Kids get acting roles in Symphony New Brunswick's new show Carnival

Symphony New Brunswick will be visiting three cities with Carnival, a show that caters to the whole family and includes some kids. 

The symphony will perform Carnival of the Animals, but children from a New Brunswick performing arts school will be taking on the characteristics of the animals.

Kate Elman-Wilcott, founder and artistic director of the InterAction school in Saint John, is directing the students, who are nine to 11 years old.

"We listened to the music a lot," she said. "We've been working on this since September."

Carnival of the Animals was composed by Camille Saint-Saëns in 1886 and features 14 pieces of music, each devoted to an animal.

Elman-Wilcott said the music offered a lot of opportunity for creative choreography.

Choreographer likes kids' creativity

Elman-Wilcott's daughter Sophie Wilcott was in charge of the choreography. She said the kids who are in the performance felt inspired.

"One of the great things about working with kids is that they're absolutely fearless in terms of contributing their ideas," said Wilcott.

She said much of the structure of each section was created by the children.

"They always surprise us," she said.

1 actor in 4 roles

Carter Russell is one of those kids. He plays a few roles in Carnival.  

He's a donkey, a bystander, a fossil and an elephant.  

"I like thinking of ideas to go with the scenes," he said. "I'm really grateful to be in this class."

Both Elman-Wilcott and her daughter toured with Symphony New Brunswick when it performed Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf.

Carnival will hit the road this month, stopping in Fredericton and Saint John on March 16 and in Moncton on March 17.