When Molly Hall was seven, she remembers listening to "Dancing Queen" and thinking, “I can’t wait until I’m 17! Then I’ll really be the dancing queen!” She grew up listening to ABBA, often performing lip-sync concerts in the living room with her younger sister, Wendy, to songs like "Honey, Honey" and "Nina, Pretty Ballerina". Little did she know that she’d grow up to become an actor and choreographer, and that someday ABBA’s iconic songs would be made into a musical. So it’s not an exaggeration to say that she’s been waiting her whole life to be a part of this show.

Molly and her family (husband, Jason Gingold, and kids Sadie and Charlie) have been involved with Kitsap Forest Theater for six seasons. She played Lowbutt in HONK! (opposite fellow Dynamo, Jenny Dreessen), several roles in Annie, and Eulalie Shinn in The Music Man. As a choreographer she created the dances for Shrek, The Little Mermaid, Tarzan, and Tuck Everlasting. Molly has also acted and choreographed with many theatres around the Seattle area.

“I was hired to choreograph Mamma Mia! over a year ago, which was already a dream come true,” says Hall. “But I hesitated about auditioning. I thought it might be too complicated to choreograph and act in it. But then around January I realized… What am I, crazy? This is Mamma Mia!!! OF COURSE I’M GOING TO AUDITION!” Her dream was almost thwarted when she got terribly ill in the days before the callbacks. But thanks to the help of some trusted colleagues, she was able to show up to run dance callbacks and read/sing for several roles. She was thrilled to be cast in the role of Tanya, Donna’s longtime friend and back-up singer. “I used to dance to "Does Your Mother Know" as a kid, and I’d do this little step we called Kick/Open/Side-to-side. I played it on our turntable over and over again and tried to set a record for how long I could do that little step. So of course I HAD to put that into the dance. It’s such a joyful, flirty, high energy song, I love performing it.”

Being a part of this production team has also been a joy for Molly. “I love working with Paul and Ben. Paul and I have worked together on many shows and he directed me in two of my favorite roles of all time: Lotty in Enchanted April (alongside fellow Dynamo Beaven Walters), and M’Lynn in Steel Magnolias. We also had the chance to work together on Tuck Everlasting last summer, which was like being inside a myth or a storybook, a really special experience for the whole company. And Ben is just a firecracker and a musical genius. We really see eye to eye about the intersection of voice, dance, music, acting, and storytelling. When we give the cast notes sometimes the other person’s words just dovetail perfectly with what we’re trying to express. We’re a really good team.”

Trying to choreograph and act in the show hasn’t been without its challenges. “I have many days when I think, this is basically impossible,” says Hall with a laugh. When she’s not on stage, she is dashing out front to watch dances and takes notes. Then she scrambles back stage to make it in time for her own scenes and songs. “I definitely couldn’t do it without the help of Kayla Rose, our incredible Assistant Choreographer. She steps out of dances all the time to watch and give notes. She is a calm, wonderful presence and she helps to keep the dances in good shape especially when I’m running around with a tambourine and a boa, singing "Dancing Queen".”  

Best of all, says Hall, is the chance to be a part of this show with her two real-life good friends, Jenny Dreessen and Beaven Walters. “For the three of us to be cast in these roles, after all these years of friendship and working together… it’s just a dream come true. We love each other so much, and we trust each other. We all have different strengths and we balance each other really well. Best of all, the depth of friendship and chemistry between Donna, Tanya, and Rosie is just palpable and very real. Then, on top of all that, we get to wear sparkles and dance and sing harmony! I just don’t think it gets any better than this.”

When asked what her favorite part of working on Mamma Mia! is, Molly is at a loss. “All of it. Every minute of working on it. Every night of rehearsal. I could name some sweet, one-of-a-kind moments: the first harmony section of "Chiquitita". The first chorus of "Dancing Queen". The first time we all nailed the "Super Trouper" moves. All the times Reed Viydo (Pepper) has cracked me up in our scenes. The dance break of "Does Your Mother Know". There have also been some dances that were unexpectedly thrilling to create – "Under Attack" being a particular highlight. But I just have to say all of it. And doing the show along with my husband and two kids. This is truly living the dream. I’m grateful every day.”  

MICHAEL C. MOORE·MONDAY, MAY 27, 2019

The Mountaineers Players leave no stone unturned and deliver a striking production of the inspiring Disney musical

BREMERTON — A note to local theater companies who have productions of "Newsies" either in the works (Paradise Theatre opens theirs in Port Orchard June 14, and CSTOCK just announced the show as their season opener this coming fall), or on the drawing board:

The bar, my friends, is set high.

That's because the Mountaineers Players' first-in-the-area production at the Kitsap Forest Theater not only scooped the competition, but gets the story bracingly, delightfully right.

"Newsies," the Disney screen-to-stage adaptation about the New York Newsboys Strike of 1899, is a musical I was seeing for the first time. And it's a credit to director Craig Schieber and his massive cast and crew that I could — despite the distractions that are part of any experience at the rustic amphitheater — retire on this one, perfectly satisfied that if I never got to see another production of it, this one would always supply a positive memory.

