For Olympic Theatre Arts’ first production of the year, cast and crew invite you to be an active participant in “It’s Not About the Hood: Bernie’s Tale.”

The panto, written and co-directed by Shannon Cosgrove, is a comedic re-imagining and mash-up of “Little Red Riding Hood” and “Hansel and Gretel” with fun spins on popular music.

Drawing similarities to OTA’s annual “Lavender Melodrama” each July, attendees can cheer, boo and laugh loudly at the jokes.

“There is no way you can sit in (the Gathering Hall) and not feel like you’re a part of the show,” Cosgrove said.

“Sometimes when you perform these in theaters, people don’t allow themselves to unwind enough to really take part in it, so it’s kind of a natural environment for it.”

Cosgrove said theater-goers have “been so trained to be good patrons that they don’t know how to unlearn that in one show.”

“You are not allowed to not interact,” she said.

Shows take place at OTA’s Gathering Hall, 414 N. Sequim Ave., from Feb. 6-22 with Friday and Saturday night shows at 7 p.m. and matinees at 2 p.m. Sundays. For tickets, visit olympictheatrearts.org, or call the box office 1-4 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays at 360-683-7326.

Panto continues

Cosgrove said OTA’s panto shows pays homage without being a traditional panto as seen in Britain around Christmas time.

“We follow the basic structure, which is you take a fairy tale, mangle it beyond all recognition, include music, and almost always include a hero, heroine, evil person, a dame, but this time we don’t really have a dame, and there’s always a best friend,” she said.

In this show, Bernie Riding-Hood (played by Trinity Myers, a sophomore at Port Angeles High School) enters the forest to seek out her lost cloak and estranged grandmother (Rebecca Maberry).

Bernie is destined to become the protector of the people of Fort Banjoless, but her mother (Anna Risinger) has built up a fear in her that she must learn to overcome with encouragement from her uncle Fairy Maximus (August Maberry).

In her journey, Bernie encounters a colorful cast of characters including squirrels, which Bernie hates, gnomes, Sheriff Grimm (Tara Dupont), the wolf Magnus Wolfsbane (Donovan Rynearson) who is an out of work actor, and a geriatric Hansel and Gretel (Richard Stephens and Jeanne Klockers).

Myers, who has done a number of plays at OTA before, said she wanted to take a leap of faith trying out for the show and that it felt out of her comfort zone.

Eight of the cast members return for the second panto production from Olympic Peninsula Panto in partnership with OTA after staging “Cinderella and the Enabling Habit” last year.

On music

A large part of panto productions, Cosgrove said, is their music with “Bernie’s Tale” using popular music and rewritten lyrics.

One of the highlights, she said, is “Squirrels,” a different take on “Girls” by the Beastie Boys.

“I think it’s gonna be pretty much the favorite,” Cosgrove said. “They do it with such gusto.”

There are also reworked songs from The Backstreet Boys and “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”

“It’s a lot of fun. We’re having a ball,” Cosgrove said.

Morgan Bartholick, who acted in two previous Port Angeles pantos, is co-directing and is the music director for “Bernie’s Tale.”

Stage support

Cosgrove said she started working on “Bernie’s Tale” about a month after Cinderella ended.

As for her panto inspiration, she grew up heavily influenced by Carol Burnett and comedy hour shows, and began writing her own and later learned from her British brother-in-law about pantos and their similarities.

After seeing a panto show in 2017, Cosgrove was enchanted by them, which led her to co-produce a series of productions in Port Angeles.

OTA’s Executive Director Dave Herbelin reached out to Cosgrove at their last Port Angeles show and invited a partnership, which she and creative partner Naomi Alstrup agreed to do because of their level of support.

“This community of Sequim and Port Angeles … maybe it’s the fact that they get to talk back, have been very, very welcoming and it’s been a gratifying thing to do,” Cosgrove said.

“It’s not about the Hood: Bernie’s Tale”

By Shannon Cosgrove and Olympic Peninsula Panto

Olympic Theatre Arts, 414 N. Sequim Ave.

Feb. 6-22

Shows at 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays.

For tickets, visit olympictheatrearts.org, or call the box office 1-4 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays at 360-683-7326.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ The cast of “It’s Not About the Hood: Bernie’s Tale” rehearse a number at Olympic Theatre Arts’ Gathering Hall. The show is set to run Feb. 6-22.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Sheriff Grimm (Tara Dupont) attempts to recruit Gretel and Hansel (Jeanne Klockers and Richard Stephens) as Nana Riding Hood (Rebecca Maberry) disapproves of Grimm’s actions.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Bernie Riding-Hood (Trinity Myers) is pulled between the opinions of her mother (Anna Risinger) and uncle Fairy Maximus (August Maberry) as to whether she’s ready to go in the woods.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Gnomes Jonah Risinger, Mara Jordan and Penny Ray take a break in the woods on the set of “It’s Not About the Hood: Bernie’s Tale.”