Have you ever wondered how Peter Pan became the mischievous boy who never grows up and how he came to live on the island of Neverland? And how Captain Hook lost his hand and became Peter’s lifelong nemesis? And who, exactly, was Wendy?
“Peter and the Starcatcher,” produced by Piedmont University, directed by Associate Professor John Spiegel, answers those questions and more.
With its bright, colorful sets and costumes, “Peter and the Starcatcher” lights up the Piedmont University Swanson Center Mainstage Theater.
“We wanted to do something large-scale and kind of splashy that the students would really engage with … something that would be a good portfolio piece for everybody,” Spiegel said “I’ve wanted to do ‘Peter’ since I saw it on Broadway, so we decided to just do it.”
“Peter and the Starcatcher” introduces an orphan boy with no name (Gabriel Richman) and his two friends, Ted (Dominic Fox) and Prentiss (Carly Jelinek). The boys wind up on one of two ships sailing for the kingdom of Rundoon.
Through a series of misadventures, the boys meet Molly (Dakota Rose Chen), an apprentice Starcatcher, who, with her father Lord Aster (Clayton Maddox), is determined to protect a trunkful of starstuff, a magical substance that falls from the heavens.
A gang of pirates, led by The Black Stache (Hunter Reum) and his sidekick Smee (Carson Letner), also wants the trunk. While the nameless boy’s mistreatment as an orphan makes him dislike adults and want to remain a youth, The Black Stache’s goal in life is to become a great villain who needs a great hero to be his lifelong archenemy.
Grand adventures ensue, including the group landing on an island filled with native people called The Mollusks, whose chief, Fighting Prawn (Athena Lux), sentences them to death by crocodile.
Through their own cleverness and the bumbling of The Black Stache, our heroes escape, and it is revealed how the nameless boy becomes Peter Pan, The Black Stache becomes Captain Hook, and Molly goes on to become mother to Wendy, who will meet Peter Pan in another lifetime.
While the show is not a musical, there are a few musical numbers in it, and music director James Geiger, who also is Director of Bands at South Habersham Middle School, is rolled around on the stage with his piano.
“It’s very much an ensemble cast,” Spiegel said. “If you ask me who the leads are, I’d say Peter and Molly, but at the end of the day, really, it’s an ensemble.”
Spiegel said the play is “visually very interesting, as well as character-interesting.”
“The kids have done a great job with their characters, and the same kids who are in it have been building it, hanging lights and all that,” he added. “I’m really proud. They’ve really stepped up.”
Piedmont University senior Mary Gaines was costume designer for the play, which serves as her capstone project. Since the play is set in the 1800s, the costumes were mostly Victorian in design. The project was challenging because some of the male roles were played by female actors, and the role of Molly’s nanny, Mrs. Bumbrake (Dante Wilson) is traditionally played by a male actor.
“It was a struggle to figure out some of the male costumes on women’s bodies, but we made it work. But with the mermaids, we threw Victorian out the window, because they glow and everything,” Gaines said.
Richman, who is a sophomore, plays the unnamed boy who later becomes Peter. He said he loves the ensemble nature of “Peter and the Starcatcher.”
“I love being able to be with the ensemble,” Richman said. “I love seeing all of us make one big pirate crew or sailor crew. I think that’s a really cool thing we introduced in this show.”
Chen, a freshman, said this is her first show at the university, and “a good experience.”
“It’s been a lot of good learning opportunities,” she said. “And getting to work with all these talented people has been so amazing.”
Piedmont University’s production of “Peter and the Starcatcher” will be presented in the Swanson Center Mainstage Theater, Oct. 20-23, with Thursday through Saturday shows beginning at 7:30 p.m. and a Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. Ticket cost is $10 for adults; $5 for seniors and students, with Piedmont faculty, staff and students admitted free. For additional information, call the box office at 706-778-8500, extension 1355.