ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, April 21, 1997 TAG: 9704210097
SECTION: NEWSFUN PAGE: NF-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOHN GRIESSMAYER THE ROANOKE TIMES
IT'S ABOUT HALFWAY through Scene 2 in Mill Mountain Theatre's production of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," and it's time for John Pendleton's big entrance.
The woodsman, one of the Evil Queen's helpers, has just chickened out of putting Snow White to sleep with the enchanted comb. Snow White, left alone in the forest, looks around as different animals check her out.
Colorful birds sing in the trees. Rabbits pop out of their underground hiding places. A skunk appears.
And then, a raccoon - or rather, John Pendleton in a raccoon costume - jumps up from behind a log.
"Say," he says, adoringly eyeing Snow White through his burglar-like face paint. "Where did you come from?"
The audience laughs. They already know this is one little raccoon with an elephant-sized crush on the lovely stranger in the forest.
The audition
John, a fourth-grader at Crystal Spring Elementary in Roanoke, had been in quite a few school plays before trying out for "Snow White." His first part was as a shepherd in a preschool Christmas pageant, in which he had the single, memorable line, "Look! A new star!"
After that, he sharpened his acting skills until he was ready for the big time: Mill Mountain Theatre. His sister had been in a few Mill Mountain productions and had a lot of fun, so John thought he'd give it a try, too.
"I was very nervous at the audition," he said. "There were so many people trying out that I thought I wouldn't make it."
Everyone who auditioned had to recite a poem they had memorized and sing a song. John sang "Zippety-Doo-Dah" and recited a poem called "Trying Out for Snow White" that his mom wrote.
"There was an X on the floor where you had to stand, and you were just looking out at the director and the musical director. It's scary. I felt like they'd laugh at me if I screwed up, but they didn't. Everyone was very nice.
"Actually, I don't even remember if I messed up or not. I guess I was so nervous."
He must not have messed up too badly because a few days later John got home to hear some good news.
"You got the part!" his mom exclaimed.
Rehearsal
According to John, play practice is a lot of hard work, but it's fun, too. He practiced almost every day from 4 to 9 p.m., and all day on Saturdays.
"Sometimes it got boring sitting there waiting until they got to your scene," John said. "But it's worth it.
"Rehearsal is usually really fun because if you mess up, they're not mean to you. Everyone has a lot of patience."
Of course, as the opening day grew closer and closer, the actors got more and more nervous about their roles. To make matters worse, John also had baseball practice and soccer games to fit into his schedule. Needless to say, he didn't have much free time.
Despite the stress, John found time for fun, especially with the other kids with whom he shared dinner and Saturday lunches for two weeks.
"I met a lot of people here that I wouldn't have met if I didn't try out," he said.
The big day
Last Tuesday, in front of a crowd of about 400 area schoolchildren, John Pendleton made his debut. He wore a black body suit with a big raccoon puppet on his chest and fluffy gray ears. A black mask was painted over his eyes.
In Ricky the Raccoon's first appearance, he gushes at Snow White, unable to hide his affection. He calls her "pretty."
Later in the play, he gets jealous over Snow White's love for the dwarfs. "They're just dwarfs, for Pete's sake!" he exclaims. He only has four lines in the play, but each one gets a big laugh.
After the play, John was excited about the possibility of doing some more acting. He said acting is really fun and he has even given some thought to being an actor when he grows up.
"Now that I tried acting, I really like it," he said. "I'll definitely try it again. But I was so nervous."
After Snow White has been rescued by the handsome prince and she's said her good-byes to the dwarfs, the woodland creatures return to the stage.
The birds sing again. The rabbits dance. The raccoons return for an encore and everybody's happy.
Ricky never did get the girl. Beautiful fairy tale heroines pick the princes over raccoons every time. But John Pendleton doesn't care much.
As the curtain drops, John grins from underneath his raccoon costume.
The audience roars.
LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: JANEL RHODA THE ROANOKE TIMES John Pendleton (center)by CNBis joined by castmates Savanna Roach and Justin Tuesburg of Mill
Mountain Theatre's "Snow White." color