Sunrise family takes a drama dream trip to present ‘Once on This Island’ in Bermuda

It might sound like selling coals to Newcastle, but Sunrise Manor residents Steve and Sandra Huntsman spent the summer helping bring "Once on This Island," a musical set in an island paradise, to Bermuda.

The couple are involved in many aspects of live theater, both locally and outside the valley. They produced "Once on This Island" for Super Summer Theatre through Signature Productions in 2009. Steve Huntsman was the director, and Sandra made the costumes. They've been renting the costumes since then to productions across the country.

During the course of costume rental discussions with TROIKA Bermuda, the Huntsmans learned that the Bermuda-based charity had brought in outside directors before. The Huntsmans sent a video of the Las Vegas production and pitched Steve to reprise his directorial duties.

"I'm kind of a one-stop shop," he said. "I direct, I do scenic design, I paint scenery and I do costume design."

To the family's delight, he was hired.

Steve went to Bermuda in June for a week and a half to work on casting. The Huntsmans and their four children, ranging from 5 to 12, spent July and August in Bermuda, in a home provided by the charity just a 10-minute walk from the beach.

"The kids and I spent a lot of time on the beach," Sandra said. "We're quite tanned."

Chloe Huntsman, 12, said the trip was amazing.

"I liked going to Horseshoe Bay and playing in the giant waves," Chloe said. "They were taller than I was."

It wasn't all sand castles and bodysurfing. The couple discovered that putting together a show on an island presents its own challenges.

"It's 600 miles to the closest mainland," said Sandra Huntsman. "Everything has to be shipped, and everything is more expensive."

In addition to the costumes, the Huntsmans ended up shipping out props when they realized the high costs at island stores. They cited simple things such as plywood to build the sets, which might cost $16 or $17 here but was more than $70 for a 4-foot-by-8-foot sheet there. A few things were cheaper there, such as bamboo.

"When we did the show here, we used PVC for the bamboo," Steve said. "I suggested to the cast and crew that we just gather some native bamboo, and most of them had no idea it grew there."

The couple said that even though the people they were working with didn't know much about a full-scale musical production, they made up for it with enthusiasm.

"They were a great group of people to work with," Steve said. "They were eager to learn, and it all came together for the show."

While most of the show was put together by Bermudans, Steve brought in Las Vegans Jay LeDane, who designed and operated the lighting, and Stan Judd, who built the set.

Working on the island made the Huntsmans appreciate Las Vegas' theatrical resources.

"If you need a light here, you just go out and get one," Steve said.

Sandra spearheads production on the costumes for most of their shows, and she had to work adjusting their stock for the show to meet the actors. In the case of the lead actress, she was a different size, and a new costume had to be made.

TROIKA Bermuda's mission is to educate, enlighten and entertain by producing significant theater experiences, usually with a cast of local youths. For this production, adults performed, too. Previous productions were put on in small theaters that seated around 100. The Huntsmans' production nearly filled the 400-seat Ruth Seaton James Centre for the Performing Arts the first two nights and sold out on their third and final performance.

"There are only about 70,000 people in Bermuda," said Sandra. "It's not like doing a show here where we have a much larger population to draw an audience from."

In contrast, the population of Sunrise Manor is 189,372, according to the 2010 U.S. Census.

Sandra said a local politician took the stage on closing night and praised the production for bringing arts and culture to the people of Bermuda.

"Based on the reviews, I don't think they've seen anything like this before," Sandra said.

Huntsman Entertainment is already preparing for next summer's project, "The Music Man," scheduled to hit the Super Summer Theatre stage in June, but the islands are still calling to the Huntsmans.

"I'm in negotiations now to do another show in Bermuda," Steve said.

Contact Sunrise/Whitney View reporter F. Andrew Taylor at ataylor@viewnews.com or 380-4532.