Presenting Peter and the Starcatcher

08/27/2019 12:00 PM

BRADLEY UNIVERSITY THEATRE PRESENTS
Peter and the Starcatcher

Tony-Award winning musical opens 2019-2020 season

Bradley University Theatre opens its 2019-2020 mains stage season with Peter and the Starcatcher, the Tony-Award-winning musical prequel to the Peter Pan story. Performances are September 26 through October 6 at the Hartmann Center for the Performing Arts.

Based on the popular book, Peter and the Starcatchers, by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, the production, which the New York Times has called “enthralling,” presents an alternate origin story for the characters made famous in the 1904 play by J.M. Barrie and the 1956 classic musical by Betty Comden, Adolph Green, and Jule Styne.

Separated from her father on a sea journey to the land of Rundoon, a fearless young girl, Molly, befriends a nameless boy and his fellow orphans to protect a powerful secret from the dastardly (and familiarly Hook-like) pirate captain, Black Stache. Their tumultuous journey is a voyage of danger, romance, hilarity and heroism, featuring singing mermaids, evil crustaceans, a ship called The Neverland, and a mysterious substance called Starstuff. Guest artist Chad Bradford (BU Theatre’s 2017 Little Women) returns to direct and choreograph, while BU favorite Susan Somerville Brown (Spring Awakening, High Fidelity, Mr. Burns and Little Women) serves as music director, and Professor of Acting, Dan Matisa, makes his Bradley stage debut in the role of the iconoclastic Black Stash. Scenery and lighting are by Professor Chad Lowell, with costumes by Professor Becki Arnold, sound design by BU sophomore Barbie Brown and puppets by BU junior Vi Ihm.

“This production is a full-blown extravaganza of imagination and theatricality,” notes Theatre Arts chair, Scott Kanoff. “The action is driven by an ensemble that never stops moving and who employ the most essential tools of storytelling to conjure up a fantastical world of hope, adventure and wonder. It’s a timeless story, deeply compelling and fabulously funny. And, it’s a great family show.”

Performances of Peter and the Starcatcher are Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30pm and Sundays at 2pm. Tickets and information are available at 309-677-2650 or online at Bradley.edu/theatre.