Jonathan Cooper spends much of his time this summer looking, learning and rehearsing as a summer intern at Theatre by the Sea.

The Providence Journal / John Freidah

SOUTH KINGSTOWN — On a perfect beach day, this college theater intern is spending a chunk of his daylight hours in a paneled former warehouse, singing about a revolution in a country far away.

But that’s standard operating procedure for 22-year-old Jonathan Cooper.

Cooper doesn’t worry about sunscreen or bug repellent. Cool rehearsal halls are really more familiar to him than salt water, though he’s an Ocean State resident spending much of his time within minutes of South County beaches.

Many of Cooper’s waking hours are spent at Theatre by the Sea in Matunuck, where it’s a short season.

For Cooper, who is appearing in Evita, which opens for previews tonight, it’s the second time around with this Andrew Lloyd Webber Tim Rice show at the summer theater.

He appeared in Evita there in 1996 as a 10-year-old. It was a small role, his second that summer at the barn theater where he also danced in Singin’ in the Rain, but it wasn’t the time onstage that he remembers most.

“I would watch every night from backstage. I was too excited to get tired,” Cooper recalls.

He learned not only the exacting music from Evita that year, but also about the commitment it takes to get a show onstage.

Since then he’s been in or directed more than a dozen shows — in high school at The Wheeler School, in Providence, and others with the Fantasy Works Youth Theater based in North Kingstown. In May he earned a bachelor of science in dance from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

The East Greenwich resident then plunged into a summer routine of rehearsals by day, performing by night. Some weeks went by when he rarely had more than two consecutive hours off.

“We do everything, technical work, loading the sets in and out, understudy work,” says Cooper. “It’s great experience. I love it.”

“He’s smart,” says director Amiee Turner. “He watches and sees what’s going on. Theater is one of those things where you have to have an apprenticeship.”

Turner says that apprentices are for the most part on equal footing with veteran actors.

“The interns are a wonderful group of hard workers,” says Turner, and while everyone is treated as professionals, with the interns, she says, “There’s more care; you take the time to make sure they understand. You do end up doing some teaching,” she says. “They’re so resilient. If you think back to what it’s like to be 20, they all survive on very little sleep.”

It’s possible that one of the interns could end up as the next George Clooney or Reese Witherspoon, the next Patti Lupone or Nathan Lane.

But until then, for young actors like Cooper there’s a good amount of standing around, waiting, watching as scenes are discussed and dissected.

The internship is a paid position and some meals are provided. Since he is a Rhode Islander, Cooper is responsible for his own housing.

Cooper says he doesn’t see any drawbacks to being an intern, despite the fact that in the world that was Fantasy Works, he was a big fish, playing several leads and directing shows in Warwick, East Greenwich and Narragansett, coming up through the ranks with founder and executive director Ann O’Grady of North Kingstown.

“He’s a phenomenal dancer,” O’Grady says, recalling a part he played in a production of Fame. “To this day, it was one of the most memorable performances in our history.”

O’Grady has been leading Fantasy Works for more than 20 years, with some 13,000 children and young adults coming through her program.

But she recalls a particular night when a performer had an emergency, and Cooper stepped in and took over the role with only a few hours notice, while still playing his own significant part.

“He played both parts just by changing his jacket.” O’Grady says that former cast members still talk about that moment.

“Jonathan is an extremely talented dancer, singer, artist,” she saysand she keeps a photo of him in her office along with other students who have gone on to work in the arts. She eventually hired Cooper to direct shows with her younger students.

Cooper figures the experience of working with large groups of youngsters, as he did in that summer theater program, offered him certain advantages.

“If you can work with 200 kids, you can get along with 20 adults,” he says.

Fantasy Works, he says, became like a family to him.

“I would go back summer after summer.”

This summer Cooper has been pretty much wrapped up with rehearsals, technical work, and an occasional solo at Matunuck’s cabaret.

On his one day off, he says, “I do as little as possible,” resting up for the next round of rehearsals and stage tasks.

“It’s really the positive energy of the production team that motivates everyone to keep pushing ahead,” says Cooper. “We want to be able to put on a great show.”

Also interning this summer at Matunuck are Asha Brownie-Gordon of Georgia, Caroline Cuseo of South Carolina, Chelsea Diggs-Smith of Virginia, Jessica A. Wockenfuss of North Carolina, Sylvi Re of Illinois, Kimberly Kalunian of Warwick, Kevin P. Martin of Cumberland.

Also Emily Luther, a student at Woonsocket High School; Chris Richards, a student at South Kingstown High School; and Zara Collier and Lewis Hoisington, both of Narragansett High School.

When summer ends, it will be Cooper’s first September not returning to school.

“It feels good. I’ll probably end up going to New York,” he predicts.

Right now the end of the summer seems like a long way off with Evita just opening and The Producers still on the schedule to finish out the season.

“The friends I’ve made this summer,” says Cooper, “it’s been amazing working with them. There’s such a love for the theater. It feels like a home.”

Evita will be presented July 16 to Aug. 3, with preview performances tonight, July 16, and tomorrow, July 17. Opening night is set for Friday, July 18. Performances are Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings at 8, Thursdays at 2 and Saturdays at 4:30 and 8:30 p.m. and Sundays at 5 p.m. with special performance times on Sunday, July 20 at 3 and 8 p.m.

The theater is located at 364 Cards Pond Rd., Matunuck. For ticket information call (401) 782-8587.

afleming@projo.com