Director out to blow roof off OCC theater

Tom Titus

Beth Hansen is searching for superlatives to describe her production

of “Pippin,” opening a two-weekend engagement at Orange Coast College

this weekend.

The actress-singer-director, who’s also an OCC graduate, is

thoroughly stoked about the musical, which she says is going to be

“remarkable, no make that extraordinary.” In fact, Hansen said, it

just might “blow the roof off the theater.”

“‘Pippin’ is going to be one of the best things I’ve ever done,”

said Hansen, who’s done quite a bit since she left OCC in 1977 after

starring in the college’s productions of “Jesus Christ Superstar,”

“Carousel” and “A Streetcar Named Desire.” She pursued a professional

theater career on the East Coast and worked with Broadway stars in

summer stock.

“Musicals became my passion while I was at OCC, and I’ve never

looked back,” she said.

Hansen, a belter from the Ethel Merman school, also once shone in

Merman’s signature role of Madame Rose in “Gypsy” at Saddleback

College, where she’s been a fixture for the past two decades. She’ll

be reprising that role at the college this summer.

“OCC is, for me, a very special place,” Hansen said. “It has the

most supportive, loving and creative atmosphere I’ve ever worked in.

I’m a product of this department, so I feel like I’ve returned home.

Directing this show has enabled me to fulfill a personal dream.”

Hansen, who has yearned to direct “Pippin” for 10 years or more,

is a personal friend of the show’s composer and lyricist, Stephen

Schwartz, who has a new Broadway hit in “Wicked.”

“Stephen and I have talked about ‘Pippin’ over the years,” she

said. “I want to do justice to his work. That’s very important to

me.”

The director, who has appeared in two professional productions of

“Pippin,” promises that OCC’s version will be different from any

previous production of the show. “It has a glint of darkness to it,”

she said, “if that’s not an oxymoron.”

“Pippin” is the tongue-in-cheek story of the 8th century king

Charlemagne, who is on a quest to find his true calling in life. He

ensures war, love, politics and a variety of other pursuits before

settling down with a decent woman and her son, but leaves them out of

restlessness and is almost seduced into committing suicide.

“We take a different slant on things than most other productions,”

Hansen said. “We look at the seven deadly sins and the seamier side

of life. We consider what a person might have to sacrifice in order

to achieve his dream. Will he actually sell his soul?”

The OCC musical is set in the back row of a broken-down carnival,

where the paint is peeling and things are somewhat shabby. But

nothing you see in the production is quite what it seems.

“We also have a few surprises that I’d rather not divulge,” Hansen

promised, adding that she’s extremely impressed with her 18-member

cast.

“This college has a tradition of producing outstanding musicals,

but we haven’t done a big-book musical since ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ in

1998,” she said.

“Alex Golson (chairman of the theater department) hired me nearly

four years ago to teach musical theater classes at Coast. Because of

this class, we’ve been grooming students for three years and we’ve

developed a wonderful corps of actors. This show is the first public

product to spring forth from that musical theater class.”

Four of the seven leading actors came out of that class -- Michael

Cavinder, Rudolph Niemann, Michelle Barnes and Heather Leanna. Other

principals include David Marchesano in the title role, Chelsea

Whitelock and David Nestor.

Hansen is both directing and choreographing, while Terence Alaric

is musical director. Both have shared this column’s “man and woman of

the year in theater” honors for their past accomplishments.

“Terence and I have worked together on shows for the past 20

years,” she said. “We’ve done productions all over Orange County, so

we’re comfortable together. We’re having a great time with this one.”

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Daily Pilot. His reviews

appear Fridays.