How did Peter become the boy who could never grow up? Adapted from the book Peter and the Starcatchers, the play by the same name takes audiences through a journey that explains how Peter became the boy who could never grow up. I had read a script from June and then started in on the book, all in anticipation for the workshop reading on July 23. I loved the first script I read and was excited to see it performed. The show has a cast of 12 who play multiple roles and there are parts where they are talking to each other then they will address the audience directly. There is a also a person who reads stage directions. The show essentially has not props, a rope, pineapple and a few sticks.
All week we heard the cast upstairs rehearsing on the third floor. On Monday we got an e-mail that it could be possible that everyone wouldn't get to go to the reading, so it is an uneasy week until Thursday evening when we got confirmation that we could all attend. A couple people in the cast I was familiar with and I knew a few more when I saw them. Peter was played by Adam Chanler-Berat (Next to Normal), Black Stache by Christian Borle (Legally Blonde) and Molly by Celia Keenan-Bolger (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee).
Earlier in the week we got to meet with Alex Timbers, co-director with Roger Rees. I was surprised at how young he was, but it was wonderful to hear about his career path and how he got where he is today.
Seeing the reading was amazing. Since June, the script had been significantly re-written. Peter's character was probably the most evident change. He was much more lost and grew to become the leader through the course of the play verses being the leader from the beginning. Other changes were noticeable because of their uniqueness, like Molly said she skipped the odd years in counting her age instead of the even and they spoke Dodo instead of porpoise. The character that surprised me the most was Borle's portrayal of Black Stache. It was funny and engaging, something that didn't read that way on paper. His part had a lot re-writes as well. I am now excited for the spring when I can see it on stage.
3 comments:
So hey, was Betty Bumbrake part of the script still? Was Celia the only woman? Curious, thanks!
Yes and yes; they are now finalizing the script for the show in february/march and i think for scheduling reasons no everyone is carrying over
So Betty Bumbrake is played by a man then? Weird! And too bad as she was so popular in the La Jolla production. Thanks for the update!
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