Thursday, March 28, 2024

Honk!

Mantorville Theatre Company hosts ‘family-friendly’ production

Child actors, senior citizens, and everyone in between are hamming it up, doing their outlandish best during rehearsal for the Mantorville Theatre Company’s performance of Honk!

Company president Patrick Quint has to smile as they carry on.

“We’ve got a lot of voice talent in the cast,” he said. “They picked me, even though I’m not the strongest singer. We’re motivated to work a lot harder with some excellent voice talent. And then the kids, of course, bring the ‘cuteness’ factor to the production.”

Honk! A Musical Tale of ‘The Ugly Duckling’ began Feb. 17 and plays at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and at 2 p.m. Sundays through March 12 at the Mantorville Opera House.

Quint said nearly 50 people have attended the first shows, “so it’s been an excellent crowd.

The Company, which has presented plays since 1970, is involving younger community members in Honk! – one of its first musicals and the first altogether “family-friendly” production.

“I like the fact that we’re a bit diverse, especially when it comes to age,” director Denise Ruemping said. “We’ve got some teenagers, we’ve got some college-age students, and then those of us who are in our 30s and 40s. I think it’s nice because you can see a different range of experience levels. You’ve got the younger kids, who are probably not used to being in shows with older people. They’re set to the same standard as everybody else. The expectations for them are a lot higher than if you were doing a straight-on kids’ production with just children. I think the younger members are beginning to learn from the older members.”

They’re all having a good time, Ruemping said.

She works as education director at the Rochester Civic Theatre. But her acting roots are in Mantorville: her first community theatre acting experience was at this very Opera House.

“There’s something about this space, about this town, that you just can’t get anywhere else,” she said. “There’s a sense of community and family that’s really very strong here. I really enjoy coming home to my roots. Coming back here is almost like coming home for me.”

Adult tickets are $20 for Honk!. Reduced rate tickets are $17. Adult-Child Combination tickets are $30, for one adult and one child or student.

Call (507) 635-5420 or see www.mantorvillain.com or the Company’s Facebook site for more information.

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