By Michael C. Moore

Kitsap Sun Review, May 30, 2016: There are many pleasures to be derived from the Mountaineers Players' production of "The Music Man," which warmed up an opening-day crowd on a chilly, unpromising May 28 at Kitsap Forest Theater with a fast-moving, funny run-through that featured outstanding lead performances, generally tremendous singing and impressive, inventive visuals.

Heat the joint up a few degrees and I'd gladly go back and see it again.

The thing about the Forest Theater is that it can be as much about the tradition as it is about the particular show on offer. Folks have been hiking down the trail to the rustic amphitheater since 1923 — to see a show, but also to picnic, to have an afternoon out with the family, and because that's what you do on the Memorial Day weekend. Sometimes the show is just all right; sometimes it's better.

The Mountaineers' "Music Man" — director Craig Schieber's take on Meredith Willson's ingeniously evergreen tale of the redemptive power of love — is the latter. It not only does one of the musical-theater canon's sturdiest entries no harm (despite the venue's obvious drawbacks), but enhances it with a brisk pace and imaginative visuals, and pays respect to its parade of wonderful songs with mostly outstanding singing, both solo and ensemble.

Of course, the "experience" of a show at KFT is never going to be a strictly theatrical one. It's the place's blessing and its curse that eating, moving freely about and being too young to care much about what's going on down on the floor are all in a day's play there. If you're one of those set-jawed, tunnel-focused mavens who go to the play strictly to see the play, this probably ain't the spot for you.

To his credit, though, Schieber makes no concession to the young, the bored or the distracted among the theater's patrons. His pieces — "Music Man" being only the current example — ally with, but don't depend on, the novelty of their forest setting, and would stand up well on any stage in the county.

In "The Music Man," the Mountaineers have selected one of the most can't-miss musicals ever written: It's a great story, laced with comedy and conflict, romance and resolution and a little bit of an edge, and loaded with memorable songs (I'm not the only one who thinks "76 Trombones" ranks with any march Sousa ever wrote, am I?).

And in Jason Gingold and Beaven Walters, they've got lead actor-singers who are more than worthy of their iconic characters. Both — Gingold as the "spellbinder" Professor Harold Hill, who finds himself spellbound by the prissy librarian (Walters as Marian Paroo) of the town he's pulled into for his latest swindle — do top-drawer acting and singing jobs, with Walters supplying particularly glorious vocals for "Goodnight My Someone" and Gingold ably tongue-twisting his way through the 1962-vintage rap of "Trouble."

There's some classy supporting work going on, too. Jenny Dreessen brings her lovely voice and adds a credible Irish accent as Marian's long-suffering mother; Tod Harrick overplays — but to good comic effect — the uptight Mayor Shinn; Molly Hall is a delightfully pliable Eulalie; and 9-year-old Charlie Gingold (Jason and Molly's son; daughter Sadie is also in the cast) is a charmer as the introverted Winthrop. Two Kitsap locals also get to make their marks — Eric Emans plays Hill's partner in crime Marcellus Washburn; Gary Spees is the baritone in the iconic barbershop quartet, and is half (along with Dee Smolar) of the show's best sight gag, a now-you-see-it-now-you-don't parody of the"American Gothic" painting.

Like the frame for that quick, effective laugh, almost all of Schieber's set pieces (designed by Chris Stanley) are portable; furniture and flats transform the performance space simply, efficiently and effectively. Aside from a few talky bits, things never drag. Costumes (by Brenna Stratton) are colorful and eye-catching, and the choreography (by Guy Caridi) supplies not only the expected dance sequences, but keeps the cast of 50-plus, including a number of small-fry, moving and contributing to the storytelling.

Accompanist Benjamin Bentler, on piano and synths, plays immaculately. But the keyboards just can't evoke the big-brass-band oomph of much of Willson's music, and sometimes are buried under the bigger ensemble vocals (not to mention the usual clatter from the gallery). They're much more effective behind the ballads. And it might've just been an opening-day foible, but the show's brilliant opening — the a cappella "Rock Island" — didn't work very well. It's all about rhythm, but for that particular performance, there just wasn't much.

My best experiences at the Forest Theater have always been when the show is the big feature, and the "experience" is a bonus. "Music Man" is one such occasion — the ambiance is rendered secondary because the show is good enough to carry the day on its own.

