Where do our favorite characters come from? What drives a young boy to never want to grow up? What inspires a two-bit pirate captain to truly villainous pursuits? And is there more to fairies than just the wings?
These questions are answered by The Pacific Conservatory Theatre’s (PCPA) current production, Peter and the Starcatcher, a delightfully humorous and musical prequel to the adventures of the flying boy from Neverland. Rick Elice (Addams Family, Jersey Boys) adapted the recent novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson for his dramatic arrangement of Peter and the Starcatcher.
With an ethereal and rustic design, PCPA embraced the play’s nautical elements, hinting at a churning magic that ripples just beneath the shimmering surface of the stage and all its players.
PCPA is more than equipped to make people fly, but Peter and the Starcatcher is about how a young, nameless orphan boy (Cody Wittlinger) grew his wings, though, with the help of a mysteriously powerful young girl named Molly (Jillian Osborne). These two are buffeted about like bilge rats on the Bounty by various adults. For Molly, it’s her father Lord Aster (Andrew Philpot) who sends her here and there in the name of a magical secret. The poor orphaned Boy and his friends Prentiss (Mike Fiore) and Ted (Chad Patterson) are much more the victims of their elders, being sold into slavery during one of the very first scenes, becoming the abused captives of Capt. Slank (George Walker) of the ship Neverland.
Lord Aster is on an important mission in the name of Queen Elizabeth to secure a mysterious payload to a far away island. He sends Molly on a separate vessel, Slank’s Neverland, which will meet him later on. Little does he know that the trunk containing his mission was swapped for another that ended up on the Neverland.
To make matters worse, Lord Aster’s ship is overtaken by a band of pirates, but not just any old pirates. These fearsome swashbucklers follow a captain so insidious and dastardly, that his reputation is preceded by shrieks of fear and cries for mercy, the one and only Black Stache (Matt Koenig). Complete with a curly black-bedecked visage, Black Stache is the flamboyantly irreverent and hilariously inept antagonist. Joined by his familiarly stupid sidekick Smee (Michael Jenkinson), Black Stache serves up much of Peter and the Starcatcher’s laughs. Koenig delights with an energetic and fantastical caricature of the villain.
The rest of the ensemble cast includes PCPA resident actors like Leo Cortez and Peter S. Hadres, who, along with PCPA interns and students, play several characters. This ensemble is truly tight knit, acting at times as more than just characters but scenery, effects, and even monsters. This is part of Peter and the Starcatcher’s charm, its whimsical expression and representation of a world filled with hidden magic.
The show is scored by fantastic music by Wayne Barker, which is masterfully directed for PCPA by Matthew R. Meckes. Though the show doesn’t feel like a true musical, there is plenty of ensemble and solo singing that punctuates the dialogue and action. This music seems to rise up from among the creaky planks and salt-stained rigging of the set, which elicits all the feelings of a rickety old pirate ship.
The magic in the story is brought forward by the multi-faceted skills of lighting designer Jennifer Zornow, who tailored the lighting to showcase not just the actors, but some fabulous costume work by Cathie McClelland. Each part comes together to make an impressive whole that glitters and sways with powerful momentum, driving the story forward until our hero escapes into the skies.
Arts Editor Joe Payne claps because he believes. Contact him at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Feb 19-26, 2015.