DANVILLE — W.C Fields once said, “Never work with children or animals.” Many directors would agree.

But one Danville woman forged ahead with both categories of actors in the casts of two different shows this summer. After years of community theater experience, she knew she could cope with what lay ahead of her.

As stage manager of this weekend’s Lincoln Park Theatre Company’s “Annie,” Amanda Coutant worked with many children as well as the dog that plays Sandy. Simultaneously, she has been directing Danville Light Opera’s 2008 summer youth musical, “The Mad Adventures of Mr. Toad,” which opens July 25.

Coutant, now 22 years old, began performing when she was 8 years old and has continued to ramp up her involvement with community theater. Over the years, she’s worked with many directors and acted with even more children. She’s learned from both groups.

When one youngster tried to sneak in late to rehearsal, Coutant greeted him without turning her head.

“Good morning, Sunshine,” she said, as the boy smiled.

A phone rang during the run-through of the first song.

“Cell phones?” Coutant exclaimed. “Turn them off. Put ‘em away.”

And just as she missed little to nothing as far as the cast’s behavior, Coutant kept a keen eye on every detail of the production.

“Use your hands to gesture when you sing,” she told two soloists. “Otherwise, you look like you’re in a choir, not out in the woods.”

She advised the group of girls who play field mice, “You’re in a dark forest. Shake to show you’re scared.”

The girls tried it, with a little extra drama.

“You don’t need to convulse,” the director advised them.

Every comment was taken as it was meant — with humor and respect, and most of all, for the good of the production.

The more than 50 actors, who range from second grade to high school, are having as much fun as their director.

“As a child, I was actively involved in both DLO and Red Mask,” Coutant said. “Musical theater is what I enjoy most. When music intertwines with dialogue, it’s like magic to me.”

Her love of singing while acting is shared by the cast.

Two Westville High School students, sophomore Dakota Nale and freshman Bryan Jenkins, wish they had more chances to perform.

“This is my only time and place to sing,” Jenkins said. “People in my school make fun of you if you do theater. They’re all about football.”

Nale added the only performance opportunity available at their school is chorus.

“I wish we could have more of a music program,” she said.

The two have immersed themselves in their roles as weasels in “The Mad Adventures of Mr. Toad.”

“It’s new and really fun to play animals,” Nale said.

“I didn’t even know what a weasel really was,” Jenkins, who plays the head weasel, said. “I thought it was a chipmunk until I googled it.”

Nale advised him the animals were more like ferrets.

Both teens praised Coutant for her directing, as did Sara Switzer, an Edison third-grader who described her part as “a towns-person — I get to wear a cute outfit.”

Sara’s mother, Tamara Switzer, appeared in “Fiddler on the Roof” with Coutant. She’s enjoyed seeing her former fellow cast member in a different light.

“Amanda runs a tight ship,” she said. “The kids love her.

“I think Sara is doing great,” Switzer said. “She’s become more self-confident. She’s made a lot more friends.”

That type of experience, along with a first-rate show, is what Coutant hopes to provide.



IF YOU GO

Danville Light Opera presents its 2008 summer youth musical, “The Mad Adventures of Mr. Toad,”at 7 p.m. July 25 and 26 and at 2 p.m. July 27 at Danville Area Community College’s Bremer Center theater. Tickets are $5 and available at Blue Kangaroo Books and BC Collectibles as well as at the door.

For more information, call 431-1660.