KITSAP SUN PREVIEW By Michael C. Moore,
FOREST THEATER SUBMERGED FOR 'THE LITTLE MERMAID'
SEABECK — Andrew Coopman came from New York to the Seattle area because he wanted his work in theater to be more inspired by nature.
After less than a year, he seems to have hit the jackpot.
"A fellow cast member, Tod Harrick, told me they were doing 'The Little Mermaid' at the Kitsap Forest Theater," Coopman said as a rehearsal wound down at the rustic amphiteater. "I looked at him and said, 'What do you mean, a forest theater?'"
Harrick, a veteran of a number of productions put on by Seattle's Mountaineers Players at the venue, did his best to explain, and did a good enough job entice Coopman — who had been working with Edmonds' Driftwood Players and Studio East in Kirkland — to cast his line for the "Little Mermaid" directing job.
"It was like all the puzzle pieces fell together," Coopman said. "I wanted to be inspired by nature, and all of a sudden I was here. It's unbelievable."
An unabashed fan of the Alan Menken-Howard Ashman musical, which began life as a Disney animated feature, Coopman said he understood, even before seeing the amphitheater for the first time, the difficulties of pulling off a show set largely under the sea, without benefit of lighting or other special effects.
"I came out last winter and drew a bunch of pictures, which helped me block the show," he said. "I really wanted to designate between areas that were going to represent dry land and those that were going to be the ocean. I wanted to create levels that would help identify where we are."
Even more important in the process of pulling audiences under water will be the costumes, designed by Misha Perritt and constructied from scratch by Perritt and a phalanx of assistants. Coopman said they will be as evocative as possible of the undersea setting, while still being true to the iconic characters.
"For a lot of the costumes, we were going more for suggestions, things that were nautical," he said. "Misha has done a wonderful job of coming up with all these original looks, while still referencing the characters everyone will recognize."
Coopman said his efforts to expand the roles of the production's ensemble players — working them into more of the show's song-and-dance numbers by putting them in multiple roles — made Perritt's job even more formidable.
"I think we ended up with 105 costumes, all from scratch," he said. "There are the leads and the Mersisters (one of whom is played by Perritt's daughter, Mia), and they all have a lot to do. But I wanted to bring the ensemble into more than a few of the songs, which meant a lot more costumes.
"I think she (Perritt) probably hates me," he laughed.
A good portion of the cast for "Little Mermaid" is new to the Mountaineers, but there still are plenty of links, both familial and otherwise. Anna Vizarre, who's playing Ariel, and Jonathan Fowles (Sebastian) both were in last summer's "Shrek: The Musical." Musical director Ben Bentler was the accompanist for last spring's "The Music Man," in which choroegorapher Molly Hall played a featured role. Keyboardist Olivia Hickerson has been on hand for a number of KFT shows.
Key newcomers include Kori Lopreore (Eric) and Natasha Chen, a KIRO-TV reporter in her day job, as the villainous Ursula.
The rehearsals for "Little Mermaid" have introduced Coopman to working in the outdoors in ways he probably hadn't imagined.
"I'd never been camping before," he said of the rehearsal regimen that puts the largely Seattle-based cast and crew in tents and sleeping bags in the weeks before the show opens. "It's fun for me just on that level, doing something new. But it also really helps to build this ensemble. You meet everybody's families, get to know everyone."
Anna Vizzare is thrilled to have the opportunity to portray a dream role in such a magical environment. This is her second summer in the forest, after she appeared in Shrek last summer as Teen Fiona and one of the Three Blind Mice..jpg "Anna Vizzare as Teen Fiona, Shrek 2015")
I’ve found such joy in finding her deeply human qualities and bringing those to life in a way that animation simply cannot. She is passionate, feisty, curious, and has the biggest heart in the world.
In December, I got the chance to see Jodi Benson sing ‘Part of Your World’ with the San Francisco Symphony, and I was reminded of how much the sound of her voice captured my imagination more than 20 years ago. I also had the chance to see the Broadway version in New York in 2008 where the actors moved on roller skates. I’m glad we’re not trying that on the forest dirt floor!
I’m especially excited to explore Ursula’s strange form of feminism as she tries to take back a kingdom she once ruled from the male heir (Triton) who now controls it. She has a line in this stage version that caught me immediately: ‘Gals with ambition – nothing scares a man more, does it?’ It is a beautiful irony that she is consciously taking away from Ariel the very thing she knows gives power to a woman: her voice.
Jason Gingold (Harold Hill) is overjoyed to be performing in his 4th production at KFT. The last two seasons he has played Shrek in Shrek, the Cat in Honk! and Rooster Hannigan in Annie. Here is what he had to say about his experience in The Music Man:
"So it is really a dream come true to jump into those shoes and see what I can make of Harold Hill. As an actor, I’ve enjoyed the chance to make Professor Hill my own. We have been looking to explore some of the nuanced complexities of this character, trying to find the distinctions between when Harold is “on the con” and when he’s being real; when he’s a swindler and when he’s a man in love. The challenge is to make him authentic and human, but also as magnetic and otherworldly as the Harold Hill I fell in love with as a kid." 
"The last thing I’ll mention is that the whole experience of The Music Man at Kitsap Forest Theater, is immeasurably enhanced by the fact that I get to do it with my family. In this production, my wife, Molly, is Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn. My daughter, Sadie, is Gracie Shinn. And my son, Charlie, is Winthrop Paroo. To take the stage as a family, to work together, to play together in this way, I think is unique to Kitsap and the theater community it fosters. I’m not the only cast member with a family in the show. And it makes for a pretty special ensemble feeling and a pretty remarkable show." 
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.