Oct. 19-21, Fort Scott Community College Theatre members presented the musical version of “Gilligan’s Island”.

“Gilligan’s Island”  was a comedy TV program from the mid-1960s.

Any musical is a challenge for a small department, director  Allen Twitchel, stated in the bulletin for the show.

“We are attempting to produce a professional-quality show with cardboard and crepe paper while juggling everyone’s busy schedules,” Twitchel said.

The group of students and college staff worked diligently to exceed all expectations, Twitchel said.

Listening to the audience chuckle and clap, the audience seemed to agree.

The setting is a deserted island in the Pacific Ocean, where seven people are stranded during a shipwreck.

They come to grips with the situation, work on schemes to get off the island and are visited by a visitor from outer-space.

Gilligan was portrayed by  FSCC student Aiden Ballinger, Skipper by former FSCC student Jared Oshel, Mr. Howell by FSCC English IntructorHarold Hicks, Mrs. Howell by FSCC Office Assistant Karri Johnson, Ginger by FSCC student Fayelyn Kmiec , Professor by FSCC student Jasper Dunn, Mary Ann by FSCC student Katie Button, and Alien by FSCC student Marcus Robinson.

Several solos were performed by  Ballinger, Button, Kmiec, Dunn, and Hicks.

Fort Scott Community College Theatre and Music Departments are presenting Gilligan’s Island: The Musical on October 19 and 20 at 7:30 pm and then again on the 21 at 2:00 pm. All show times will be on stage in the Danny and Willa Ellis Family Fine Arts Center.

Tickets are $5 for the community. All students, staff and faculty have free admission to the show.

The show is directed by Allen Twitchell, Head of the Theatre Department and Seth Ernst, Head of the Music Department.

Twitchell chose Gilligan’s Island: The Musical because it had been at least four years or more since FSCC put on a musical. He had checked out a book from the library about the original making of the Gilligan Island series and had read that there was a musical version. He thought it was a great choice to get a musical brought back to FSCC because it has a very small cast number and it is something familiar to the community.

The cast has been working on the show for about six weeks now, with one week left till showtime.

Jared Oshel, former FSCC student from Richmond is playing Skipper. Oshel said, “My favorite part about acting, in general, is the fact that I get to get away from the stresses of life and work and get to come to the stage and become another person for a little while.”

Katelynn Coe, a student at FSCC, is the show’s stage manager. She is in charge of the set making, light and sound cues, and so much more. Katelynn says her favorite part of her job is that she gets to watch a show come to life from the very beginning and watch all the actors bring their individual characters to life in their own way.

The complete cast includes Aiden Ballinger, a freshman from Pleasanton, as Gilligan;  Oshel,  as the Skipper; FSCC instructor Harold Hicks as the millionaire, Thurston Howell; FSCC staff member Karri Johnson as Mrs. Howell; Fayelyn Kmiec, a freshman from Farlington, as movie star Ginger; Jasper Dunn, a sophomore from Whitehall, Wis., as the Professor; Katie Button, a freshman from Fort Scott, as Mary Ann; and Marcus Robinson, a freshman from Paola, as the Alien.

Come out and watch Gilligan’s Island come to life on the stage here at FSCC!