Interview: Not Your Disney Fairytale: Robin and Clark's SNOW WHITE

"I love the way Snow White is a strong female character in this version. She doesn't go away with the Prince in the end, and she doesn't feel she owes him anything just because he rescued her. She is written to be a self-aware and smart character," says Ayanna Stover, who plays the princess in MSMT's Theatre for Young Audiences musical SNOW WHITE.

Her co-star, Nicholas Hall, who plays Prince Charming, concurs. "I am glad this version takes a more modern look at everything, especially Snow White's character. She is stronger, more independent than in the Disney animated film. And the way this script depicts my character as conceited, elistist, and sexist makes it clear these are not desirable qualities. That's a great message to send to kids."

"I love the way the show undermines pernicious stereotypes with a delightfully light hand," adds Jane M. Abernethy who portrays the evil Queen Narcissus.

And Megan Guynes who plays the leader of the dwarfs, Martin Luther King, Jr., says she adores "the way this version is so inclusive of so many different cultures and historical figures, each of whom followed a different path, but all of whom had such an impact in their respective realms."

These four actors are having a conversation about the musical adaptation of SNOW WHITE, written by Marc Robin and Curt Dale Clark, which opens MSMT's children's series this summer on June 12 and 15th. The hour-long, highly interactive theatrical experience takes the familiar Grimm Brothers and Disney source material and puts a contemporary spin on it. Though originally written in the early 1990s, "it is astounding how forward-thinking it was and is," says Hall. Not only do the authors transform Snow White from a merely beautiful and fragile young woman into a determined, fearless, compassionate, and fun-loving character, but they upend the entire premise of gender roles by having her reject the foolish prince. Instead of marrying and riding off into the sunset, she chooses to make her home with the seven "dwarfs" - Martin, Columbus, Freud, Confucius, Caruso, Merlin, and Scrooge - who are, in fact, tall men who aspire to be a boy band. Welcomed by this goofy and loveable group, Snow White comes to understand and value the joys of true friendship, and the entire company learns the emptiness of revenge and the meaning of forgiveness.

All this is imparted to the young audience and their adult companions with a deft sense of humor, framed by catchy songs and clever lyrics. "Any time you want to convey something serious, you also want some comic relief," says Guynes. "I find the script light and airy and written so that people young and old can relate to different moments."

Abernethy, who gets to play the outrageously larger-than-life evil queen, says finding the humor in her character or in the Prince's, for example, is less difficult than it is for Martin Luther King, who has a big emotional moment in the "I Have a Dream" song or for Snow White who has to convey sweetness and sincerity. "Although," Abernethy notes with a smile, "in this version even Snow White gets to have a little twinkle and snark."

Stover thinks there are two kinds of humor in the piece: "the kind of silliness that Charming represents and the irony and sarcasm of the Magic Mirror," and she enjoys "breaking the fourth wall and really talking to the kids."

Hall observes that there has to be honesty in the performances, even when they are comic because "the kids will know if you are not fully present in what you're doing."

Each of the four talks about some of the challenges of the roles. Stover, who hails from Wiscasset and studies at USM, has danced all her life, but came to musical theatre only a short while ago when she played Anita in WEST SIDE STORY at Heartwood Academy, feels this SNOW WHITE "teaches kids the value of friendship."

Hall, who is a senior at University of New Hampshire where he studies musical theatre and political science, is thrilled to make this debut, after working extensively in community theatres like Hackmatack Playhouse and Seacoast Repertory. He enthuses about his experience at MSMT in this first show. "Working with Curt [Dale Clark] has been so exciting. He is so supportive in the process of creating a role and so open to changing or adding little touches." He cites the ad lib as Charming rides off on his toy horse Flicka muttering "stupid woman" or the way he delivers "One Song," his only vocal number which is a showy, virtuoso piece that has to be funny as well. "[Music Director] Ben McNaboe suggested that I add these melismas climbing up to the final Bb and then do that in falsetto." It's an effect that surprises and delights.

Guynes feels honored to be portraying Dr. King. A graduate of Bates College, she currently is program director at Lewiston Tree Street Youth Center, a K-12 after school and weekend series of youth programs. In her characterization of Martin she says she tries to stress "his intuitive leadership, the way he is not afraid to admit when he's scared, and the flip side of the way he finds the courage to face that fear." Guynes has arguably the most touching musical moment in the show when she sings the Dream Speech, an anthem about equality, brotherhood, and diversity. She says she and director Clark chose to deliver the song as part oratory, part big belted moments. "As I transformed myself more and more into the character, I picked which parts I wanted to sing and which to quasi-speak. I asked myself what lines really speak to his legacy, that he would want people to know, and with those I made a bold statement and then with other parts, I let it be a musical, more [subtly] nuanced."

Though Abernethy, a Princeton graduate and law professor has a long connection to the theatre from producing off-Broadway to singing with NYC's Blue Hill Gilbert and Sullivan troupe, she only recently began performing again here in Maine community theatre. A former MSMT Board member and ardent supporter of the company, she says she "is beyond thrilled to be performing with MSMT in four shows this season. She sees humor in the fact that 'the last fairytale queen I played on stage was in third grade as SLEEPING BEAUTY's mother in Washington, D.C.." Of Narcissus she says, "The Queen is mean, conceited, rude, scheming, and at the same time kind of funny." She comments on her "Margaret Hamilton moment" when she gets to deliver a blood chilling cackle, and she enjoys singing the vocally showy "Me, Me, Me." Abernethy also notes that her character's ending is very different in this version than in others, and "I appreciate the poetic justice of the script. I like the fact that this SNOW WHITE concludes that revenge is a stupid way to spend your energy."

These four actors, together with the other nine cast members, have already had several opportunities to perform SNOW WHITE in preparation for its presentation on the Pickard main stage. For all of them except Abernethy (who performed in one at Portland's Lyric Music Theatre), the sensory friendly performance given on May 18, made possible by grants from the Anna-Maria Moggio Foundation, Androscoggin Bank's Greater Giving Program, and the Onion Foundation, was a new experience and a challenging one for a first time out with the production. But each of them found the experience profoundly rewarding. "A little piece of what I do was in that sensory show," says Megan Guynes. "It was so awesome to connect like that and so heartwarming to see the audience's reactions afterwards."

Ayanna Stover concurs: "I loved seeing the kids in their princess dresses and how their eyes lit up when they talked to me afterwards. There were two little girls hugging me after the bows, and it almost made me cry. It is so wonderful to give these kids a chance to see a show like this in that setting." [MSMT's Large Rehearsal Studio]. Stover, who says, this summer has "made me realize this is what I want to do with my life," recounts how the sensory friendly performance left her euphoric. "My head was filled with such happy thoughts, and the kids were so happy to be there. I know what it feels like to be a child seeing a show. There is an incredible sense of wonder."

Nicholas Hall says when he learned that MSMT offered these sensory performances, "I was excited to be a part. Curt explained to us how special it is for these families, who don't often have this kind of opportunity." He confesses that the closeness to the audience and the noise some of the kids made at first worried him, but that he [and his castmates] all stayed focused. "They were so receptive. It was wonderful!"

Jane M. Abernethy sums up the values of education, purpose, and giving that are at the heart of MSMT's children's programs: " It was such a joy and a privilege to do the sensory performance. Nobody does this [these programs for children] who doesn't not want to be evangelical about having more people come to the theatre."

Photos courtesy of MSMT

Robin & Clark's SNOW WHITE runs at MSMT's Pickard Theater, 1 Bath Rd., Brunswick, ME on June 12 and 15that 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. www.msmt.org 207-725-8769