Michael McLean and Kevin Kelly's "The Ark" is about to launch its third Utah County voyage — followed by tentative plans to set sail and dock at an off-Broadway theater in New York City.
A seven-week engagement opens Friday at Provo Theatre Company, featuring a combination of new and former cast members from the production's previous versions.
Art Allen and Lita Little Giddins have appeared as Noah and Egyptus in all three of the musical's earlier Utah productions — beginning with the 1998 premiere at the Utah State Fairpark — and they'll be reprising the roles here, as well.
Newcomers to the Provo Theatre Company cast are Matt Bellows as Ham, Laurie Harrop-Purser as Eliza, Noah's wife; Matt Cloward as Japheth, Marcie Jacobsen as Sariah, Japheth's fashion-addicted wife; Seth Child as Shem and Cassy Child as Martha.
In addition to these specific roles, some cast members also portray a variety of animals aboard the Ark. The audience also stands in for the boatload of other creatures.
Also revisiting "The Ark" is director-choreographer David Tinney, who performed those same tasks for two of the previous versions. He has also performed in the show.
"Initially he played Ham," McLean said by phone from his home in Malibu, Calif. "And now he's old enough to play Noah."
The first fully staged production of "The Ark" was in the fall of 1998, in a makeshift theater at the Utah State Fairpark's Zion Home Arts building. But the real history of the musical is sort of like Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat."
Both shows started out as fairly short productions geared to children's audiences. "The very first time we did 'The Ark' was after school in the Plum Alley Theater at Promised Valley Playhouse," said McLean, "where we sat on bales of hay and straw, and the show was an hour and six minutes long. We put sand in the foyer and the opening number was 'Waddle and Wiggle,' which we sang while patrons were standing in line to get in.
"We first thought it would be just this cute little kids' thing, then it became like the 'Little Engine That Could.' "
Bits and pieces of the score also turned up as vignettes in LDS Church productions of "Celebrating the Light" on the Playhouse's main stage. Since then, the show has evolved — through countless workshops and rewrites — into a two-act musical.
McLean said there were two pivotal stages in getting "The Ark" to the point where it is now. One was a couple of years ago, when he and his New York-based collaborator Kelly were invited to participate in one of Stephen Schwartz's "Music Theatre Workshop" projects.
"That got us involved with some really brilliant writers,"said McLean. "We had written some really charming songs, but we learned that writing a musical requires more than just writing neat numbers, so we raised the bar. When we realized what 'The Ark' could be, (the process) became even harder."
The second major turning point was when the Village Theatre in Issaquah, Wash., became involved. "They had seen our show at a theater festival and they thought it had a lot of potential," McLean said.
The Village Theatre, highly regarded in the Northwest for fostering new, original musicals with national potential, initially presented "The Ark" in its smaller First Stage experimental theater, then brought it back to be part of its larger main-stage season.
During the past couple of years, McLean and Kelly have tossed out some songs and added new ones. McLean credits the Village Theatre staff with offering good advice and suggestions.
"In the midst of the most recent Village Theatre run, Major Carl Ruthberg, of the Salvation Army in New York City, saw the show," said McLean. "The church has a tiny theater just off West 47th Street — Theatre 315 — where they want to produce spiritually uplifting and positive shows, keeping in harmony with their mission. The Salvation Army isn't able to fund the show itself, so we're looking at our own fund-raising options."
Meanwhile, back in Provo, Tinney (who is also busy choreographing both "West Side Story" and "Guys and Dolls" at the Tuacahn Amphitheater) is especially pleased with the Provo Theatre Company's intimate setting. "It brings the audience right in and enables the characters to be more real than they have ever been before."
McLean said there are three other productions of "The Ark" this summer in the region — the St. George Musical Theatre (opening later this month), and two in southern Idaho, the Caribou Community Theatre in Soda Springs and the Oakley Opera House.
If you go ...
What: "The Ark"
Where: Provo Theatre Company, 105 E. 100 North, Provo
When: Friday through July 10
How much: $12.50-$15
Phone: 379-0600
Web site:www.ProvoTheatreCompany.com
E-mail: ivan@desnews.com