When Heather Good started as a physician assistant at Whidbey Island Internal Medicine in Coupeville five years ago, she didn’t realize the full extent of her good fortune.
Good soon learned that her passion for community theater was contagious. Other medical practitioners she met at Whidbey General Hospital also shared a love for acting.
“When I was younger I wanted to do medicine and I wanted to do theater,” Good said. “I wasn’t sure how to mesh the two together.”
On Whidbey Island, she’s found a way.
Good plays the lead role in “Little Women,” a musical that is opening the 2016-17 season at the Whidbey Playhouse in Oak Harbor.
The first show is 7:30 p.m., Friday, Sept. 9.
Joining her in the cast are Douglas Langrock and Amy Garrett, two Oak Harbor physicians who, like Good, also provide care at Whidbey General, now known as WhidbeyHealth.
Langrock is a family care doctor; Garrett, a pediatrician.
“We see each other all the time,” Good said. “We go to staff meetings together and talk about theater when we’re not talking about medicine.
“It’s very, very cool and I think unique to this part of the area, or this part of the world, really, that we’re all able to do it.”
The close chemistry among the 11-person cast has made Tamara Sykes’ debut as a director go rather smoothly.
Julia Locke is listed as co-director, but she said she’s mostly turned over the reins to Sykes and served more as her mentor.
“When I started directing, Sue Riney did this for me,” Locke said. “She said, ‘I want you to co-direct with me, and then she basically said, ‘Here’s the show. Direct it.’ You just kind of learn by doing. I think it’s the best way for a director to be trained.”
Sykes has acted since she was a child and been in several shows at the Whidbey Playhouse since she and her family settled down in Oak Harbor in late 2013.
She said the cast’s talent and enthusiasm has made her job a breeze, yet she admits she was a little frazzled before the show’s first dress rehearsal before an audience last week.
A mother of six, Sykes had five of her children at the rehearsal, including her daughter Dylan, one of the actors in the musical.
“The family was all sitting in their seats and they had saved me a seat and I looked down and thought, ‘Someone’s missing. Where’s Dylan?’” Sykes said. “And my 5-year-old (daughter Amani) said, ‘Mom, she’s in the show.’”
The musical is based on the 19th century novel by Louisa May Alcott that is centered around the lives of four sisters in Concord, Mass., while their father is away serving as a Union Army chaplain during the Civil War.
Good plays Jo March, the pivotal character in which the musical revolves.
“She is the consummate professional,” Tamara Sykes said. “We chatted a little bit the other night. I told her that I think she’s absolutely radiant on stage. And she expressed that she just feels alive. It’s her happy place.”
In the show, her sisters are played by three performers making their Whidbey Playhouse acting debuts — Dylan Sykes (younger Amy March), Erin Tombaugh (Meg March) and Caroline Jungmann (Beth March).
Garrett plays the older Amy March.
“Auditions were amazing,” Locke said. “All of these new people came in that we’d never met before and they all had wonderful voices. It was like, ‘Wow.’”
Auditions also brought in more familiar faces such as playhouse veterans Langrock, who plays a proper German professor and love interest of Jo March; and Gaye Litka, who plays the kooky, overbearing great aunt of the March sisters.
“I’m truly amazed at what great cheerleaders everybody is for each other,” said Litka.
“You come off the stage and they high-five you. It’s really been very, very special. Not all casts are like that.”
Langrock has been performing in playhouse musicals for nearly 20 years, averaging about one every other year.
He said he’s found theater to be a healthy escape from the stress that comes with the medical profession.
“Something like this makes all the difference,” Langrock said.
One of the biggest highlights, Langrock said, is when his patients come to the shows, particularly afterward when actors devote time to visit with the audience.
He’s noticed how some children look at Good.
“The little kids will look at Heather like she’s a Disney princess,” Langrock said. “That’s pretty neat.”
“That, for me, is the magic here.”
Season opener
The Whidbey Playhouse’s 2016-17 season opens with the musical, “Little Women,” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 9. The show is co-directed by Tamara Sykes and Julia Locke and the musical director is Andrew Huggins. Starting Sept. 9, the show will be performed each Thursday, Friday and Saturday starting at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. through Oct. 2. Tickets are $20 for adults with discounts for students, active duty military, their immediate family and large groups. The playhouse and box office is located at 730 SE Midway Blvd., in Oak Harbor. Call 360-679-2237 for information, show dates, discounts and reservations, or email office@whidbeyplayhouse.com. Tickets also may be purchased online at www.whidbeyplayhouse.com
