books
referred to in the play are now being requested
to be studied in class. Thanks for making
classics new again.”
2012
An Unladylike Battle for Survival
in the Sunnyside Library
English Teacher, Wibaux Public School
umarts | College of Visual and Performing Arts | School of Theatre & Dance
Photos: Terry J. Cyr
MONTANA REP EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH
FALL TOUR 2017
MONTANA REP
NATIONAL TOURS
MONTANA REP
EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH
Over the last twelve years our tours have reached
75 Montana communities—about 50 with each tour.
In 2016, Brontë to the Future! toured to
the following communities, presenting
performances and workshops.
Missoula / Masquer Theatre
Missoula / Hellgate High School
Ronan / Ronan High School
Potomac / Potomac Middle School
Missoula / Hellgate Middle School
Big Sandy / Big Sandy High School
Box Elder / Stone Child College
Malta / Malta High School
Poplar / Poplar High School
Lambert / Lambert High School
Sidney / Northeast Arts Network
Sidney / Sidney Middle School
Wibaux / Wibaux High School
Glendive / Dawson Community College
Miles City / Miles City High School
Colstrip / Colstrip High School
Rosebud / Rosebud Middle School
Lame Deer / Chief Dull Knife College
Red Lodge / Carbon County Arts Guild
Billings / Billings West High School /
Billings Public Library
Joliet / Joliet High School
Gardiner / Electric Peaks Arts Council
Livingston / Sleeping Child Middle School
Lewistown / Lewistown Library
Lewistown / Lewistown Middle School
Choteau / Choteau High School
Power / Power High School
Great Falls / Great Falls Public Library
Browning / De La Salle Blackfeet Middle School
Quinns / Quinns Hot Springs Dinner Theatre
Thompson Falls / Thompson Falls High School
Plains / Plains High School
Warm Springs / Montana State Hospital
MEA
Kalispell / Linderman Education Center
Kalispell / Flathead High School
Philipsburg / Philipsburg High School
Boulder / Jefferson High School
Deer Lodge / Powell County High School
Missoula / Willard Alternative High School /
Masquer Theatre
Victor / Victor High School
Missoula / Meadow Hill Middle School
Missoula / C.S. Porter Middle School
Missoula / Washington Middle School
Darby / Darby High School
Missoula / Loyola High School
Arlee / Arlee High School
www.montanarep.org
2016
Brontë to the Future!
Authors: Emily and Charlotte Brontë
Playwright: Laramie Dean
2015
Growing Up in Wonderland
Author: Lewis Carroll
Playwright: Jillian Campana
2014
Once Upon a Time in
Ancient Greece
Playwright: Laramie Dean
Montana Repertory Theatre’s mission
is to tell the great stories of our world to
enlighten, develop, and celebrate
the human spirit in an ever-expanding
community. To that end, we also mount
a professional national tour each year,
traveling to rural and urban communities
throughout the United States. We strive
to present plays of high literary quality
with strong entertainment appeal.
2013
Mark Twain’s Diaries
of Adam and Eve
Author: Mark Twain
Playwright: Ron Fitzgerald
2012
An Unladylike Battle
for Survival in the
Sunnyside Library
Playwright: Jay Kettering
2011
Writing Wild:
The Adventures
of Jack London
Author: Jack London
Playwright: Jay Kettering
2010
The Real Legend
of Sleepy Hollow
Author: Washington Irving
Playwright: Ron Fitzgerald
2009
ThePoeProject
Author: Edgar Allan Poe
Playwright: Ron Fitzgerald
2008
Mark Twain’s Diaries
of Adam and Eve
Author: Mark Twain
Playwright: Ron Fitzgerald
2007
Frankenstein
Author: Mary Shelley
Playwright: Jonathan Yukich
2006
Antigone: 2026
Author: Sophocles
Playwright: Jillian Campana
2005
It Just Catches
Author: Ernest Hemingway
Playwright: Carol Hemingway
umarts | College of Visual and Performing Arts | School of Theatre & Dance
Our upcoming touring production is
Ernest Thompson’s On Golden Pond. Past
productions include Leading Ladies;
To Kill a Mockingbird; Cat on a Hot Tin
Roof; Lost in Yonkers; Steel Magnolias;
Bus Stop; Doubt, a parable; Biloxi Blues;
The Miracle Worker; The Great Gatsby;
All My Sons; and Barefoot in the Park.
Montana Rep is in residence in the
University of Montana College of Visual
and Performing Arts, which includes
schools of art, media arts, music, and
theatre & dance. BA, BFA, MA, and
MFA degrees are offered.
To learn more about our theatre seasons
and academic programs, please visit
these websites:
montana repertory theatre
www.montanarep.org
[email protected]
school of theatre & dance
www.umt.edu/theatredance
[email protected]
college of visual
and performing arts
www.umt.edu/umarts
university of montana
www.umt.edu