Two golden tickets found in Worland

WORLAND – The Willy Wonka Golden Tickets in the story “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” gave five children an exclusive look into the workings of Willy Wonka’s remarkable factory. Staying in theme with the original story the Washakie Museum and Cultural Center in Worland created the Washakie Museum Golden Ticket Scholarship Contest which awarded two local children the option to attend the museum’s three-week musical theater intensive camp.

The camp will end with a performance of the play “Willy Wonka Jr.”

The Washakie Museum Golden Ticket Scholarship Contest asked children to write a paragraph answering the question: How will participating in a theater production improve your summer? One boy and one girl out of all the entries were chosen to receive a golden ticket, giving them access, free of charge, to the camp to learn about stage presence, singing, voice projection, lights, sound, costuming, sets, staging and more. Wednesday, the Washakie Museum and Cultural Center announced that Tate Green and Marian St. Clair were the lucky ticket winners.

Both St. Clair and Green were excited to receive the golden tickets. Green said that he is interested in pursuing an acting career having fallen in love with acting during a prior performance of “Annie Got Your Gun.” St. Clair is interested in pursuing a career in photography.

St. Clair’s paragraph explained how participating in the camp will help her learn about performing, costume design and will give her theater experience. “Performing is fun and it will give me something to look forward to every day,” St. Claire wrote in her paragraph.

Green’s paragraph explained that summer time can get boring after the chores are done, imagination has been exhausted and playing video games is no longer interesting. He also stated in his paragraph that when presented with an opportunity to do something out of the ordinary he gets excited, especially if it involves participating in a theater production. “I’m really passionate about acting and I take every opportunity to act that I can. Besides being lots of fun, acting also helps you be confident, understand others’ viewpoints and become a better speaker,” Green wrote in his paragraph.

The Washakie Museum and Cultural Center Musical Theater Intensive camp runs from June 9 – July 1 for children ages 9 – 18. Director Naomi Durrant will be assisted by museum staff and De-De Odom, a Missoula Children’s Theatre Tour Director.

The audition workshop is June 9, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. The theater skills camp runs from June 12-16, 9 a.m. – noon. Auditions and rehearsals for “Willy Wonka Jr.” will be June 12-16, 1 – 3 p.m., June 19-23 and June 26-30, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. Performances will be at the Washakie Museum and Cultural Center on June 30 at 7 p.m. and July 1 at 1 p.m.

There are still slots open and financial aid scholarships are available. Anyone interested in attending can contact Washakie Museum and Cultural Center Special Events coordinator Melissa Neylon at the museum at 347-4102.