PETER AND THE STARCATCHER at the Empress Shines!

MAGNA —It is always a treat to return to the Empress Theatre with my husband to see a show. This production, Peter and the Starcatcher, was written by Rick Elice, with music by Wayne Barker. The cast was fun and engaging, and we appreciated the variety of costumes.

Peter and the Starcatcher is based on the children’s novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, that is a kind of prequel and backstory to Peter Pan. I read the book as a kid and loved the series. Usually with a play based on a book, it improves as it comes to life on stage, but the writer, Elice, changed a few things I think meaningfully differ from the source material. This includes description of how Black Stache loses his hand, and the way the star-stuff is transferred. Many hilarious moments were added, however, that made up for the irregularities in the story line. One of the best lines was when Black Stache says his mustache, “dates back to his amoeba ancestors.” I loved the fight scene between captains set up as a boxing match! Though with this interpretation, I was bothered that Peter didn’t have a bigger role throughout the show. Black Stache seemed to be more of the main character, but the ending focuses entirely on Peter so it would have made sense to give him more moments for the audience to see him grow.

Beth Bruner did a great job directing this show. I loved how it started, as if the actors were just audience members volunteering to put on a show. I also loved how the whole show seemed staged by kids playing dress-up and using whatever they could find around the house for their costumes, like a twister wheel used for steering the ship, and a brush used for a microphone. This technique leveraged the audience’s imagination, which made it more fun and brought audience imagination skills to life. I enjoyed the characters yelling across the stage at each other, breaking the fourth wall to tell someone to stay out of their scene or to perform it differently. I enjoyed the use of the theater space which has various levels and even a trapdoor. Bruner was able to bring out the best in less seasoned actors with the movements and emotional direction they were given.

Lighting by David Bruner was well done, and added a lot to the performance. There were many moments where intense emotion was highlighted by a light color specific to that emotion, like red for anger. I liked when the lights all went out to reveal one actor in spotlight, as it helped lead my focus to what was important in that part of the show. There were a lot of lines coming very fast at some points and this technique helped me follow what was happening. Part of the fun of this play is that seeing it multiple times will reveal more hilarious moments.

The Peter character is called Boy through the play and was played by Koda Smith. Molly (the star catcher) was played by Camille Bassett. These two had great energy and their interactions were skilled and in-depth, helping me see the character’s drives. When Smith shared his lines about people saying sorry being pointless, it hit home for me, to realize how futile it is to just bypass all that has happened to someone by saying sorry, but I appreciated Bassett’s attitude as she responded with her line about wanting to try to help anyway. I think this message, and the one at the end where Smith says, “I just want to be a boy for a while,” are very indicative of the human experience. We don’t always get to just live and see what life is like- more often life seems to be a series of problems we have to solve. And compassion and care for others seems to be intuitive, even if we don’t know how to show it.

Black Stache was played by Alexander Richardson, who did an impressive job on stage. I loved his intensity and movements, which were unpredictable and suprising, as he sometimes praised the fearful Smee (Gwen Jonnson), and other times yelled in rage at his incompetence. Lord Aster, played by Brad A. Goodman, was also interesting to watch, and I especially enjoyed his moment of “explaining things” while he was gagged, which resulted in a series of mumbles and eye expressions.

The music, directed by Jennie Johnson, was also impressive, and though this show isn’t considered a musical, I’d love to find a playlist of these songs because they were all fun to listen to. My favorite was the song “Mermaid Outta Me,” which had the most hilarious lines and included the best costumes of the show. My husband and I were cracking up during that whole scene! Jana Wilhite was the costumer and her choice of costumes was awesome. If I share any more, it might ruin the surprise, so I’ll just say- go see the show!

Being familiar with the books, I was happy to have the chance to come see Peter and the Starcatcher at the Empress this weekend. The costumes and characters were silly and enjoyable. I noticed a hook up on the ceiling that I was so sure would be used to show Peter flying at the end, and I was disappointed not to see that happen, but despite that, the play overall was really good, and we enjoyed all the moments of imagination from the characters, and required by the audience. I’m glad we got a date night to see a fun, well-performed show.