Grace Students To Perform ‘Peter And The Starcatcher’
WINONA LAKE — Grace College’s theater department has announced it will present “Peter and the Starcatcher” on Nov. 9, 10, and 15-17 in the Little Theatre in Philathea Hall, 1499 Alpha Drive, Winona Lake. Tickets are $5 for students and seniors and $7 for adults, and are available at the campus store in the Gordon Recreation Center and at the Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts box office, 2515 E. Center St., Warsaw. Tickets may also be purchased by phone at (574) 267-8041, or at the door. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. each evening, with an additional performance on Nov. 17 at 1:30 p.m.
“Peter and the Starcatcher” is an adventure comedy with music that provides the backstory to the legendary Peter Pan. It follows a nameless orphan who ends up in the middle of a high-seas adventure when the ship he is working on is attacked by pirates. He joins forces with Molly, daughter of a famous Starcatcher, Lord Astor, to prevent a chest of mysterious and mystical “starstuff” from falling into the wrong hands. With the infamous pirate Black Stache in hot pursuit of their ship, adventure follows close behind. Based on a series of novels by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, the play won five Tony Awards during its 2012-2013 Broadway run.
“I had read the book series, and I was delighted to hear it had been made into a play,” said Mike Yocum, Grace College professor of communication and director of this fall’s play. “I knew it would be a good fit for Grace’s students and stage.”
Ethan Roberts, a sophomore who plays the pirate Smee, says the staging and timing set the show apart. “It’s a small set, but that means we get to be creative as actors,” he said. “We hope to leave the audience with a sense of optimism from Peter’s journey of self-discovery.”
“The students bring lots of youthful energy to their roles as narrators, pirates, mermaids, birds, and more,” Yocum said. “Their enthusiasm for the characters will bring the story to life.”