Fortunately, I don't have to. I look forward to seeing how other companies handle the memorable Alan Menken-Jack Feldman songs and the snappy Harvey Fierstein book; how they stage the production numbers; how they manage to portray turn-of-the-century New York City in confines very different from those in which the Mountaineers are bringing it to life.

But I'll remember the Mountaineers' joyous run-through for the strength of its performances — dramatic, vocal, instrumental and dance — the thoroughness of its presentation (Schieber's crew and production staff easily outnumber the cast of 52, and the manpower brought to bear shows) and its overall power.

For starters, the show itself is tremendous, based on and totally respectful of historic events (filtered through the 1992 movie screenplay by Noni White and Bob Tzudiker), but still eager to please and entertain.

And Schieber, with able assists from musical director Amy Beth Nolte and bandleader Elizabeth Rainey, set designer Chris Stanley and — perhaps most notable of all — choreographer Guy Caridi, finds all the drama and fun and presents it in oft-thrilling fashion.

The story centers around Stanley’s monolithic brownstone construction, which allows Schieber's actors and Caridi's dancers to cavort on three levels — ground, fire-escape and rooftop.

Jack (Trevor Burden, left) and Crutchie (Oliver Girouard) dream of a future somewhere other than the streets of New York.

It's the rooftop where Jack (a terrific Trevor Burden) dreams of escaping his NYC existence, even as he inspires his oppressed fellow newsboys to organize against publishers like tyrannical Joseph Pulitzer (who's no prize, let me tell you).

Down below, the Newsies strike, attracting the attention of ambitious reporter Katherine (Katie Dreessen, Burden's equal in the "terrific" department, particularly dealing with the rollercoaster lyrics of “Watch What Happens”), who then, inevitably in a show needing a romantic subplot, attracts the attention of Jack.

Those two are the rocks of Schieber's cast, but they're far from alone. Oliver Girouard is an effectively sympathetic Crutchie, and Zach Edson and Andrew Kruse both shine as fledgling newsies, the elder taking up Jack's call to action while the younger seems destined to make his fortune on the streets. Meagan Castillo (as their ally) and Jeff Pettiross (as the enemy, Pulitzer himself) both add considerably.

But Schieber and Caridi find ways to let dozens of their supporting players and hoofers contribute, and they all do. The dancing, in particular, is breathtaking.

Newsies dancing L-R: (Alexandra Kunin, Stefanie Van Rafelghem, Olivia Ingram, Anna Vizzare)

The singing is almost uniformly tremendous, and Rainey's five-piece band supplies distinguished accompaniment.

There were sound foibles during the well-attended May 26 (opening day) performance I attended, but this venue is always going to have sound foibles — especially with a big, complex show like this, that literally surrounds the gallery with singers, from all directions and altitudes. But you won't miss anything; I heard every line and lyric, just not always through the intended microphone or at the intended volume.

And you won't miss anything, either, because you'll be hanging on every word of this "Newsies." It's a no-stone-unturned effort that deserves to be front-page news among local theater enthusiasts.

REVIEW ‘Newsies’

Who: Mountaineers Players

What: Musical by Alan Menken, Jack Feldman and Harvey Fierstein, based on the movie screenplay by Bob Tzudiker and None White

Where: Kitsap Forest Theater, 3000 Seabeck Hwy. NW, Bremerton

When: Through June 16; 2 p.m. Saturdays, Sundays and Memorial Day; gate opens at 1 p.m.

Tickets: $18-$10 advance, $20-$12 gate

Information: 800-573-8484 (tickets), 206-542-7815 (information), foresttheater.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ALFONSO BARRERA / MOUNTAINEERS PLAYERS

Top: Jack (Trevor Burden, middle) tells Davey (Zach Edson, right) that his kid brother Les (Andrew Kruse) is a born newsie.

https://www.facebook.com/notes/michael-c-moore/newsies-is-a-knockout-in-the-forest/10156517867918635/

Michael C. Moore , May 28, 2017

BREMERTON — There have been many Memorial Day weekends when umbrellas were an integral part of the Mountaineers' productions at Kitsap Forest Theater.

Most years, it was because it was raining.

For the 2017 spring offering, though, the bumbershoot played a huge role in the opening-day performance of the much-beloved musical "The Wizard of Oz," even though the day was every bit as idyllic as the al fresco venue could've hoped. Director Craig Schieber might not have been able to pull off this imaginative, judiciously contemporized version of Dorothy Gale's travels to and from the Emerald City without lots, and lots, andlotsandlots, of umbrellas.

(It should be noted that, even though nothing caught fire, extinguishers also made a star-level contribution. Ponder.)

It's not easy putting on a satisfactory "Wizard of Oz," let alone a superb one, and Schieber faced all the usual challenges of trying to bring a special effects-heavy show into the rustic amphitheater. And, as usual, he manages to get over, around and through most of the potential pitfalls by replicating the bells and whistles as best he can, keeping the performance floor a blur or color and motion and — mostly — just letting the story tell itself.

