The Mountaineers received grant money for upgrades on the Kitsap Forest Theater property (thanks to the Kitsap Branch and the Mountaineers Foundation for the funding). New signage on the property was one of our projects. Thanks to Mountaineers Players' volunteers Gardner Hicks, Scott Baker and Steve Bozorth for help in putting the signs in place, and thanks to Alvord Signs for the beautiful signs. 

We now have a better sign at the trailhead to identify the trail going down to the theater and to post information for visitors to the property.

As with all of our projects, it takes volunteers to make it happen. From digging holes to trimming wood to buying supplies, we rely on a village of worker bees to keep this property running.

We would like to eventually sign every building with new signs when we have new funding.

If you would like to join the legion of volunteers who work on the property (all skill levels desired) please contact us with your interest and availability – we would love to "put you to work" helping to preserve this amazing property for future generations! Not only will you meet new friends, get exercise, enjoy the out-of-doors – you will also be supporting a worthy 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose goal is to see more people get outside and enjoy the forest and streams of the Pacific Northwest.

Come to Narnia at the Kitsap Forest Theater!

Here is Michael Moore's review from the Kitsap Sun:

Solid storytelling and tremendous singing trump the rain at Forest Theater

BREMERTON — I was a little worried, as it became evident that the drenching rain wasn’t going away any time during the Mountaineers Players’ Memorial Day performance of “Narnia,” that I’d have to make some allowances for the miserable conditions, in compensation for the cold and wet and mud that director Jenny Estill’s cast was obliged to work through.

I needn’t have worried at all. Conditions were indeed dreadful, but you wouldn’t have known it to watch and listen to what turned out to be a spirited, sprightly and altogether enjoyable show.

Well, enjoyable as anything can be viewed from a relentless, sopping downpour that kept the May 27 attendance down to about 100 hearty, umbrella-brandishing souls.

Despite the wet, though, the Mountaineers didn’t miss a beat. The show was sung and acted just about as well as you might have hoped for had it had been sunny and 70.

The show follows the major plot points of C.S. Lewis’ “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” — the first of his “Chronicles of Narnia.” The story — siblings find fantastical kingdom by climbing through the back of a piece of bedroom furniture and are embroiled in a power struggle between the rightful king, a lion, and a cold-hearted witch — is prodded along pretty nicely by the songs by Thomas Tierney (music) and Ted Drachman (lyrics), ranging from finger-popping swing to big, anthemic productions.

Estill’s production is paced tremendously; there’s nary a dull moment, even though the book (by Jules Tasca) can seem a mite episodic. Multiple-keyboard accompaniment by Greg Smith is orchestrally rich and dramatic, the choreography by Lynda Sue Welch keeps everyone — even the cast’s passel of adorable youngsters — in constant and appropriate motion, and the reliably delightful costumes by Barbara Klingberg cover all the show’s bases, from bunny-and-puppy cuteness to White Witch wicked. Fight scenes choreographed by Ken Michels were a bit deliberate, but still a lot of clanky fun, right down to Peter Pevensie’s (Jake Friang) full-on roll across the muddy stage during one set-to with Fenris Ulf (David Cravens-O’Farrell).

But the standout aspect of the show to me is its vocal richness — especially impressive given the soggy conditions. Everyone in the cast, it seems, can sing, and the individual and corporate work they do merits a tip-o’-the-hat to music director Amy Beth Nolte.

The biggest voices belong to Dave Holden as Aslan, the lion who helps the four Pevensie children find their destiny, and Jenny Dreessen as the White Witch, who would gladly skewer them all to keep Narnia in a perpetual state of “always winter, never Christmas.”

But there’s plenty of depth, even among the youngsters. All four Pevensies — Friang, Katie Dreessen as Susan, a particularly impressive Daniel Geiszler as Edmund and Jasmine Harrick as Lucy — all are in fine voice, and many impress in smaller roles. (Kudos also to Kelsie Engen, who sang tremendously and clowned ably in her role as the the witch’s dwarf minion.) When the whole ensemble cranks up for moments like the inspiring “To Make the World Right Again,” it’s pretty lovely stuff.

The sound in the old amphitheater was surprisingly good, considering the rain spattering against the umbrellas throughout. There were some lines of dialog that were difficult to hear, but not that many.

I’m tempted now to go back and see “Narnia” again before the end of its June 16 run. After all, if it could be as charming, vocally impressive and just plain fun as it was, played out in ankle-deep mud, it might be even more of a hoot on a warm, sunny afternoon.

But not much.
 

Kitsap Sun's preview by Michael Moore, May 22, 2013

Directors come full circle in Mountaineers’ ‘Narnia’

BREMERTON — The last time Jenny Estill and Amy Beth Nolte were involved in a production of “Narnia” at the Kitsap Forest Theater, they were performing.

“Amy Beth was Lucy Pevensie, and I was the littlest mouse,” said Estill, who was 8 when the Mountaineers Players last performed “Narnia,” back in 1996. “Amy Beth (who went by the surname Lindvall then) was 7.”

