All aboard: Winni Players perform musical on The Mount for 2nd year in a row

WEIRS BEACH — The Winni Players Community Theatre is staging “The Great Winnipesaukee Steamboat Race and Musical Talent Contest,” a musical set on Lake Winnipesaukee, opening Wednesday, Sept. 23.

Though the show is being produced by The Winnipesaukee Playhouse, in Meredith, the show will not be performed on a traditional stage. Performances of “The Great Winnipesaukee Steamboat Race" will be staged aboard the M/S Mount Washington cruise boat. Those who purchase tickets to the show will enjoy a dinner, sunset cruise, and a musical written specifically about Lake Winnipesaukee.

“The Great Winnipesaukee Steamboat Race” is an old-fashioned melodrama. The comedy tells the story of two rival ship captains, fighting to see who will get a coveted mail delivery contract to all islands of the Big Lake.

The musical was written by Robert Kinerk and composed by Andrew Rosenthal, two locals who wrote the show for The Streetcar Company in 1978.

The show became a local tradition, performed at Gunstock Mountain Resort in Gilford, The Margate Resort in Laconia, and Steele Hill Resorts in Sanbornton. The show has not been performed since 2006.

“We found a play that's been written about steamboats on Lake Winnipesaukee, and it's never been done on a steamboat on Lake Winnipesaukee,” Cory Lawson, Playhouse director of education and community engagement, said. “I thought that could be a good idea for the play itself, but also a chance for us to reach a different part of our community that maybe hasn't been inside the theater before.”

Last year, The Winni Players performed aboard The Mount for the first time with "Mutiny on the Mount," another musical specifically about the Lakes Region.

All “Mutiny on the Mount” performances sold out, receiving positive feedback from the community. So, when The Winni Players came across another musical written specifically for the Lakes Region, they decided to partner again with Mount Washington Cruises.

“For some reason, not just one play had been written about a steamboat on Lake Winnipesaukee, but there were actually two, which blew my mind,” Lawson said. When I found that out, I reached out to the author, who gave us their full support on it, and then we talked to the Mount Washington Cruises and said, ‘Let's run it back.’ And they were thrilled.”

The company held auditions for the show in July, and has been rehearsing three times a week since August. Rick Morten, director of the production, expressed “how much fun” the rehearsal process has been for him with this particular cast.

“After the cast did their first read-through of the show’s script, I said, ‘My job is going to be so easy,’" Morten said. “It's great, because I get to work with a lot of people I worked with a lot before. Every day [of rehearsal], I'm laughing. The cast is always finding new things to do. It's wonderful.”

Morten started performing in theater productions at age 8, with Streetcar. After directing a few plays in high school, Morten studied theater at Plymouth State University. He then started directing for Streetcar, and eventually got involved with The Winnipesaukee Playhouse. Morten never performed in “The Great Winnipesaukee Steamboat Race" when he was younger, but remembers having an admiration for the show.

“I had seen it a few times, and it always stuck in my mind as being so much fun,” Morten said.

“Everything is over the top,” he said. “There's the hero, the heroine, the villain and the sidekick. Everything is just ridiculous."

Patricia Sarausky, who plays Mrs. Beresford, is performing in the show for the fifth time, and has been doing theater in the Lakes Region since 1985. Sarausky encourages the community to see the show, because of how interactive it is.

“It's just the most wonderful, fun show to do. There’s a lot of audience participation. [They get to] cheer on the heroes, and boo the villains,” Sarauksy said. “They also actually get to be on the lake that the show talks about.”

Like Sarausky, Morten believes the audience will enjoy the musical, not just for its comedic elements, but also because of its local ties.

“Well, [the audience] is going to laugh until they cry, I think. But, there's also lots of references to things in the Lakes Region,” Morten said. “It's extra fun, because they’ll get to hear things they know about. It's a part of Lakes Region history.”

“The Great Winnipesaukee Steamboat Race and Musical Talent Contest” will be performed Wednesday through Friday, Sept. 23-25 and Sept. 30-Oct. 2. Audience members will board the boat at 5 p.m. for dinner, the ship will depart at 6 p.m., and the performance will begin at 6:30 p.m. For details, visit winnipesaukeeplayhouse.org/the-great-winnipesaukee-steamboat-race-and-musical-talent-contest.html.

“This is a community group, so everybody in the show is a neighbor, a friend, a coworker,” Lawson said. “These are people who give their own time, and it's their passion. They're doing it for the pure joy and love of it.”