Dallas Children's Theater Blog

Astonishing Kids And Families With The Fun of Broadway-Like Plays and A Lot More!

Monthly Archives: December 2011

Madeline Cast Party at Dallas Children’s Theater

Sometimes at Dallas Children’s Theater, the performance carries on beyond the stage.

 

After wrapping the final 1:30 p.m. performance of Madeline’s Christmas on December 22nd, the cast headed upstairs to DCT’s Gables room, where the young actresses treated their loved ones and some DCT staff to an encore, a cappella version of the final musical number from the show.

 

It was a sentimental moment – simultaneously singing in unison and passing presents counterclockwise from one person to the next for their gift exchange.

 

They’ve all had an adventure: from night rehearsals during the fall, to performances for the public and school groups, to the final hurrah at their cast party for a successful show run.

 

With memories to last, we now wish all our friends and loved ones a Bonne Année (that means Happy New Year)!

C’est…what? DCT’s Madeline Actresses on Learning French Accents

While Dallas Children’s Theater usually features adult actors on stage, Madeline’s Christmas has a cast full of young actresses singing, dancing and flying through the air on magic carpets.

We recently caught up with the two talented, adorable young ladies, Sarah Youngblood and Madie Buckles, who play the role of “Madeline” on alternating performances. They told us about their experience learning a completely new dialect in order to bring to life the spunky, beloved character Madeline on stage for the DCT audience:

DCT’s unique partnership with the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy and West Dallas Community School

Students from West Dallas Community School were treated to an extra special field trip experience at Dallas Children’s Theater in October 2011.
After watching the Dallas Children’s Theater stage adaptation of Alexander & the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day, based on the popular children’s book that the students read in class, the group stayed in their front row seats for an encore presentation.

Amanda and George P. Bush, nephew of former president George W. Bush, thanked the students in person for their participation in an essay writing contest in which they were challenged to re-tell to Alexander about their no good, very bad day.

The winners of the contest had been hand selected by former first lady Barbara Bush, who greeted the students in a pre-recorded message. “I have read these wonderful essays, and I must say, you are a very talented and imaginative group of students,” Mrs. Bush applauded. “I want to thank the Dallas Children’s Theater and West Dallas Community School for joining me in this special project that helped promote reading, my favorite thing in the world.”

Unbeknownst to the contest winners, their proud parents snuck into the theater before the show and then congratulated their excited children after receiving their recognition.

Life Imitates Art at Dallas Children’s Theater

In the first book of Ludwig Bemelman’s MADELINE series, the young heroine is rushed to the hospital with appendicitis.

Madie Buckles, one of the two girls alternating in the role of Madeline, noticed her right side hurting during rehearsal at DCT one night in October, and she learned the hard way how life can imitate art.

When the young actress told us about it, she even quoted from the book, “The doctor said, ‘It’s her appendix!’,” she said in the French accent she learned for the show. “Not really, he just said it was appendicitis.”

Though in the book, Madeline was in the hospital for “about 20 days – a long time,” according to Madie, “I was lucky to get out in 3 days.” Upon her return to rehersal after her operation, Madie was greeted by yellow daisies from all her castmates.