The Bear in the little red truck

The red truck rumbles down a two-lane highway in Montana – but it could easily be Utah, Idaho, North Dakota or Minnesota – loaded with costumes, props, sets, production equipment and scripts for The Jungle Book. Behind the wheel, Lenoir-Rhyne theatre major Kaylyn Hall ’28 drives the two-person team to the next town, the next cast of children, the next curtain call.

Through the summer of 2025, Hall spent weeks on the road with Missoula Children’s Theatre (MCT), a touring company that brings children’s theatre workshops and live performances to communities across the U.S. and abroad. Each week, she and her tour partner worked with children aged 5 to 17, assigning roles and helping every child shine on stage in under seven days. Their schedule was intense: auditions Monday morning, rehearsals all week and a performance by Friday evening. 

“It was my first professional gig outside of North Carolina,” Hall recalls. “Going all the way to Montana felt like a big leap, but working with kids was everything I hoped it would be. Seeing them come out on stage, knowing we helped them get there, made my heart so happy. And the parents watching their kids bloom – that’s a special feeling I’ll never forget.”

Early experiences in community theatre shaped Hall’s path to the stage. She has performed with a half dozen local companies over the last decade, including Hickory Community Theatre, Theatre Statesville and Foothills Performing Arts. In 2023, she stepped into a leading role in Fun Home with the Lenoir-Rhyne Playmakers. The production ultimately convinced her to attend LR, where professors encouraged her to pursue opportunities beyond Hickory.

Hall credits her LR professors for preparing her for the audition that led her to MCT. Lindsay Weitkamp, Ph.D., associate professor of theatre and program coordinator helped to cultivate Hall’s acting performance. Ashley West-Davis, DMA, education director at The Green Room Community Theatre in Newton, North Carolina, worked with Hall to prepare her for the musical aspects of the audition. 

“Dr. Weitkamp and Ashley encouraged me to attend the Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC) last spring in Baltimore. I couldn’t have done this without them,” Hall said. “I passed the prescreen, auditioned and got callbacks from a couple of companies. One of them was Missoula Children’s Theatre. From the moment I met the team, I felt a connection with the people there, and I knew this was the opportunity I had to take.”

Life on the road involved long drives between towns, unusual accommodations and building community wherever they went. Hall and her tour partner Amelia became fast friends, bonding over the challenges of touring life, long drives and late-night traditions like watching The Gilded Age. Touring also introduced the beauty of sunsets in big skies, rainbows that appeared nearly every evening and homestays with new people – including a farm where Hall learned to milk a goat. 

Hall also formed lasting connections with the MCT support team in Missoula who encouraged and mentored her through weekly check-in sessions, but the children remained the center of the experience. She collected more than 200 signatures from the children on her T-shirt, a tangible reminder of the relationships she helped cultivate in every town.

That commitment to personal connections and the children’s experience was put to the test one sweltering afternoon during a midsummer performance in a theater without air conditioning. Amelia was playing Baloo the Bear in a heavy costume, and the heat made her ill partway through the show. Even though Amelia insisted she could go on, Hall came to the rescue. 

“I sprinted to the truck, pulled the Baloo costume over my clothes and jumped onstage for the second half,” Hall said. “I hadn’t rehearsed those scenes with that group of kids, but I didn’t want her to push through feeling sick. The kids were a little confused, but the audience didn’t notice. It was one of those moments where you just do what you have to do.”

MCT’s mission – to introduce theatre to children in communities where access may be limited – resonated deeply with Hall. She described their personal mission as “one kid at a time,” focusing on helping children experience theatre for the first time or grow in confidence with each performance. From energizing 5-year-olds during scene practice to mentoring older students, Hall saw how just a week of theatre could leave a lasting impact.

“I’ve always wanted to be a professional performer, touring and maybe even on Broadway, and this summer I got a taste of that,” Hall says. “But it also showed me that being a performer can mean more than just being on stage – it can include teaching, mentoring and helping others grow. I want to come back to MCT next summer, explore more of what they do and continue growing both as an artist and as a person.”