Cast of Spokane Children’s Theatre ‘Treasure Island’ mirrors mentorship of young pirates in classic musical

As he works with Spokane Children’s Theatre for the first time, director Rick Taylor has noticed a natural mentorship happens between the older, more experienced actors and those who are new to the stage.

“You have the older experienced actors working alongside these younger people and helping them. ‘Here’s how we act. Here’s how we behave in a theater,’ ” he said. “As the young people grow into the theater, it becomes this big cycle.”

It’s fitting then that he’s witnessing this guidance while working on “Treasure Island,” a story about a young boy who gets shown the way of the sea while in search of buried treasure.

The musical begins with Tom Morgan (Adam Chavez), the first mate of the Hispaniola writing about his trip to Treasure Island, where he and a crew of pirates were searching for Spanish silver coins.

Morgan continues making his way to the Admiral Benbow Inn in Bristol, England. He has spent a lot of time there and is close with the owners, Mrs. Hawkins (Jessica Chavez), her late husband and their son, Jim (Clif Grow).

Outside the inn, a drunk inn guest named Billy Bones (Maximus Davis), begins speaking about a group of men who want to give him the “Black Spot,” essentially marking him for death. Jim doesn’t understand what he’s talking about but helps him inside.

Once he arrives, Meg (Marla Landis), an assistant at the inn, lets Morgan in and Jim tells him that he wishes to be at sea, something Morgan encourages.

After Morgan and Mrs. Hawkins head to their rooms, Pew (Ellie Eddy), a blind, menacing person, arrives at the inn and demands to see Bones and hands him a piece of paper with a black spot on it. As Pew leaves, Bones sends Jim to his room to grab his sea chest, which contains a map. He tells Jim he was first mate to Captain Flint, a bloodthirsty pirate who stole from French and Spanish ships then buried that treasure on Skeleton Island.

Flint gave Bones the map before he died, and Bones has had a target on his back ever since. Bones gives the map to Jim and tells him to find the treasure. Morgan tells his captain, Captain Alexander Smollett (Jeromey Morton-Burris), and the captain asks Jim if he wants to sail with them to find the treasure.

It takes some convincing, but eventually Jim persuades his mother to let him go. She says yes under the condition that Meg, disguised as a boy named Sam, goes too. With that, Jim, Meg, Morgan and Captain Smollett set sail to find the buried treasure.

The show, which is the Prince Street Players version of “Treasure Island,” is directed by Rick Taylor, music directed by Beth Taylor and choreographed by Kayleen Geiger. Michelle Davis is the stage manager, and Brian Rempel is the fight choreographer.

The cast also includes Nyah Bischoff, Skye Bluedau, Sadie Ebert, Ellie Eddy, Amana Faulkner, Charlow Faulkner, Odyn Faulkner, Emmett Gerhardt, Isaiah Gilchrist, Nira Ginn, Quinn Griffith, Mia Herzog, Makynzie Hutton, Marla Landis, Ashlianne Mjelde, Rita Montgomery, Nathan O’Banion, Henry Ophart, Norah Pell, Dahlia Pham, Leo Pham, Levi Sampson, Michael Sandner, Araylee Snyder, Dimana Sofia, Maddie Sperry, Joe Witmer, Lyndsey Witmer and Nick Witmer.

The musical features Rick Taylor on bass, Beth Taylor on piano and Marsha Schlangen on drums.

This production marks Rick Taylor’s third time directing “Treasure Island.” Though he’s familiar with the story, he said he never gets tired of the show. Each group of actors he works with brings a different energy to their characters, and each group as a whole brings a different dynamic to the rehearsal process.

“Every time I do it, I love it, so it’s been a joy,” he said. “We have some great characters. Yes, it’s a family show, and there’s some things that I think are humor that’s towards adults, and the children will enjoy the sword fighting.”

Many of the young actors wanted to be in the sword fight scenes, which Taylor patterned after the “Pirates of the Caribbean” films. There is a lot of comedic mayhem during these scenes, he said, with the young actors looking for the bad guy, the bad guy looking for the good guys and instances when a character peeks around a corner, spots the enemy and runs the other direction.

“Treasure Island” features several young actors who are new to the stage. Taylor typically works with junior high and high school students so working with actors as young as 8 years old was a new experience, but he said it’s been a joy.

“Working with all these ages and with a very active young people group and some very good mature adults, so the mix together makes for a great dynamic,” he said.

Grow, who plays Jim, is a rock star, Taylor said, a young actor who came to auditions with a natural innocence but also a sense of humor and energy that a character like Jim, who finds himself at sea at such a young age, requires.

Taylor worked with each actor on their character’s motivation, spending extra time with Grow and Quinn Griffith, who plays Long John Silver, a character that Grow wins over as the story unfolds.

He also worked with Grow and Jessica Chavez to build a solid mother-son relationship.

“I like shows that have heart,” Taylor said. “There’s heart all over this show, and it’s so much fun.”

A lot of that fun comes as the show takes actors from the Benbow to the sea to the jungle. The ship set piece is set against a backdrop featuring a sunset over the water, and there is also a scrim, or a translucent sheet, used during the scenes on Skeleton Island.

Taylor again took inspiration from “Pirates of the Caribbean” for the costumes, though he notes they’re not as gritty, and, adding even more visual fun to the show, he and choreographer Geiger snuck in an ode to “Stomp” during one musical number.

Last season, Spokane Children’s Theatre began fundraising for a music loft that would allow live musicians to accompany the musicals rather than the recorded tracks they’ve used in the past. Though the theater has not yet reached its goal, they are bringing live music to “Treasure Island.”

Taylor said his wife Beth is his favorite person in the entire world and he has a blast working with her. The pair have worked with Schlangen for years, so it was easy to get into the swing of things on “Treasure Island.”

“That’s one of my favorite things is having the live music, because there’s some flexibility,” he said. “If an actor jumps a little bit, we can adjust, and it really helps bring more heart to it.”