Young actors to present "Stinky Cheese Man" this weekend
“Run, run, run, as fast as you can… You can’t catch me, I’m the Stinky Cheese Man!”
Many who read the above line are likely to scratch their heads and say, “Wait, I thought that had something to do with gingerbread.” But it’s part of a collection of “fractured fairy tales” to be presented this weekend by a group of young actors and actresses from the Holton area in conjunction with Holton Community Theatre and Beck-Bookman Library.
“The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales,” based on a popular children’s book by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith, will be presented at 3 p.m. Saturday in the Holton High School auditorium, said Inga Kelly, who is co-directing the musical with Shannon Wittmer. Doors will open at 2:30 p.m., Kelly said, and seating will be available on a first-come basis.
The musical strings together a series of comic permutations on classic children’s stories, such as “The Gingerbread Man,” which becomes “The Stinky Cheese Man.” But where the former story sees the titular cookie person trying to escape from a hungry crowd, the latter story sees the crowd trying to get away from the cheesy character’s horrible smell.
“I saw a version of this show at the Topeka Civic Theatre with my family a couple years ago,” Kelly said. “I thought it was a show that would be fun for people of all ages.”
Kelly suggested the musical to Wittmer when they were “investigating options” for this year’s HCT summer theater camp for children held this past June, and both agreed it was “the perfect choice.” A total of 32 youngsters auditioned for the show in early July, Kelly added.
“Fortunately, we were able to cast all of them in a role in the play,” she said. “Some of them had prior experiences on stage, but this is a first show for quite a few young actors as well.”
Portions of “The Stinky Cheese Man” were incorporated into the summer theater camp, but rehearsals for Saturday’s show didn’t begin until July 11, Kelly noted.
“Since our performance is this coming Saturday, it’s pretty amazing that we were able to put together a full musical in such a short amount of time,” she added.
Cast members include Krista Adcock, Talen Browning, Devin Coffman, Parker Crouch, Shayne Dorris, Dalton Ent, Jenny Gilliland, Logan Heineken, Madeline Heineken, Jace Huyett, Jacob Huyett, Darby Ireland, Ali Irvine, Jesse Joiner, Norah Kelly, Andy Kimberlin, Lilly Kimberlin, Heather Mandala, Mya Marten, Jaedyn Nickelson, Briar Page, Reese Purling, Piper Robinson, Brynn Schmille, Kaylin Segenhagen, Sicily Snyder, Rachel Swendson, Kaiya Taylor, Zoey Tinney, Charlie White, Lucas White and HHS band teacher Jayme Malsom as the voice of the giant.
Kelly said HCT will accept free-will donations at the door to benefit future productions.
