MORGAN HENDERSON
Staff Writer
The Department of Theatre and Dance is bringing Fredonia the story before Peter Pan emerged. “Peter and the Starcatcher” will premiere on Friday, Oct. 20 at 8 p.m.
“It’s all about how Peter Pan becomes Peter Pan, and the story is simply beautiful. It’s a fun, loveable story for any [age],” said Carly Censi, a senior BFA musical theatre major.
Anyone can remember admiring the characters in Peter Pan. What makes this play so interesting is the fact that it gives the audience a chance to get to know them further .
“We kind of see an origin story unfold in this as the characters become who we all know and love,” Jeffrey Kringer, a senior musical theatre BFA major said.
The audience will see the famous lost boy before he grew into the Peter that we know.
Peter Pan is not the only character unfolding, though. Kringer will be playing Captain Black Stache , who is the preceding form of Captain Hook.
Captain Hook turns out to not be as flat of a character as everyone has expected.
“I’ve taken a good long look at the structure of his lines to see how he physically would interact with other characters. Stache is interesting because he’s not a typical antagonist. There is an element of innocence to him as he is really just a child looking for someone to play with,” Kringer said.
Kringer took to the time to get to know how Hook’s character has been performed in the past.
“I’ve researched Christian Borle who won a Tony for the part, as well as Cyril Richards who won a Tony for Captain Hook in the original Peter Pan musical,” he said. “ I’ve spent this time blending the different forms of the character as well as bringing as much of myself into the part as possible.”
Censi is playing Molly, a 13 -year -old girl living in Great Britain during a male-dominated era.
“Molly is brave, adventurous and strives to be a leader,” Censi said.
Censi has put a lot of work into preparing to play Molly.
“I’ve kept a journal where I’ve written three to four pages a day at rehearsal of different realizations I have about her relationships and her feelings about certain things. I’ve also strived to try a bunch of different approaches to embodying Molly,” she said. “Thinking about how she walks, how her physicality affects her words and I’ve constantly tried to change up how I say her words until I’ve found what I think really fits what she’s trying to convey.”
Censi and Kringer are not the only ones throwing themselves into their roles.
“The company is extremely talented and brings out the exact kind of humor and fun that will entertain any audience. It’s been a pleasure working on this project with them, and I hope people enjoy watching and listening as much as we enjoying telling the story,” Kringer said.
“It’s truly an ensemble show. It’s a group of people working together to create something beautiful and make each other look good,” Censi said
It’s clear that the audience will be invested in the characters besides the originals as well.
“This is by far one of the most imaginative and playful experiences I’ve ever been a part of. The characters are loveable and ridiculous,” Censi said.
“Peter and the Starcatcher” will be playing through Oct. 28. Don’t miss your chance to see where it all began. Student tickets are 15 dollars.
“This story is really very heartwarming. It teaches lessons of self discovery and acceptance, a real ‘home is where the heart is kind of theme,’” Kringer said.