Moby Dick! the Musical
It is possible to say that Herman Melville, whether he meant it or not (probably not), was foreshadowing Nantucket's transition to a tourist economy when, in "Moby-Dick," he extolled: "Take out your map and look at it!"

Clockwise from top left: Rebecca Kubaska as Ishmael; The girls of St. Godley's prop their version of Moby Dick with whatever they can find around the school - here, the crew of The Pequod push Ahab in his "carriage" as he mourns a lost limb (as noted by the shin guard); Captain Ahab (Donald Dallaire) returns to Nantucket; Ahab's wife, Esta (Teresa Tokarowski) awaits his arrival in a gown made of old cheerleading skirts; Pequod's swarthy crewmembers, played by Erin Elizabeth Baltsar ("Stub") Meridith Lark ("Tashigo") and Tiffany Page ("Starbuck"); Ahab at home with his wife and three wisemen. As you might expect, things don't go well.

If you do as Melville suggested, you can observe, on Centre Street, the First Congregational Church. In its hallowed sidecar building, Bennett Hall, a cast of young, triple-threat performers fresh out of some of the country's best schools and conservatories are madly preparing for the Theatre Workshop of Nantucket's first, professional, resident company performance. Complete with a hump like a snow hill, it's "Moby Dick! The Musical"

Island visitors and residents are already oh-too familiar with the theatrical presentation of Nantucket's whaling past as a moneymaking tool. As such, the treatment this history receives in the musical comedy "Moby Dick" will probably resonate more here than it has anyplace else in the world, including its home stage in London's famed West End - where the show enjoyed a cult following in the early 1990s.

Written by Robert Longden and Hereward Kaye, "Moby Dick! The Musical" is a frame tale - a story within in a story - about the bad teen girls of St. Godley's Academy for Young Ladies, who stage a slapdash performance of "Moby-Dick" (written by one of their very own students) as a fund-raiser for their impecunious Catholic school. (Some of the girls barely have enough fabric to cover themselves. Poor, supple dears.) The girls use whatever props they can find about the school to assist their performance: Hockey sticks double as oars, and bleachers become church pews. To cast the show, the Godley girls draft any and all available warm bodies, including their headmistress - who cross-dresses to play Ahab, the whaleship captain wildly obsessed with finding the white whale and killing it. Dead

"If you took 'Nunsense' and 'Dames at Sea' and mushed it together, that's kind of what 'Moby Dick! The Musical,' is about, except you have school girls instead of nuns, these bad little girls at a reform school," said the show's director, Roberta Esposito. "If you look at it, the show is done through the eyes of the schoolgirls. They're the ones who choreograph it, teach each other music, make the costumes. ... You have to look at it through their eyes. They bring their personalities into the show, with apologies to Melville."

The show will have succeeded if Melville begins to roll in his grave - semi-appropriate, since the show coincidentally opens on Melville's Aug. 1 birthday.

("Moby-Dick" fun fact: Herman Melville based the story of "Moby Dick" on the story of the whaleship Essex, whose crew suffered a torturous fate after an angry sperm whale rammed their boat to pieces.)

TWN's new summer producing director Jordana Fleischut selected the show to herald the return of professional theatre to the island. Fleischut says she fell in love with the show because it's a natural fit for Nantucket as well as "a totally enveloping, illuminating, interactive and liberating experience for the audience" with levels of humor to amuse the youngest to oldest family member.

"I tried to keep it naughty but not blatant," said Esposito, who previously worked with Fleischut at The Glove Theatre in Gloversville, N.Y. Esposito likened the show's sense of fun to that of "Spamalot" and credits part of its accessibility to the way it pays (savage) homage to some of the most beloved musicals.

"The music is supposed to sound familiar, because bits are stolen by the schoolgirl who wrote it," Esposito said. "So there are things that sound like 'Dream Girls,' or 'Godspell' or 'West Side Story.'We took a dance step from 'Les Miz.'And of course they write their own lyrics to go with it, so it's just absurd."

The show opens as young Ishmael (played with nimble adeptness by a tap dancing Rebecca Kubaska) makes his way from New York to Nantucket to become a whaleshipman. At Peter Coffin's inn, he meets Queequeg the Native American, who accompanies him to find a ship - in light of a rousing, patriotic number that draws attention to the whaling industry's place in American industry and despite a cheerful and violent song-and-dance-prophecy from a drunken street lackey. At the same time, Captain Ahab, played with flair and gusto by Donald Allaire, returns home with limb and manhood very much notintact after a first pass with Moby-Dick. His news does not abide well with Esta - sung with a robust, gorgeous voice by favorite Miss New York candidate Teresa Tokarowski. Soon, Ahab returns to the sea, joined by coof Ishmael and Queequeg, and the rest you know.

As Nantucket's Robert Berhman was booked, Fleischut recruited New Orleans Musical Director and "NYC virtuoso" Laura Mulholland, then filled out her production team with Dallaire and Joe Gimore as well as "nationally renowned" choreographer Cassie Abate, "up and coming star" Resident Technical Director Micki DeCurtains from South Dakota and Nantucket's own Eric Schulz, whose "technical genius … will transform Bennett Hall into the salty streets of Nantucket town and captain Ahab's boat, the Pequod."

PHOTOS BY MICHAEL GALVIN/The Independent

Here, you might be thinking - why don't they just bring the show to the actual streets of Nantucket?

They are, or at least, they're planting the characters all around town for a scavenger hunt later this month.

Being able to produce a show in its historic context has been particularly fun for many of the cast members.

