A candid shot from Gandalf’s grade school yearbook.

“My precious, my precious!” While 2012 might seem like an insurmountable amount of time to wait for the Peter Jackson/Guillermo de Toro feature film, fortunately the epic tale is coming to Eau Claire in July, albeit on a slightly smaller scale. The Chippewa Valley Theatre Guild presents The Hobbit (adapted from the T.R.R. Tolkien novel by Edware Mas), and you will have the opportunity to experience the journey of the famous hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, who along with the itinerant wizard Gandalf and 12 dwarves, travels to Misty Mountain to take back treasures from the evil dragon Smaug. Theatre Guild Director Sarah Meddaugh helps modernize the classic tale, put on solely by a cast of children. Aly Fenske plays the lead role of Bilbo, Sam Scherrer plays Gandalf the Wizard, and Noah Plewa and Rachel Eckwright tag team as the nefarious dragon Smaug, along with a supporting cast of 46 young actors. See for yourself the legendary showdown in the Battle of Five Armies, and Bilbo and Gollum's high stakes riddle game. Meddaugh says, “you can expect some action and some truly phenomenal costumes.”

    July 12-14 • Grand Little Theatre, 102 West Grand Ave. • 4 and 7pm on July 12, 10am and 1pm on July 13-14 • $3 • all ages • 832-7529 • www.cvtg.org