Forest theater hosts the magic of ‘Mary Poppins'

By Michael C. Moore, Kitsap Sun, 5-20-2015

SEABECK — Whether or not you've seen the stage adaptation of Mary Poppins, chances are pretty good you've never seen it the way the Mountaineers Players are about to show it to you.

That's partly because of the outdoor theater's limitations when compared to a fully appointed indoor venue. Its special effects are the centuries-old trees, the massive rhododendrons and the gentle gush of nearby Chico Creek. The special-effects marvels you might've seen previously, in professional theaters with endless resources and huge coffers, won't be so much in evidence at Kitsap Forest Theater, where the stage is dirt and the backdrops are bark.

Those differences are no reason, though, for audiences to enjoy the "practically perfect in every way" musical any less, according to director Craig Schieber.

"The trick is to look at our limitations as possibilities," said Schieber, who directs one of the venerable, Seattle-based company's two productions at the rustic amphitheater each summer. "We have to look at getting the audience to use their imaginations, and give them other ways to see the magic."

By "venerable," we mean that the Mountaineers have been staging plays at Kitsap Forest Theater since 1923.

And the "magic," Schieber pointed out, can come from the show itself — including all those supercalifragilisticexpialidocious songs — and the Mountaineers' performances.

"The script is rich enough, and the songs are rich enough," Schieber said, "that the show can carry itself. But we have a great cast, and we have our great costumer (Barbara Klingberg).

"And we'll try to have a few surprises, to help with the magic," he added, grinning.

Amy Beth Nolte, Schieber's musical director, added, "That's the biggest challenge, figuring out how we can still surprise an audience, take people who are wondering, ‘How are they going to do that?' and surprise them with how we do it."?

"We've created a few things," Schieber said. "When we can do an effect so that it's cool, something that the audience wouldn't have expected. We'll try to come up with a really unique way of doing something when it needs to be done."

Schieber is, of course, no stranger to making the unlikely happen in the forest setting. He has, in recent seasons, pulled off a more-than-credible version of the decidedly urban Annie. And despite its seemingly KFT-friendly title, there was a lot more than woods to mounting Into the Woods.

"You do what you can in regards to the special-effects bells and whistles," Schieber said, "but mostly we have to rely on telling the story."

That story — the one in the stage version — owes a lot more to P.L. Travers' original "Mary Poppins" children's books than it does to the 1964 Disney movie that cemented the superstardom of Julie Andrews and made a household mega-word out of "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." (A suggested homework assignment prior to seeing the play is a screening of Saving Mr. Banks, the excellent Disney film about the cajoling it took Walt Disney to get a not-very-cooperative Travers to let him make the movie at all.)

"The stage play has more depth, and more story line," Schieber said of the book by Julian Fellowes, which retained the Robert B. Sherman-Richard M. Sherman songs — and some of the situations — from the movie version, but re-purposed them to fit into the revamped story line. (Melodist George Stiles and lyricist Anthony Drewe wrote additional songs to flesh out the musical.) "The books are a lot of short little bedtime stories, and the show takes several of them and builds a story around them."

"And there is a lot of music," Nolte added. "The songs are very full. It's all dancing, all singing all the time."

To that end, Schieber said, the company's consistently excellent choreographer, Guy Caridi, has been working double-time.

"I can say that this is the most time ever spent on choreography at this theater," he said. "Guy will even be out there himself, as one of the dancers."

While the story still centers around Mary Poppins (KFT veteran Meagan Castillo) and her affable friend Bert (newcomer Merrill Matheson), there are several new characters in the stage reboot, and there's much more work to do for the members of the Banks family — Tod Harrick and Jenny Dreessen as George and Winifred, Lydia Salo and Joseph Martinez as the precocious youngsters. Of those four, only Salo is a newcomer to the forest stage.

Then there's the more than 30 various chimney sweeps, policemen, kite-fliers, bank clerks and nannies swirling their way in and out of the story, and on and off the stage, to add to the experience. And the magic.

Tickets available here.

Joseph Martinez (Michael Banks) is excited to be returning to the Kitsap Forest Theater for the 3^rd year in a row. Joseph is 10 years old, lives in Shoreline, and is homeschooled.  He is excited to be a human this time after playing a tiger and baby Tumnus in Narnia, and a duckling in Honk!

He was first introduced to theater when he was 5 years old and began performing with his homeschool group at Magnuson Community Center. He participated in multiple productions there before being introduced to the Kitsap Forest Theater by his friend, Jasmine Harrick.

Joseph says, “I love performing at KFT because of how family friendly it is. After our performances the cast eats dinner together, plays games, sings around the campfire, and camps out overnight. I love spending time outdoors.”

On top of learning his lines, music, and choreography, Joseph has worked with a dialect coach to learn a British accent. “I first became interested in a British accent after watching World Cup soccer games and now it’s fun to get formal training on learning a real British accent.”

Joseph has really enjoyed playing Michael Banks and finds that his character really just wants love from his parents. “All Michael wants to do is fly a proper kite with his dad. Michael and his sister, Jane, drive away nannies because they just want their parents’ attention. I feel sad for him but then Mary Poppins comes along and things change – and as Mary Poppins says, anything can happen if you let it.” Come see the show!

Meagan Castillo (Mary Poppins) is happy to be spending another spring in the beautiful Kitsap Forest Theater, and is thrilled to have the opportunity to take on the role of Mary Poppins. A Seattle native, Meagan has performed with many local theater companies, including Seattle Musical Theater, SecondStory Repertory, Tacoma Musical Playhouse and the Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society. She is currently a pre-nursing student at Bellevue College.

Meagan was first drawn to the Kitsap Forest Theater in 2011, when her then 10-year-old son expressed an interest in joining her on stage. The unique environment of the theater, which encourages family participation both on and off stage, was a perfect fit. Since then, Meagan has had the privilege of appearing on the Kitsap stage with both of her younger sons; in the 2013 production of Narnia, as well as last years production of Honk!.

“I believe that the family friendly, multi-generational environment of the Kitsap Forest Theater is very important, both for the cast and the audience. I'm proud to be a part of creating a place where parents and grandparents can expose their children to quality theater in a relaxed and welcoming space”. Despite the challenges of staging a production of Mary Poppins outdoors, Meagan feels that it really is an excellent fit for the theater. “The themes of finding the magic in the everyday, as well as the Banks family's struggle to connect with one another is something I believe everyone can relate to.”

Meagan is also enjoying the challenge of playing a character many people are familiar with and have preconceived notions of. “So much of the fun in creating a character is making it your own. That's difficult with a role like Mary, since most people immediately think of Julie Andrews. Returning to the source material is also tricky, since the Mary in the original P.L. Travers' stories isn't terribly likeable. Despite this, playing Mary really is a dream come true, after all how often do you get to be Practically Perfect.”

Buy your tickets today online (no ticket fee) and come for a "jolly holiday" in the forest with your friends and family! It truly will be a "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" adventure!