"It's inspiring seeing names like 'Macy,' 'Starbuck' and 'Coffin,' as we're walking into and around town," said ensemble cast member Wiater.

"I was in the church the other day where my character gave a sermon, and it was exciting," said Ioele, who plays Father Mapple. "It's a little unnerving to know you're playing real life characters."

Adam Ioele and Rebecca Kubaska ease on down the road. No, wait. ... wrong musical.

To cast the resident company, Fleischut auditioned over 1,500 performers from all over the eastern seaboard. She was looking for vocalist/dancer/actors with six years of intensive professional training, three years of work with a professional theater, a love of children, an affable demeanor and a "can-do" attitude. The show's performers now comprise TWN's first resident company: Dick Baker (SUNY Cortland), Erin Elizabeth Baltsar (Hartt School of Music), Donald Dallaire (University of Rhode Island), Caitlin Doyle (Emerson), Joe Gilmore (Wagner), Danielle Heaton (Emerson), Adam Ioele (Circle in the Square), Michael Keutman (University of Pennsylvani), Rebecca Kubaska (Hartt), Meridith Lark (Ohio State University), Tiffany Page (University of Rhode Island), Teresa Tokarowski (Manhattan School of Music), Caitlin Wiater (Loyola University).

ROB BENCHLEY/The Independent Stage manager Jess Kody stores a box of 3D glasses to be used during the show. "Donations" taken mid-show in exchange for the glasses will go to island charities.

"There's not a single bad apple in the bunch," said Esposito, who emphasized that the actors were selected as much for their ability to set a good tone around kids as they were for their abilities to sing, act, dance, play musical instruments, craft props, rollerblade, etc.

For the last two weeks, the actors have been living together in a house in town - a kind of dormitory filled with busy energy well into the night. During any given activity - eating, watching TV, descending the stairs - people are apt to break into lines from a song.

In addition to working lights and sound for the show, crackerjack stage manager Jessica Kody has begged, borrowed and conjured out of nothing over 130 props, including a boxful of 3D glasses for a brief effect in the show; the glasses will be gifted after a "donation" is made to the girls of St. Godley's during the show. All proceeds will go to pre-selected charities, including Connor Gifford's personal charity, Autism Speaks, Sustainable Nantucket and Nantucket Cottage Hospital. ("Isn't live theater generally 3D?" you might wonder. To which we too only scratch our heads and say, "Well, the glasses are sure to work then.")

After playing Ahab, the wildly talented Allaire has been working by night out of a basement/living room sewing workshop to fashion the show's over 225 costumes - including Esta's corseted and hoop-skirted gown, stitched from the fabric of old cheerleaders' skirts.

"Out of all of the summer stock companies with which I've worked, the overall personality of this company is peerless," Dallaire said. "Everyone is doing a little extra to make the show something even more special."

The company members are aware that they are making history on island as Nantucket's first resident company.

"Being a member of the island's first resident company is an awesome bonus to an already amazing opportunity," said Gilmore, who, in addition to being the show's hair and makeup engineer, a;sp plays the rollerblading Capt. Gardner and also Dagoo.

Last Saturday evening, Gilmore put the finishing spritzes on some of his wigs, assisted by the expressive and beautifully voiced Page, who plays the slightly mutinous Starbuck. (You may recognize her as the Princess from this summer's "Storytime with a Princess".)

"'Moby Dick' will be very much at home with people who are familiar with the musical theatre classics. The show takes the best parts of what you're expecting of musical comedy and twists it. It runs the gamut of every type of genre," Page said. "Still, it will resonate with people who aren't big fans of musical theater, because it's big and bright, and good for audiences of all ages. The humor is great for adults, but what children shouldn't understand will go way over their heads."

On working with a young cast, Esposito said, "They have the most enthusiasm of anyone you ever deal with. Once you get to more seasoned actors, they're more cynical usually … less open."

In addition to staging "Moby Dick," the resident company members will be holding performances of "Jack and the Beanstalk" on the same stage beginning Aug. 7 (the Beanstalk set goes right over the Moby Dick set) and also conducting theater camp for kids at the Nantucket Boys and Girls Club, running Aug. 13 - 17. (Interested parties should contact Cory Shepherd at the Nantucket Boys & Girls Club, 228-0158.)

Together with the TWN Musical Theatre Conservatory Company of Sarah Poor and Michelle Soffen (Nantucket's rising theater talent), "this crew is ready and waiting to show you the time of your life," according to TWN President Pam Murphy

It's certainly been a good time for the cast to perform. "Hopefully, the show will amuse as many people as it does

us," Esposito said. I

When: August 1-4, 6, 8-10, 13, 15, 16, 19, 20, 22-25. Performance times are 8 p.m. every night but Wednesday night, when perform ances are 8:30 p.m. You can also catch 2 p.m. matinees on Aug. 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 22, 23 and 24. (Got that? If not, go down to the last step.)

Where: Bennett Hall (on the side of the First Congregational Church, 62 Centre St.)

Cost: $50

Get more information as well as buy your tickets online at www.theatreworkshop.com or call the box office at 228-4305. You can also visit the box office at 2 Centre Street from noon - 9 p.m. (Mon. - Sat.) and Sunday, from 4 p.m. - 9 p.m.

TWN of Nantucket says: Arrrrrgh you free the night of Wednesday, Aug. 1? Book your first class accommodations and join us for our opening party at 7 p.m. at the Martin House Inn, with sea rations provided by Provisions and the grog by Cisco Brewers. It will be a whale of a great time!