Previews

Record Eagle Review

Cast List, More Pictures

Production Staff:

Costume Assistants Terri Michael, Marci Michael, Cathy DeNicolo, Beth Stireman, Jenni Rozga, Diane Hubert, Jeanette Mason, Lauren Hood, Joanne Thomas	Stage Crew Brian Dunjgen,  Leslie Cane, Denni Hunting,  Don Kuehlhorn, Jeannie Cole,  Mike Holland, Tom Pritchard, Ed Mulcahy, Jake Mulcahy, George Beeby	Sound Crew Kerri Moses, Robert Roush
	Orchestra Flute --- Sam Clark Keyboard --- Linda Davis, Paulette Parsons Clarinet -- Joe Halverston, Joe Rice, George Townsend French Horn -- Randy Karfonta, Curt Wilson Trumpet -- Jeff Kroeger, Len Simkins Trombone -- Chris Mericle, Mitch Ronk Double Bass -- Keith Jaissle Percussion -- Roland Woodring	Lighting crew Jeanine Easterday, Brett Nichols, George Hunting, Michelle Perez, Margaret Schaal, Denni Hunting, Denny Everett, Elliot Callighan, Rick Frost

Children's classic gets updated treatment at Old Town Playhouse

TRAVERSE CITY. Leigh Scheffler was walking on air when she learned she'd gotten the lead in the upcoming Old Town Playhouse production of "Peter Pan." Of course, when the show opens Nov. 16, she really will be walking on air -- and dancing -- with the help of some impressively strung cables and harnesses.

"I'm a little anxious, a little nervous," said the 15-year-old redhead, a tenth-grader at West Senior High. "They said I'll be 16 feet up, but it looks higher than that."

Theater patrons who saw last winter's OTP production of "West Side Story" may remember Scheffler's powerful dancing in the part of Velma, the lead "Jet girl." But the part of Peter Pan is extremely challenging to a young performer, and not just because of the flying. There's a good deal of singing and a lot of dialogue -- and frankly, Peter is an awfully complex character for a children's show.

Is there anybody who doesn't know the story of this fey and motherless boy (always played by a girl) who whisks young Wendy and her brothers off to his mythical and perilous home in Neverland? The lost Boys who refuse to grow up? Captain Hook and his bloodthirsty crew? And all that fairy dust? Well, according to producer Margaret Schaal, director Michael Nunn has put a few new twists in this particular production.

"This isn't your mom and dad's 'Peter Pan' by any means," said Schaal. "You know how the opening says 'The Nursery in the Darling Home, circa 18-whatever?' Well, it ain't that circa. This is going to be a very modern family."

Other noticeable changes reflect new political sensitivities (Tiger Lily's Indians are now a multicultural band of "Indigenes.". They're, like, indigenous, get it?) Others are simply a symptom of the well-established trend that young females are far more numerous at theater auditions than young males: there are now Lost Girls among the Lost Boys piratesses among the pirates and the youngest Darling child, Michael, is now a darling girl.

But the songs and the music are all there, just the way you remember them from the TV version with Mary Martin and Cyril Ritchard, or the later revivals with Sandy Duncan and Cathy Rigby, "I Won't Grow Up," and "I'm Flying," and "I've Gotta Crow" and "Never Never Land."

This particular adaptation of James M. Barrie's famous book, with music by Mark Charlap and Jule Styne and lyrics by Carolyn Leigh, Betty Comden & Adolph Green, isn't the first "Peter Pan" ever brought to the stage. But it's the one everybody remembers -- developed in 1954 by producer Jerome Robbins, it featured Martin and Ritchard and ran for 152 performances. The 1979 revival with Sandy Duncan was even more popular, enjoying a run of 551 performances.

Scheffler's Peter will find a well-practiced foil in Phil Callighan as Captain Hook, while the parts of Wendy, Michael and John -- who as you may recall, do a bit of flying themselves -- are played by Shelby Lewis, Madison Ford and Jessica Elliot. They are joined by 23 additional teen and adult cast members, many of them veterans of earlier OTP musicals.

"This is a great experience for me," said Callighan, who worked with many of the same young performers when he had the part of Fagin in the OTP's "Oliver" three seasons back. "It's probably the most challenging role I've had. I get to fence and sing and interact with a lot of other characters. And it keeps the old mind in shape."

Director Nunn has assembled a veteran crew, too including Schaal and assistant directors Paddy Brown and George Beeby, with Phil Murphy as stage manager. The musical director is Sam Clark, with vocal direction by Tom Stokes, choreography by Tamara Hunter, lighting by Steve Morse and sets by Jeff Kroger.

Performance dates for "Peter Pan" are Nov. 16-17, 23-24, 29-30, Dec. 1 and Dec. 5-8, with showtimes at 8p.m. Sunday matinees are slated for 3 p.m. on Nov. 25 and Dec. 2. In addition, there will be an early evening performance on Sunday, Dec. 2 at 7 p.m.

Tickets are $18. Student and senior rate tickets are available for $16 for Thursday performances only, while tickets for children age 12 and younger are $12 for Thursday and Sunday performances. The box office will begin selling tickets for Peter Pan to the public beginning Monday, Nov. 5 at 4 p.m. Box office hours from that point on are 4-8 p.m., Monday through Friday through the run of the show, as well as two hours prior to show times on Saturdays and Sundays. For more information, contact the Old Town Playhouse business office at 947-2210 or the box office at 947-2443.