There's also the challenge of trying to please two completely different audiences. Some — like myself, who grew up watching the annual and much-anticipated telecasts of the 1939 movie version — are so familiar with the book and lyrics that you can see our lips moving. For us, a performance needs to live up to iconic images and generally be the stuff of our fond memories.

But there are also those in every audience who, for whatever reason — they're younger than 5, or spent their lives under a big rock — haven't caught up with this wonderful, timeless fantasy adventure. For them, it's Schieber's job to give them a first point of reference, a "Wizard of Oz" against which all others will be measured in future.

On most fronts, he succeeds. And he does so with a cleverly tricked-up visual aesthetic, which turns Munchkins and Winkies into computer game characters, modernized a crystal ball into a cell phone and an hourglass into a flat-screen monitor (albeit an insufficiently sized one).

There are also the tried and true Forest Theatre tricks of having people portray everything from furniture to foliage.

The look overall — with bouquets tossed to costumer Barbara Klingberg and choreographer Guy Caridi — is a close-enough chip off the old blocks to satisfy the life-long Ozniks, but colorful and whimsical enough — not to mention referentially modern — to grab and hold the attentions of first-timers, even the diaper-clad.

Much of the acting is cursory at best, as Schieber's huge cast was charged primarily with getting through the long, episodic proceedings without bogging down.

But there are some highlights, starting with a delightfully 2017-ish Dorothy delivered by Jasmine Harrick, who's theatrical throughout without being cloying, and makes worthy work of the show's best-known song, "Over the Rainbow." Her singing and dancing also help breathe life into the "Jitterbug" production number (don't look for that one in the movie) that I've always thought was a pain, but quite enjoyed in the forest.

Caridi scores points not only for thorough and fun choreography, but for his rubber-limbed performance as the Scarecrow. Along with Harrick's Dorothy, I think I liked him most of all.

What made the biggest impression on me was that the Mountaineers' "Wizard of Oz," with all its challenges, limitations and distractions (if you've been before, you know the family-friendly amphitheater is often part gallery, part nursery), held the attention of the large, sun-kissed crowd about as well as any show I've seen there.

As measures of success go, especially for a show as big as "The Wizard of Oz" and a venue as challenging as the Forest Theater, that's an important one.

http://www.kitsapsun.com/story/entertainment/2017/05/29/wizard-oz-delivers-when-can/352693001/

Jasmine Harrick has been performing since she was 5, and has been lucky enough to work in productions at The 5^th Avenue and Village Theatre, but Kitsap holds a special place in her heart. “It’s more than a theater,” she says, “it’s a community. Because you spend so much time with the rest of the cast – camping, hiking, eating together – you get to know everyone more than at other theaters.”

Jasmine’s experience with KFT began at age 4, when she came with her parents to performances, who were hoping the outdoor environment would be a good counter to toddler fidgetiness. She thrilled at the opportunity to meet the actors onstage and was already a veteran audience member when at age 8 she auditioned with her sister, Eliana, and her parents for Fiddler on the Roof. This began a treasured family tradition of performing together. It didn’t take long for the unique theater to work its magic on all of them. Weekends after rehearsals, Jasmine would head out into the wooded areas beyond the cabin to find secluded glens where she and her new friends from the cast would create fairy houses, explore the trail to Big Tree and Wildcat Creek, or build impromptu carnival rides around the cabin. She went on to portray Lucy in Narnia, Mary Lennox in The Secret Garden, Annie in Annie, and Neleus in Mary Poppins.

That sense of specialness of place and community is one thing that drew Jasmine back to the theater this year, after missing last year due to Village Theatre’s Billy Elliott. “I missed it so much,” she says, “I was just hoping to get a chance to be in a show here again,” so she couldn’t be more thrilled to also get the opportunity to play Dorothy.

Jasmine’s says about playing Dorothy: “I don’t care that she’s a girl really,” she says, “What interests me most are characters who are nice people, who know what they want, and who try hard to do the right thing. It doesn’t matter whether they are girls or not. Before I started working on the character, I thought Dorothy was kind of dull, that everything just happens to her, and she’s like, ‘oh no, help me please.’ That’s not an interesting character to me. My favorite part was always the Munchkins.”

She soon found the role presented challenges, physical and emotional. “She’s on the entire show, so you have to have a lot of energy. And emotionally, she goes through a lot of changes during the show. At the beginning of the show, Dorothy convinces herself that nobody understands or really loves her, and that she despises her Aunt and never wants to see her again. When she’s away from her Aunt and thinks she may be sick, she immediately wants to get back to her, even though she’s in this incredible, remarkable place – and that goal drives her for the rest of the show. Dorothy realizes that she already has what she thought she wanted.”

Jasmine is excited by the novel take that Craig Scheiber and costumer Barbara Klingberg brought to the show. “This is a very iconic show, and I think it’s really cool that they are doing something to mix it up a little bit, but still keep the elements that made it a classic.”