This time out, the two Kitsap Forest Theater veterans return as the brain trust for this latest mounting of the musical take on C.S. Lewis’ “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” the first tome in his “Chronicles of Narnia” series. Estill is directing at the Kitsap Forest Theater for the second time (the first was “Oklahoma” in 2010), while music director Nolte is a veteran of several recent KFT musicals.

Estill, who cut her theater teeth on the rustic amphitheater’s hard-packed dirt “stage,” said she and Nolte have two main challenges in their directorial roles.

“This is where we both learned to be theater artists,” she said. “This place is a village, and we really want to pass that along so that the young people here now will understand that this is something they can enjoy for a whole lifetime.”

“It’s a mix,” Nolte added. “Of course, we care about the professional quality of the show, but we’re both teachers, too.”

Tradition is not something they take lightly at the Kitsap Forest Theater, where the Seattle-based Mountaineers Players have been producing at least one musical a year since 1923 [note: except for 4 years during World War I].

The Kitsap Forest Theater, an amphitheater carved out of a rhododendron-riddled wilderness, seems an apt setting for a fantastical place like Narnia, which the four Pevensie children access through the back of their wardrobe. Unbelievably, Estill decided the venue needed even more trees than nature already had provided.

“We’re going to have some human trees,” she said. “They’ll be doing lots of things, including helping move the set. I’m a stickler about quick set changes.”

The trees, and all the story’s other fantastical characters, will be brought to life by veteran costumer Barbara Klingberg, who also dressed the cast of Bainbridge Performing Arts’ just-completed “A Chorus Line.” Choreography is by Lynda Sue Welch, with fight choreography by Ken Michels.

Estill’s also played a role in keeping things moving during rehearsals, when she says she’s been able to take over the role of the prompter, or the “book” (the person who sits in front of the stage with the script, nudging actors who might be struggling to remember their lines).

“I am the book,” she laughed. “I remember every word.”

Both Estill and Nolte, it turns out, have some deep roots in the story.

“Being Lucy when I was 7 changed my view of Narnia,” Nolte said. “That’s the magical thing about being young. You really can believe that you’re in Narnia.”

Estill said the show’s been on her to-do list practically since she served her mouse stint in 1996, letting it drop that whenever it came up in the Mountaineers’ rotation, she’d be happy to helm it.

“I’m just glad they didn’t do it last year,” she said of the 2012 season, when she was working in Ohio.

One of the biggest challenges for Estill has been to match the large, multi-generational talent pool who showed up for auditions with the characters, from the Pevensies right down to those human trees. Aslan the lion, the show’s most iconic role, was the final one to be cast, when Dave Holden (Ovation! Musical Theatre Bainbridge’s summer 2012 production of “The Pirates of Penzance”) was recommended by Mountaineers regular Jenny Dreessen, who will play the White Witch.

It isn’t lost on Estill that Dreessen also played the witch in the Mountaineers’ 2011 production of “Into the Woods.”

“She’s collecting the witch roles,” she said of Dreessen, whose daughter, Katie, is cast as Susan Pevensie.

“For our White Stag, we didn’t really have a dancer,” Estill said, “so we took Megan Castillo (who’s shone in several KFT shows) and cast her, and we just changed it from a dancing role to a singing role.

“The challenge is how best to use and showcase everyone,” she said.

In other words, you have to be able to see the forest for the human trees.

When we removed everything from the kitchen of Kitsap Cabin to replace the floor we realized it was a great opportunity to upgrade the kitchen to make it more sanitary and more leak-proof. The previous kitchen had water leaks from the old refrigerator, plumbing, sinks, drains and faucets. After finding an infestation of carpenter ants in the floor, we realized that after fixing the floor, we needed to make sure that water stayed where it was supposed to.

After much research, we found Dan McNeely, owner of Skilfab Sheetmetal Co., who agreed to fabricate a custom 10' sink island - welding custom sinks to the counter to make a seamless one-piece unit that contains 5 sinks and an undershelf - staying within our tight budget. His company also fabricated a custom stainless steel prep table to replace an old wooden one, and a stainless steel counter to replace an old unsanitary tile counter. He did excellent work and we are so thrilled to show off our new kitchen!

We also have a new commercial range hood fabricated by Great Sun Corporation. This installation required the removing of a window and re-siding that part of the cabin. Jeff Slater of JMS Roofing Services accomplished that along with doing the roof work for the hood and helping with carpentry as we put the kitchen back together. Greg Fairley of Spectrum Electric did the electrical work. 

Along with the professional work in the kitchen, this remodel took a village of volunteers to move and remove items, help install cabinets and doors, paint walls and trim, and clean and organize the cupboards and pantry. Steve Hamilton, our caretaker, installed the new lights for the kitchen.

A huge thank you to all of the Mountaineers Player volunteers for their countless hours of service - and to all of the professionals who did first class work to transform a leaky old kitchen to a brand new sparkling one. Our volunteer cooks - who cook meals for the many cast and crew who stay overnight while rehearsing and performing at the Kitsap Forest Theater - will be thanking you everytime they cook. And a special thank you to the KETA Foundation who funded part of this remodel with a generous grant.