Fittingly, a bold, imaginative and adventurous Tom Sawyer helped the local Mill Race Players troupe launch its existence half a century ago.
And equally as fitting, author Mark Twain’s mischievous, classic character returns to help the renamed Mill Race Theatre Company marks its 50th anniversary, and look back over an adventurous journey.
A reprised youth production of “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” will take the audience back to an iconic slice of Mark Twain’s homespun, 1840s Missouri, and a seemingly simpler time in which fences could be whitewashed far easier than a teenager’s lies.
Henry Ulrich, 13, already a veteran of 20 community productions, will perform as Sawyer and narrator Twain in perhaps his heftiest roles yet. He already loves the show’s message.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
“I think this production shows courage, and highlights a little bit of a teaching experience for teenagers to go out and explore and become a larger part of their community,” Ulrich said.
He understands exploring pretty well. Ulrich and his family recently returned from a camping trip. And he understands some element of adventure just for the fact that his family has embarked on a mission to visit historical aspects of all of the state’s 92 counties within the next few years. Plus, he participates in 4-H livestock activities with animals such as goats.
All that rural activity would seem to make him a perfect Tom Sawyer.
“But I probably wouldn’t say that,” Ulrich said with a good-natured laugh.
Director Matthew Frick, who has acted in previous Mill Race Theatre Company shows such as “Peter Pan,” mentioned that he is excited to be a part of the troupe’s involvement with young thespians. And he believes they can leave the audience with a rather mature message and a few good reminders.
“I want people to have a sense of hope that it is possible for different people to come together, and that people who seem a bit different are not always what they seem,” Frick said. “And I want them to have that sense of adventure — and to realize that if Tom Sawyer can learn to do the right thing, then so can we.”
Just like Sawyer and Huck Finn.
Producer Nick Hogan, a local performer who also serves on Mill Race’s board of directors, strongly believes in the impact of stage experience for area youngsters. He considers that something of an adventure in itself.
“It’s still very important that we provide opportunities for the younger age group,” Hogan said.
And he’s sold on solid reasons why, well beyond the fact that some who got their start as children in Mill Race are now acting professionally.
“The theater arts are about far more than becoming a professional within them,” Hogan said. “It’s about things like creating and building relationships, and I wholeheartedly believe that it creates more well-rounded human beings just in terms of virtues such as compassion and empathy and understanding your fellow man.
“I think that’s especially true if you are playing a character who is nothing like you. It takes a lot of understanding to learn how to do that.”
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”About the show” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
What: Mill Race Theatre Company’s presentation of the production "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," directed by Matthew Frick.
When: 7 p.m. June 21-22.
Where: Central Middle School, 725 Seventh St. in downtown Columbus.
Tickets: $8 to $15, available at millracetheatre.org.
Principal cast: Mark Twain and Tom Sawyer: Henry Ulrich; Huck Finn: Carson Williams; Becky Thatcher: Chloe LaVelle; Sid: Larson Koehler; Jim: Gideon Wright; Amy Lawrence: Elizabeth Alderfer; Joe Harper: Asher Stidam; Ben Rogers: Leona Folz; Susan Harper: Annabelle Andres; Gracie Miller: Daniella Riley; Will Hanley: Rachel Hoke; Andy Tanner: Ephraim Bishop; Sally Jones: Abigail Folz.
Information: millracetheatre.org
[sc:pullout-text-end]
