THEATER: Mountaineers’ ‘Music Man’ is a merry march

By Michael C. Moore, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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.