PETER AND THE STARCATCHER
Great Lakes Theater
2-7 through 3-2, 2025
216-241-6000 or www.greatlakestheater.org
Roy Berko
After a tepid first act, PETER AND THE STARCATCHER explodes into a farcical, creative and enjoyable production in the second act under the direction of Jaclyn Miller. Observation: Though there were lots of kids at the Sunday afternoon staging, the show seems a little too sophisticated for anyone less than tweens as the younger children seated near me were generally very restless.
To see a full review of this show, read Roy Berko's blog here.
Howard Gollop
Like the Broadway musical "Wicked," the 2012 Broadway version of "Peter and the Starcatcher" regales the audience in an intriguingly convoluted plot of orphans, pirates, young love, a lost islands and shipwrecks -- defying the dramatic odds of getting us up to the moment Peter flies off to meet young Wendy back in Victorian-cum-Edwardian England. There's an unmistakable patina of Monty Python to the work, although, surprisingly, there's no actual British pedigree. The play actually originated in 2009 at the LaJolla Playhouse in California. As for this production, despite its cutthroat pirates, rioting native islanders and foreboding seastorms, the audience gladly grabs a chance to escape from the truly treacherous Cleveland winter outside for a moment in this slice of joyous paradise.
To see a full review of this show, read Howard Gollop's review here.
Mark Horning
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Mark Horning's Review here.
Laura Kennelly
Over 100 years after it first appeared, J. M. Barrie’s Peter
Pan still inspires imagination as seen in Peter and the Starcatcher
(2011), the play currently offered by Great Lakes Theater in the Hanna
Theatre. The story, adapted by Rick Elice from the 2004 novel by Dave Barry and
Ridley Pearson, offers an engaging account of the flying-never-aging boy’s
origins.
Scenic designer Courtney O’Neill, assisted by Rick Martin
(lighting) proved form follows function with a simple setting. The stage,
filled with undulating waves of sturdy black and white levels dotted, when need
be with sails and trunks, offered a surprisingly useful surface for actions and
settings.
Costumes designed by Esther M. Haberlen and hairpieces by
wig designer Caitie Martin also helped us follow the story as actors shifted
(via a hat or a jacket, etc.) from one character to another. It worked
surprisingly well. Puppets designed by Davey Collins and Hayden Pedersen added
supernatural effects, as did other touches by designer Josh Brinkman.
Program notes quote director Jaclyn Miller’s statement that “Theater
is a team sport.” Based on the show’s opening night, the skilled (and nimble) cast
proved Coach Miller’s analysis as they worked together to create a world.
Especially amusing was watching as they left the stage as one believable character
and emerged almost immediately as a completely different one.
Leading the team, a charismatic Benjamin Michael Hall morphed
from orphan child in dire peril of being a pirate slave to Peter Pan, the magical
champion of his fellow castaways. Once Peter meets Molly (Angela Utrera) a
beautiful and kind young woman, they join forces with the other lost boys to
fight the dreadful pirate, Black Stache (Joe Wegner).
Other players—all outstanding contributors playing everybody
everywhere all at once (almost)--included Theo Allyn, Dar’Jon Marquise Bentley,
Jeremy Gallardo, Nic Hermick, Grayson Heyl, Jesse Cope Miller, James Alexander
Rankin, Evan Stevens, and M.A. Taylor.
I’d like to see it again because I think I might have missed
some of the play’s reputed verbal wit that was swallowed up as characters
jumped from one area to another or wielded weapons in mighty fights. But, by
closing night, all should be perfect—and it nearly was opening night anyway.
What wasn’t perfect that night was the weather. A snow/sleet
storm engulfed Cleveland right before the show, but it didn’t stop the stalwart
audience. Most seats were filled. Great Lakes fans are the best.
Bottom Line: Indeed, why grow up? Not when the
unsettled land of childhood’s possibilities still remains to be claimed and
explored—at least for a few hours—while watching this delight-filled show. Go
team Peter Pan!
To see a full review of this show, read Laura's posts at Cool Cleveland.
Kate Klotzbach
No review yet.
To see a full review of this show, read Kate's posts here.
Dr. Yuko Kurahashi
Great Lakes Theater’s Peter and the Starcatcher is a delightful, educational, and philosophical work that draws audiences of all ages to the world of the Neverland created on Hanna Theatre’s stage. I saw a Broadway production and one regional theatre production, but what I got out of this production was genuinely impactful, visually, atmospherically, and thematically.
To see a full review of this show, read Yuko's posts here.
