US Forest Service partners with world-renowned Missoula Children’s Theatre Performance to be held in Washington Area

The Forest Service http://www.fs.fed.us/ and Missoula Children’s Theatre http://www.mctinc.org/ are partnering once again for a special performance of the play The Secret Garden on Saturday, Jan. 21 at the Harmony Hall Regional Center in Fort Washington, Md.

"The Missoula Children’s Theatre and Forest Service partnership is a natural fit because so many of our important initiatives to encourage children to discover and understand the natural world while developing healthy lifestyles," said Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell http://www.fs.fed.us/aboutus/chief/ . "I look forward to watching this fun show and see our local kids learn about nature."

The performance takes a well-known children’s story about the therapeutic benefits of engaging in the outdoors and develops it into a creative and dramatic presentation that celebrates life as the children nurture the garden and watch the land come back to life.

The Missoula Children’s Theatre http://www.mctinc.org/ is commissioned by schools and communities around the world to deliver a live performance experience to local children. Once commissioned, two professional actor/directors arrive in town with sets, costumes, props, scripts and lighting equipment. Everything needed to produce a one-hour children’s musical play — except a cast. Once the Theatre group arrives in the DC Region, they cast 50-60 local children as the characters in the play. Six days later the children have gained character and perform the roles in a public performance. The mission of the Missoula Children’s Theatre is "the development of life skills in children through participation in the performing arts".

During a visit in Nov. 2011, the Theatre group presented workshops at the Paul Public Charter School in Washington, DC.

Tickets are $5 and can be purchased in advance at Harmony Hall or at the door. Space is limited. For more information, call (301) 203-6070.

The mission of the U.S. Forest Service http://www.fs.fed.us/ is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. Recreational activities on our lands contribute $14.5 billion annually to the U.S. economy. The agency manages 193 million acres of public land, provides assistance to state and private landowners, and maintains the largest forestry research organization in the world.