Meet our Harold Hill

Jason Gingold (Harold Hill) is overjoyed to be performing in his 4^th 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:

"Like many people, I was a kid when I fell in love with the classic movie version of The Music Man with Robert Preston. The music is infectious and fun. The characters are endearing and unforgettable: the Mayor and his boisterous wife; Shirley Jones’s lovely, lost, and ultimately transformed Marian the librarian; darling Winthrop Paroo and his sweet lisp; the rebellious Tommy Djilas and the feisty Zaneeta Shinn. There’s even a barbershop quartet!" 

"But at the center of the movie, the thing that always stayed with me, was (is) Robert Preston’s performance as Harold Hill. Even watching it today, he absolutely jumps off the screen – he can’t be contained: the glint in his eye, the boundless energy, the underlying mischief at every moment. I loved it. It’s indelible. It’s the performance all Harold Hills will forever be compared to." 

"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." 

"I am also very fond of the story of The Music Man. Oddly, it sits somewhere between realistic and preposterous – a con man pretending to sell boys’ bands across the country brings music, color, life, and passion to a quiet, stubborn Iowa town. How wonderful is that? I’m deeply drawn to the idea of finding life’s joy, its color, of living with vibrancy. His scam and deceits aside, Harold Hill is essentially about that too. I try to think of him less of a spellbinder and thief, and more of a bringer of wonder and music. As he tells Winthrop, “I always think there’s a band, kid.” It’s my favorite line. Within the play, I think it says so much about his character. Outside of the context of the play, I think it speaks volumes about the need to see goodness, to see art, to feel things, to find positivity, to be predisposed to appreciate the world around you. I think the people of River City need that in this show, and I think the world could use a dose of that too."

"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 are two more weekends to see this wonderful show - get your tickets now and plan a day away in the forest to have Harold Hill take you back to another time and place.