The centerpiece of Metro Theater Company’s 50th season is the world premiere of Spells of the Sea, a delightful new musical for young audiences. The show is Metro’s first project with a commercial producing partner, Megan Ann Rasmussen Productions. The benefits of this collaboration are easy to see in the splendid technical work. This production was designed to go places and most likely will.

The show’s book, music, and lyrics are by Guinevere Govea, with additional creative contributions by Anna Pickett. In 2020, Govea was a senior in the theater program at the University of Texas at Austin. In the forced isolation of the pandemic, Govea began imagining the musical that would become Spells of the Sea. With her friend Pickett, Govea developed her ideas into a five-part podcast. An adaptation of the podcast for the stage was workshopped last June by the Pegasus PlayLab at the University of Central Florida in conjunction with Metro Theater Company and UT Austin’s Drama and Theatre for Youth and Communities Program.

The main character is 15-year-old Finley Frankfurter, who wants to be just like her father, Ferris. He is a king among fishermen and a hero in their hometown of Bleary. Finley still has a lot to learn about fishing and suffers from low self-esteem.

Before Ferris can pass his skills along Finley, he comes down with a mysterious illness that comes from the sea. The doctor is certain that Ferris will die in a few days, but Finley learns about magical cure from the proprietor of a shop that dispenses potions. To find the cure, Finley must go on quest for a bottle of kindness, a token of her worst fear, and other hard-to-acquire objects.

The shopkeeper tells Finley she will find the map she needs in the town lighthouse, which was shut down 20 years earlier by the lighthouse keeper, H. S. Crank. He interrupts Finley before she can get away with the map. At first, the dour Crank lashes out at Finley. He grows more sympathetic after she tells her story because he once had a wife with the same sickness as Finley’s father.

Eventually, Finley and Crank sail off together in search of the cure. Along the way, they encounter pirates who steal other people’s feelings, a terrifying whirlpool, a self-absorbed princess, the queen of the mermaids, and their worst fears. The voyage turns out to be an invaluable learning experience for both Finley and Crank.

In the leading part she created herself, Govea portrays Finley with a complete understanding of the emotional journey that coincides with her ocean journey. As Crank, Jon Gentry Crank makes a totally convincing transition from curmudgeon to loving surrogate grandparent.

The top-notch supporting cast displays its versatility in multiple roles. Its members and their main parts are Molly Burris as the princess, Syrhea Conaway as the teacher, Hannah Geisz as Pearl, Mitchell Manar as the assistant pirate captain, Colin McLaughlin as Ferris Frankfurter, Noah Laster as the pirate captain, and  Tyler White as the mermaid queen. White also supplied the enlivening choreography. The ear-catching songs are performed admirably under the musical direction of Deborah Wicks La Puma.

The technical splendor lavished on this show would seem extravagant if the production were not intended to live on after its premiere. Margery And Peter Spack’s scenic design includes a lighthouse, a ship that sail across the stage, a larger ship that accommodates a crew of pirates, and multiple locations on and below the sea. Julia Flood’s shrewd direction lets the action flow seamlessly from one setting to another. The production’s lofty standards are maintained in Cynthia Nordstrom’s costumes, Jayson M. Lawshee’s lighting, Rusty Wandall’s sound, Cristie Johnston’s scenic art, Katie Orr’s props art, and olfactory design by Pura (Mara Dumski and Hope Freeman), Scent Marketing Inc. (Caroline and Alex Fabrigas), and Takasago International Corporation.

Spells of the Sea continues through March 5 at the Grandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Square.

—Gerry Kowarsky

Photo by Jennifer A. Lin
Finley Frankfurter (Guinevere “Gwenny” Govea) and her father, Ferris (Colin McLaughlin), compare catches in Spells of the Sea.