As I’m coming up on my third summer with Missoula Children’s Theatre as a Tour Actor/Director, I’m reflecting a lot on how this experience has changed me. It’s not only helped my hone my teaching and communication skills, but it has also taught me a lot about different people and places around the U.S., places I would never have even considered visiting if not for the job.
When you first arrive in Missoula, Montana as a new TAD (Tour Actor/Director), the sheer quantity of new is overwhelming. For me, it was my first time working professionally, and as a freshly 20 year old sophomore in college I was one of the youngest in my training class. Starting the day after I arrived, we spent nine 12-hour days in the MCT building. This training period was extremely packed with information, but it also provided plenty of time to connect with other new and veteran TADs, which connections I still keep up with to this day.
My first summer I toured with Alexandra Fleshman on Hercules!. We toured the pacific northwest, and essentially went on a food tour of the PNW, eating out whenever we could and immersing ourselves in local businesses (it was so fun, but drained my wallet excessively. Worth it!).
My favorite place we stopped this summer was a little town called Silverton, Oregon. Our contact this week, Don, was a sweet man who had been hosting Missoula Children’s Theatre for generations (literally, we had many kids in the show whose parents had participated when they were kids). He was even good friends with one of the founders, Jim Caron. The two had met in college, and as far as I know, are still friends to this day. Silverton was special because we had over 70 kids, as opposed to the normal 64. The people of this town were able to do this because of Don and Jim’s friendship, and everyone pitches in to accommodate the extra cast members. Don’s wife even works to replicate some costume pieces, all with special permission from MCT!
My first summer taught me a lot of lessons about myself, and how I work with others. A partnership of only two people on the road can be challenging, especially since you just met your partner a little over a week before you spend every hour of your day with them. Adding the stress of constant travel and always working can easily put a duo over the top, and I’ve seen it with lots of TAD pairings on the road. I’m grateful that Alex and I are still good friends, but I would be lying if I said we never argued (sometimes about the smallest things).
I did not think I would be back for a second summer with MCT, but somehow I found myself on a plane bound for Montana on June 1st, 2025. This time, everything felt a little different. The first summer I had trained with 4 other TADs from my college, but this summer, there was only one. The one was my best friend since freshman year, Rachel Weiner, who I wasn’t paired with. My partner this summer was Clara Bellot. Clara and I’s relationship was different from me and Alex’s, but then again, I was a bit different than I was last summer too.
This tour was with Princess and the Pea, which I personally enjoyed a bit more than Hercules! (though it does have a loving place in my heart). We toured in the southeast U.S., in Alabama, Arkansas, and up the coast in Georgia through Virginia. We were on primarily military bases this summer (its common for MCT to get contracted by the Air Force and Navy), which provided it’s own personal challenges. But what I gained the most from this summer was my confidence with teaching. I got more creative, experimented more, and overall just had more fun with it.
This summer, in June of 2026, I will be heading back to Missoula Children’s Theatre to tour with Rachel. Having both experienced the job separately, we hope that now putting our heads together will help us grow exponentially. I know that this partnership will not be like either of my previous ones, but I am excited to face any new challenges. One thing about MCT, is as much as you try to keep everything the same, it never will be. There’s always going to be a new situation that makes you go, “Oh man, what is happening, I’ve never encountered this before” and that is okay! The key is trusting your judgement, and taking things just one moment at a time.
