‘Growing Pains’ Shows Students And Their Stories

Nobody knows what it’s like to be a kid like a kid does.

That’s why Missoula Children’s Theatre’s Don Kukla based his play “Growing Pains” on stories he collected from junior high and high school students.

Kukla also specified that young actors should perform the work. That’s just what will happen at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Lake City High School auditorium.

“The kids are wonderful. There’s so much passion in their lives,” said Roger Welch, Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre’s artistic director. Welch is directing “Growing Pains.”

The piece is much like “A Chorus Line,” with students relating tales of family problems, personal pressure, drugs and suicide. Some stories are told through song, others through monologue. The stories are true, though they don’t belong to the local actors.

“It’s not a message play,” Welch said. “It’s life presented in a theatrical way.”

Forty Lake City High students will sing such songs as the “Going Down in History Blues” and “Questions.” The two-hour production has no intermission, but Welch said audiences won’t need one.

“It’s different from what people expect from a high school show,” he said. “It’s not in-your-face. It’s funny.”

Welch, 28, worked for the Missoula Children’s Theatre several years ago. It was his first experience working with children and left a lasting impression on him.

“They’re wonderful,” he said. “One of my goals with the summer theater has been to give high school students a professional experience.”

The Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre has provided the direction, choreography and musicians for “Growing Pains.” The professionals will be paid for their work. Any money left after salaries will go to the high school’s drama and choir programs.

Tickets are $6 and are available at the door.