New theater organization Honey Pearl Productions is behind ‘Cheaper by the Dozen’

She was never a clown or a mime, but short of that, Connie Kiehn has taken part in just about every kind of performance art you can imagine. Theater, band, choir, sketch comedy, dance – she’s done it all.

Kiehn considered majoring in theater in college but realized she didn’t want to be a starving artist. Instead, she did a 180-degree turn and majored in economics. She then ended up serving five years in the military and thought theater was a thing of the past.

But after leaving the military and settling in Sandpoint, where her mother lives, Kiehn, a Washington native, auditioned for and got the lead in Lake Pend Oreille Repertory Theatre’s “Legally Blonde.”

“Then, the bug was back,” she said. “I had been bitten again, and we decided then to start our own theater org.”

Kiehn and her husband Stefan founded Honey Pearl Productions, named after her grandparents Pearline “Pearl” and Jack “Honey” Morgan. The organization’s inaugural production was “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” in spring 2025.

Its second production, “Cheaper by the Dozen,” opens Friday and runs through Feb. 7.

The play is based on the book of the same name, written by two of the dozen, Frank Jr. and Ernestine. It tells of the life of efficiency experts Frank Gilbreth Sr. and Lillian Moller Gilbreth and the unusual goings on that come with having such a large family.

The book was adapted as a stage play by Christopher Sergel. “Cheaper by the Dozen” has been adapted into a musical and two films, though Kiehn notes the films have little in common with the novel, aside from the title and the fact that the family has 12 children.

Kiehn’s production of “Cheaper by the Dozen” stars Ken Wood, Amy Smith, Audrey McKinney, Lillian Maus, Ireland Egan, Ethan West, Malakai Bever, Eliana Aispuro, Ronan Byers, Ambree Smith, Robilyn Phillips, Oldinn Hale, Suzie Kiehn, Katy Hazard, Darrell Maus, Drake Byers, Dustin Borges, Kathleen Polocz, Britt Hagen, Gabriel Gunning and Rimma the dog.

The prequel ensemble stars Frank Wright IV, Avalyn Smith, Sarah Hazard, Yoshi Blazin, James Shoff, Sydney Houston, Avery Sheetz, Hadassah Bristow, Rawlin Hale, Autumn Yoast-Walters, Brielle Aispuro, Adelaide Smith, Gianna West, Lavender Kiehn and Buck the dog.

Kiehn, who is directing “Cheaper by the Dozen,” said that though she initially felt unqualified to run a theater program, she eventually realized directing was like project management, something she does in her day job.

She and her husband funded their production of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” and were able to make all of their money back and then some. That extra went toward “Cheaper by the Dozen.”

“Here we are doing the next show less than a year later, and that’s because the community was like, ‘We want more,’ ” Kiehn said. “We had a blast doing it, so we’re back.”

Though she’s a musical gal, Kiehn decided to stage the play version of “Cheaper by the Dozen.” She did, however, add musical moments to the show.

When choosing which pieces to produce, Kiehn said she doesn’t want to work on “Jr.” versions of shows but would rather introduce children to theater through full shows, hoping to take Honey Pearl as close to a professional level as possible.

Plus, Kiehn sees everyone, no matter their age, benefitting when children and adults work together.

“I want shows that also cast adults, which I think is great for the development of children and for adults to have to work intergenerationally,” she said. “Even with my kids, I’m more interested in having them do community theater where they’re not only interacting with other children, where they do have to interact with teenagers and adults and different people across different demographics and age groups.”

After casting the show, Kiehn knew she could help her actors feel and appear to be a real family through rehearsals. She doesn’t have her cast play typical theater games, instead encouraging actors to hug or put their hand on another actor’s back while working on scenes when “real” family members would make that physical contact.

As actors got to know one another, they would also spend a lot of time chatting and laughing together during breaks, helping to solidify that familial bond.

With a cast of 14 making up the Gilbreth family alone, Kiehn and her husband knew they had to go big on the set for “Cheaper by the Dozen.”

Stefan Kiehn started by creating a model of the Gilbreth house, in which the entire show is set, with toothpicks and paper. He eventually connected with Fernando Flores, owner of Lighthouse Craft Carpentry in Ponderay, who let the Honey Pearl team build the set in his shop.

“I’m sure every director brags and feels proud, but this set that they put together is very outstanding,” Connie Kiehn said. “It’s professional level, it’s two stories. There’s a deck, so the kids go up the stairs and down the stairs and in their rooms that are upstairs. The paint job on it is fantastic.”

Costumes-wise, Kiehn decided the narrators would be dressed in attire reminiscent of the 1940s and 1950s, around when the book was released. The Gilbreth family and other characters though would be dressed in clothing from the 1920s.

Because of the 1920s setting, Kiehn had to talk to the younger members of the cast about how people spoke in that time period and why the Gilbreth patriarch might object to his daughters wearing then-scandolous silk stockings.

But the actual Gilbreths were ahead of their time in other ways, including the fact that Lillian worked alongside her husband as an engineer.

“These parents bridge the gap between what would be considered a very traditional model of a family and what people don’t even blink at a working wife today,” Kiehn said. “They were doing that before everyone was doing that.”

In a nod to Frank Sr. and Lillian’s work as efficiency experts, props mistress Judy Morgan has placed clocks all over the set. They point to the work the pair do, but also allude to Frank Sr.’s (slight spoiler) health problems, though Kiehn said that will go over the heads of the children in the audience.

“There’s lots of humor in it, but it does have a somewhat serious undertone …,” she said. “The show ends on a somber note, but it’s still a show full of laughs and joy, and I think it’s a great one for the family.”