Want to go to the world's largest tea party?

Children just love the characters from My Little Pony Live!
By JOHN BENSON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
Actor Taylor Morgan understands the importance of his role as Minty in the brand-new production of My Little Pony Live! "The World's Biggest Tea Party," which brings Pinkie Pie and all of her friends to Youngstown Jan. 4 to 7 at the Powers Auditorium.
"I love the feeling of making an impression on children," said Morgan, calling from Mississauga, Canada. "It's exciting for them and it's something that they could possibly remember and may affect their lives as far as what they want to do when they grow up."
Such was the case for the Dayton-born, Knoxville, Tenn.-raised Morgan, who in many ways is just giving back to those actors who came before him and inspired his career choice.
"Oh yeah, my parents were always taking us to see live shows and it's stuff that I look back on and can remember seeing things and saying, 'Wow, I'd love to be able to do that one day,'" said Morgan. "And here I am."
At the age of 23, Morgan has quite a resume. While early on he starred in local productions of "Cats" and "42nd Street," lately he's found his niche with children's theater, including two stints as Bert in two different Sesame Street Live productions. Naturally, both characters dance and parade around stage to a pre-recorded track, but there are subtle differences, which requires Morgan to draw from all of his acting talents.
Various approaches
"I always kind of played [Bert] off as being the school nerd," Morgan said. "He's always wanting to do something different. He always was more of the kind of a kid who would be locked in a closet somewhere reading a book and not really socializing with the other kids. He was more of an adult, more of a grown-up character."
He added, "As far as Minty, it's trying to portray a little girl pony, more of an animal. The costume is a little different from Bert. Bert was a 6-year-old boy, and I could walk and kick like a human but being a pony, you have little less physical things you can do."
Considering Minty is a pony, Morgan's costume requires him to manipulate the animal's back legs, mouth, head and eyes. While a cumbersome task at face value, when you add in the fact Minty is a dizzy character, who oftentimes loses her balance when getting excited, it means Morgan has his work cut out for him.
Minty is an important character, playing a key and grounding role in Pinkie Pie's world. Minty often helps her friend understand that no matter what happens in the world, they'll always love her. It's this type of message that Morgan said youthful audiences will take away from "The World's Biggest Tea Party."
"This show is called, 'The World's Biggest Tea Party' and what it is, Pinky Pie decides she wants to do something that can involve all of her friends," Morgan said. "Along the way, they learn about sharing, they learn about how to help people when they're in need and just accepting people for who they are."