Kitsap Sun Preview, May 24, 2016; By Michael C. Moore

Craig Schieber's last experience with "The Music Man" at the Kitsap Forest Theater was 15 years ago. He said the version he's directing there now won't bear much of a resemblance.

"Sixteen years ago, I don't think I had an appreciation for this show," said Schieber, who's directed at least one of the Mountaineers Players' two annual productions at the Forest Theatre since 2000. "When we did it then, we had most of the stage covered in boardwalk, big buildings, and the big house up on the mound."

But Schieber has learned a lot in his years putting on shows in the idyllic amphitheater, carved out of old-growth forest in the early 1920s and active as a performance venue ever since. For this year's "Music Man," he's gone two-dimensional.

"We really had fun with this one," he said. "We've got some furniture, some chairs, and we've got a piano. Pretty much everything else is two-dimensional flats.

"This is a real change" from the 2001 production, he said.

"The Music Man," Meredith Willson's classic tale (and his only significant hit) about a flimflam man who transforms and is transformed by a backwater Iowa town and its naive inhabitants, actually lends itself pretty well to the Forest Theater's al fresco aesthetic. Most of the production numbers already take place in the out-of-doors, and those that don't are easily representable with Schieber's portable-set strategy.

"We're using some two-sided flats that'll take you right inside a building," Schieber said. "For the library, we have one side that's the outside, and then we just flip them around and it's the inside."

The library, for those not already in the know about what transpires in "The Music Man," is ground zero, where the mysterious Harold Hill, in town to sell the idea of a boys' band, and the staid librarian Marian Paroo each meet their match.

Beaven Walters is delighted to be returning to the Kitsap Forest Theater stage after a brief break after the birth of her fourth child. She got her start at KFT six years ago when she played the role of Maria in The Sound of Music and was joined by her oldest daughter, Sophie, who played the youngest Von Trapp, Gretl. Since then, Beaven (4 shows), Sophie (6 shows), her son Scooter (4 shows), and even her husband, Mark (1 show), have appeared in six shows at KFT. Beaven also appeared as Cinderella in Into the Woods and Ida in Honk!  (which she performed well into her third trimester of pregnancy.) 

From Beaven: "Marian provides an opportunity to portray a more complex character than the typical ingénue. While she may be inexperienced at love, she is not a wide-eyed innocent. Marian is smart, savvy, wise, and strong. She has core values and standards she is not willing to compromise, even though she is teetering on the edge of entering the age when most women in her day would have been considered an “old-maid.” She is judged by the folks in the town for being different, and this sparks rumors. While on the surface Marian appears to be a tightly wound and cold librarian/music teacher, she is a romantic at heart and longs to find a “someone” with whom to share life’s simple pleasures. She also longs to be accepted by the townspeople. Additionally, Marian has a little brother, Winthrop, who has suffered since the loss of their father. This weighs heavily on Marian’s heart." 

"Enter Harold Hill, the least obvious choice for a romantic interest for Marian, but that is also what makes the pairing so interesting. Almost from the start, there is an undeniable chemistry between the two characters that opens up a range of feelings for Marian and forces a struggle between her intellect and her heart. At first, Marian sees Harold for what he is - a charismatic and smooth talking con artist. Then, at the end of  Act 1 when Harold produces the promised instruments, including Winthrop’s cornet, Marian sees how Harold’s impact on the town, especially on her little brother, has done nothing but improve the lives of everyone Harold has come into contact with. This is a pivotal turning point for Marian as she starts to look at Harold in a new light." 

"In Act 2, Marian continues to see the goodness and kindness below Harold’s facade, which brings down her walls and ultimately leads to her transformation. Her love for Harold, despite knowing the truth about him, brings about his own metamorphosis and he is willing to lose everything for this new found love. Love triumphs in this feel good musical where the townspeople and even the audience are all left a little transformed and perhaps even a bit less cynical as a result."   

"It has been my pleasure to discover the deeper meaning and hidden gems in this marvelous work of Meredith Wilson’s and I can’t imagine a better theater in which to perform this particular musical. KFT, with its range of ages of the participants, operates much like a mini River City, Iowa. We are a company full of quirky individuals-mothers, fathers, children, grandparents, husbands and wives all participating in something that is greater than ourselves. There have been generations of Mountaineers Players coming together every spring to produce plays dating back to 1923, just eleven years after The Music Man takes place. I am so grateful to be part of such a tradition."