Peter Pan and Wendy Premier at Creative Cauldron

By FALLS CHURCH TIMES STAFF
February 26, 2013

"Peter Pan and Wendy" is an original theatrical adaptation of the famous story. Performances will be weekends, March 1 – 24, at Creative Cauldron at ArtSpace.

Creative Cauldron will present Peter Pan and Wendy weekends from March 1 through 24 at ArtSpace Falls Church, 410 South Maple Avenue.  This original premiere was adapted from the classic M. Barrie novel by Creative Cauldron Producing Director Laura Connors Hull, and features eight original songs by acclaimed musical theater composer and Creative Cauldron teaching artist, Matt Conner.

The production is directed by Hull and presented by Creative Cauldron’s Learning Theater, an ensemble that includes students along with professional actors in anchor roles.  Peter Pan will be played by Dani Danger Stoller, and Captain Hook will be played by E. Augustus (Gus) Knapp. In addition to a cast of 35 performers, the show includes puppets designed by scenic artist Margie Jervis.  Zachary A. Dalton is the Lighting Designer and Gabriel Magiante orchestrated the musical score.

Peter and Wendy was J.M. Barrie’s most famous work.  He wrote it first as a play in 1904 and later as a novel in 1911.  Both versions tell the story of Peter Pan, the mischievous little boy who refused to grow up.  When this boy extraordinaire flies into the nursery of the Darling home, Wendy is captivated by his promise of adventure in Neverland, the magical place that Peter calls home. With the help of some of Peter’s fairy dust, Wendy and her brothers are on their way. In Neverland they encounter them face-to-face with mermaids, Indians and the notorious Captain Hook and his pirates.

Dani Danger Stoller was last seen at Creative Cauldron as the Headmistress in Eddie Allan Poe, an original Learning Theater production written by Matt Conner and Stephen Gregory Smith.  She also appeared in CC’s Helen Hayes recommended production of Nevermore.  She appeared as Flora, in Flora The Red Menace at 1st Stage, and Teresa in The Italian American Reconciliaton and as Emily Bronte in Dizzy Miss Lizzy’s Roadside Revue presents The Brontes at the Kennedy Center.  Previous credits include: Dying City and Really, Really (Signature Theater); F@#king Up Everything (Woolly Mammoth); The Aristocrats (Theater J); and Chicago (Kensington Arts Center).

E. Augustus (Gus) Knapp appeared as Mr. Brownlow, Mr. Bumble and Bill Sikes in Creative Cauldron’s original adaptation of Oliver Twist this fall. Gus has been performing as a living history enactor for the past 32 years. He is a charter member of the Victorian Society of Falls Church and has regularly interpreted first person living history, including portraying President Theodore Roosevelt at the White House Easter Egg Roll. Other dramatic roles with the Victorian Society the Reverend Doctor Chasuble in The Importance of Being Earnest, Dr. Watson in Sherlock Holmes, and Count Fosco in The Woman in White. Lauren Buford, a veteran of Creative Cauldron’s Learning Theater program, will play the role of Wendy. Thirty-two additional young performers are featured in the cast.

Matt Conner’s musical compositions have won critical accolades and have been produced at theaters around the metropolitan area. His original musicals have been performed at Signature Theatre including: The Hollow, Nevermore, Partial Eclipse, The Girl from No Man’s Land, and Crossing. Matt has written several original musical scores for Creative Cauldron productions including Oliver Twist, and two original scripts Eddie Allan Poe and Martin: the King of Pizza.

Margie Jervis’ career spans 30 years of art making, spanning fine art exhibited internationally to theatrical design. Her journey in theater began on the West Coast as Scenic Painter and Sculptor at both the Seattle Repertory Theater and the Seattle Opera in the 1980s and 1990s. In the last decade, Margie has designed for the Seattle Opera, the Washington National Opera, and the Ashlawn Opera in Charlottesville. She is the recipient of the 2010 “Strauss Fellowship Award” from the Arts Council of Fairfax County. Zachary A. Dalton has designed the lights for Reckless, Kafka on the Shore (Spooky Action Theater), J.B. (The American Century Theater), Stopgap (Field Trip Theatre), The War Boys (Williamstown Theatre Festival) A Doll’s House (Williamstown Theatre Festival.  He has served as an Assistant Designer for Henry V (Folger Theatre), and Bootycandy & Oedipus El Rey (Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company). He holds a BFA in Theater Technology from Longwood University.

Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Saturdays and Sundays at 2 pm. Tickets are $15 for Adults and $12 for students and seniors.  Tickets for Peter Pan and Wendy can be purchased online at www.creativecauldron.org or by calling 571-239-5288.