Theatre Continues Wave Of Success With ‘Unsinkable Molly Brown’

“Unsinkable Molly Brown” by the Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre, North Idaho College Boswell Auditorium, Thursday, 8 p.m.

Molly Brown is unsinkable.

So, it appears, are the Carrousel Players of the Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre. Six years ago, this group almost went out of business after almost 20 years in Coeur d’Alene. Then it moved to bigger quarters at North Idaho College’s Boswell Auditorium. Now, it is coming off its best year ever, and this year it already has logged 2,883 subscriptions, 500 more than last year.

Today, the Carrousel Players are the undisputed champs of professional summer theater in the Inland Northwest. The theater has budget of nearly $250,000 and an audience of more than 19,000, and, now, no summer-stock competition. The competing Northwest Summer Playhouse is not operating this year.

This year’s season is filled with crowd-pleasers, some of which are rarely seen because they are so difficult to stage. The season includes “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” (Thursday-July 15); “HMS Pinafore” (July 20-29); “Funny Girl” (Aug. 3-12); and “Show Boat” (Aug. 17-26).

This is a daunting schedule for a company that allows only 10 days of rehearsal time for each show.

“Believe me, it’s a challenge to put an operetta (‘HMS Pinafore’) up in 10 days,” said artistic director Roger Welch. “This schedule is like doing a week’s worth of rehearsals in one day.”

Since there are three rehearsals scheduled every day, that is almost the case.

These shows were chosen, in part, by a vote of last year’s audience, which goes some way toward explaining why the theater’s resubscription rate is running at 80 percent.

The total audience has tripled since 1990, which means they must be doing something else right besides just picking good shows. In fact, the talent level and the quality of the production values has gone steadily upward since the group had its rebirth at North Idaho College.

For instance, take the music. This year, a 21-piece orchestra will be in the pit for every show. Even some Broadway touring shows get by with a third of that. Every musician in the orchestra is paid.

“One of our greatest expenses goes unseen, but not unheard,” said general manager David Hollingshead.

As for acting talent, Welch said that he can now choose from a much larger talent pool than before. Welch holds auditions in Portland, Seattle and Coeur d’Alene.

“I had about 300 to 400 people audition,” said Welch. “I had to turn people away in Seattle. Our reputation is growing each year. This is a great place to do theater, and hang out on the lake.”

This year, for the first time, Welch chose a 17-member “core group” of actors, most of whom will be in all four shows. In other years, most actors did only one or two shows each season. Only for “Show Boat” will other actors be brought in. James Caddell of the Seattle Opera will be flown in to play the role of Joe, who sings “Ol’ Man River,” and a Spokane gospel choir will also participate in that show.

The first show, Meredith Willson’s “The Unsinkable Molly Brown,” is perfect for Coeur d’Alene audiences, since it deals with mining and Western themes. It also suits Spokane audiences - 55 percent of the theater’s audience drives in from Spokane County.

However, the show is daunting to perform because it changes location 24 different times - from Missouri to Colorado to Europe - and also because it is a true star vehicle. It made Tammy Grimes a star on Broadway, and it featured Debbie Reynolds in the movie version.

The CDA Summer Theatre has its own star: Bobbi Kotula. Kotula is one of the perennial favorites in local theater, and Welch admitted that he wouldn’t have even tried to do the show without someone of her caliber.

The male lead will be played by another favorite, Frank Jewett. Jason Fortner will be the director.

The show follows the true-life story of Molly Tobin as she goes from pauper to silver-mining queen. She then becomes an unlikely hero on the voyage of the Titanic (thus the title).

Its score includes “Belly Up to the Bar, Boys,” and “I’ll Never Say No.”

“Don’t Stop, We’re Losing Them!”

Local actor-writer-director Valentino Jimenez will premiere his one-act musical, “Don’t Stop, We’re Losing Them,” at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Amend Music Center, W1305 14th.

Jimenez and Belinda Geren, a duo which goes by the name of Outrageous Dreamers, star in this one-hour show. The show is about Ted and Ginny, who are involved in a car crash which leads them into a “spiritually-altered state of consciousness” between heaven and earth. There, they must confront the following question: “Should we hang on to our memories, or deal strictly with reality?”

Ted tries to convince Ginny that her memories will keep her alive and on earth, but Ginny doesn’t want to recall those painful memories.

Jimenez has been in a number of local productions with the Spokane Civic Theatre, Interplayers, the Valley Repertory Theatre and others. He was also a former air personality on KZZU-FM.

Geren has appeared with the Spokane Civic Theatre, and has directed for the Spokane Children’s Theatre.

Tickets are $7 and are available by calling 448-1744, or Espresso Eviva at 456-3534. Coffee and desserts by Espresso Eviva will be available before and after the production.

, DataTimes MEMO: “Unsinkable Molly Brown” continues July 7-9, and 13-15 at 8 p.m. except July 9, which is a matinee. Tickets are $18, $12 students; $16 and $11 for matinees; call (800) 4-CDA-TIX or (208) 769-7780.

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