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By Dale King
Summer may be a slack season for many students. But not for the actor wannabes in Florida Atlantic University’s Department of Theatre and Dance. They’ve spent weeks gearing up for perhaps their busiest time of the year – the annual two-play Summer Repertory Theater Festival.
The first show, a high-energy production of Peter and the Starcatcher, opened in the University Theatre on the Boca campus this past weekend. The comic musical Xanadu arrives in July and a Big Band concert follows soon after.
Peter and the Starcatcher is a tribute to Peter Pan, a wild, but plausible prequel to J.M. Barrie’s 1904 children’s fable, expanding on the original tale of “The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up” by focusing on friendship, leadership, fealty and assorted other add-ons.
Director Lee Soroko guides the fanciful story through a vast array of elaborate turns — from the deck of a sailing ship in Act I to a savage jungle island in Act II. A superb cast capable of tackling multiple roles with flair makes the action work.
Starcatcher is the intriguing story of what may have made Peter Pan the man — or, perhaps, the forever boy — that he turns out to be. The director gets excellent assistance from the husband-and-wife team of Caryl (keyboards) and Roy (drums, percussion) Fantel. Scenic designer Michael McClain and his ensemble deserve plaudits for their outstanding stage decorations.
Lots of folks worked on this tale of a nameless orphan and his two friends — known as “The Lost Boys” — who endure the rigors of a topsy-turvy shipboard escapade that takes them to an island inhabited by threatening natives. The orphan without a moniker eventually takes the name “Peter,” the surname “Pan” and matures into the person who flies onward and upward on life’s enduring journey.
To make this story funkier and more elaborate, two contemporary authors — Ridley Pearson and Dave Barry — revisited the original Peter Pan story, adding explanatory information and responding to queries left unanswered by the original author. Conceived for the stage by Roger Rees and Alex Timbers, and written by Rick Elice, with music by Wayne Barker, this production is less a musical and more of a play with lots of tunes added in.
At sea, the boy who becomes known as Peter (Zach Marullo) and his friends (Raymond Adderly III and Trevor Gill) are befriended by sweet, sophisticated Molly (Shayna Gilberg), the precocious daughter of Lord Aster (Kyle Smith), a British royal. Molly and her dad communicate via a lighted green amulet to make sure the precious cargo trunk aboard ship is safe.
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The container is filled with otherworldly “Starstuff,” a celestial substance so powerful it can fulfill dreams — and must never fall into the wrong hands.
When the ship is taken over by pirates — led by the fearsome Black Stache (robustly portrayed by Cait Siobhan Kiley) — the journey takes an even more chilling and threatening turn, jeopardizing the “Starstuff.” To even hint at the outcome is to say too much.
Peter and the Starcatcher is entertaining overall, and particularly pleasing visually, but also very long. At two and a half hours with one intermission, it could be a sleeper were it not for the energetic and enthusiastic acting and singing of the players who maintain the audience’s attention.
In fact, the show often glows with sterling performances. Marullo is gently and innocently determined as Peter Pan in the making — and shows this in his bid to help save the “Starstuff.” He makes the most of this seafaring journey to search for, and eventually find, his hero within.
As Molly, Gilberg is bold and definitive, clearly a leader in a show that speaks about the concept of leadership, but only nails it with actions.
Kiley is a standout as pirate Black Stache. She hams it up with lots of mustachioed bravado and frivolous aggression until a fateful incident makes her see the light of humility.
Peter and the Starcatcher plays through June 29 in the University Theatre on FAU’s Boca campus, 777 Glades Road. For tickets, visit fauevents.com or call 561-297-6124.