By KATHERINE LJUNGQVIST/YachatsNews.com
NEWPORT – Coastal Act Productions has come a long way since it first performed “Cinderella” 11 years ago.
The youth-oriented Lincoln County theater group used to struggle for money, scraping by on grants and personal loans to get plays to the stage. Now, with stable funding, director Jody Hanna decided to revisit the classic Rogers and Hammerstein musical.
Coastal Act Productions’ performance of “Cinderella” at the Newport Performing Arts Center wraps up this weekend with final shows at 7 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $16.50 for adults and $14.50 for students or seniors, available at the box office or online.
The popular retelling of the classic fairytale offers musical numbers and wit, and is performed by actors and musicians from all over Lincoln County.
There are three versions of the Rogers and Hammerstein’s “Cinderella” — the current Broadway version, the 1957 film adaptation starring Julie Andrews, and “Enchanted,” which is the theme closest to the popular 1997 movie starring Whitney Houston and Brandy Norwood.
Coastal Acts first did Cinderella in 2009, performing the 1957 version of the story. This year Hanna felt drawn to themes from the “Enchanted” version.
“I chose this version because it was the most comedic,” she says, “It has the best jokes, it has all the funny parts.”
Hanna started work on the play in early October, overseeing all parts of the production. In the final week before opening, she practically lives at the theater working on curtain placement, prop locations, last-minute costume adjustments, and of course, directing dress rehearsals with the cast.
In the beginning
Hanna moved to Newport from Newberg in 1993, following her parent’s relocation to the Oregon coast. She planned on staying just a year, but met her husband and started a family.
Hanna has deep roots in theater that she draws on for her current role as the group’s music director.
“I’ve been in theater since middle school, I was in my first play at 12. I really loved theater because I was an introvert, and theater allowed me to become anything else,” Hanna says. “I now consider myself an ‘outgoing introvert.’”
Hanna admits she was fortunate to have grown up in an environment that had a rich music and theater community. When she relocated to Newport, she found a community that was lacking those opportunities.
“There was a group of us that started CAP together in 2004. A friend of mine wanted to get involved in youth theater, and that’s how we started.”
CAP finds its talent from all across Lincoln County; actor ages range from 8 to 76.
“I call it the CAP Family – it’s very much a family atmosphere. The people who come and join us become part of that family.”
A turning point for CAP
As a nonprofit, Coastal Act Productions’ success depends heavily on fundraising and the work of volunteers. In 2009, the year Hanna took over as musical director, CAP was struggling to find funding for its plays.
“In the beginning it was all grants and donations. When we did Cinderella the first time we literally had no money. When I took over we had $1,500. It costs $20,000 to $25,000 to produce a show.”
In the beginning, Hanna said the organization relied on grants and personal loans “and then after each show we would repay those loans with income from ticket sales.”
“Now we’re self-sufficient, we’re self-sustaining,” she says. “We fund our shows from ticket sales and money we save after each show. My goal has always been that if there was a tsunami and we produced a show that never performed, that we would be able to survive that. And we’ve reached that point.”
Cinderella is a sentimental story for CAP to revisit after first performing it in 2009.
“There came a turning point in 2007… we didn’t have a show in 2008. We weren’t sure if we were going to go forward after that point. We decided to do one more show in 2009 to see how we felt, and that show was Cinderella.”
It was the first musical CAP had done, and Hanna’s first year as musical director following a change of board members and during a period of financial strain. But she thrived in her new role managing the intricacies of the musical performance style.
“Something I realized about myself was that I’m really good at navigating those moving parts and seeing the big picture.”
Now, more than a decade later, Cinderella is returning to the stage.
“I’ve been wanting to revisit Cinderella for the past two years,” Hanna says. “It’s been in my head mulling around, but something else always came up like Beauty and the Beast or The Little Mermaid. This year, however, I couldn’t quite get Cinderella out of my head. I kept thinking: ‘This is the year. This is the year to bring it back.’ ”
Cinderella 2020
If you’ve seen other productions by CAP, you might recognize some returning cast members for Cinderella. King Maximillian is played by Tim Gross, who performed in Beauty and the Beast as well as Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Prince Christopher is played by Cameron Garner, who was cast as the Beast in Beauty and the Beast and also performed in The Little Mermaid. Cinderella is played by Jody Hanna’s daughter, Morgan Hanna.
This will be Morgan’s first starring role with Coastal Act Productions.
“She has played other roles, she was in Beauty and the Beast and Little Mermaid, but this is her first lead role,” her mother says. “She’s grown up on the stage. She spent eight years in the ensemble before taking a lead role.”
That’s common for most actors, she says. “I think it’s really important for people to be ready to come out on stage in a lead role.”
