Peter and the Starcatchers

[toddlisatyriem]

Posted: 1/30/09 at 8:36pm

Peter and the Starcatchers is going to be at the La Jolla Playhouse's "Page to Stage" February - March.

How does this work? Is this just regional or are they testing the waters to perhaps take it to Broadway.

The reason I wonder is because this was the book that got my son to become a reader and is pretty special to us. Since we are in Kansas, we would need to set up flights pretty quickly unless there is a possibility it might go to Broadway in the future.

Any rumors or thoughts on this? Any insight would be appreciated.

[otis33]

Posted: 1/30/09 at 8:52pm

I have friends in it. It is very much a workshop. Although they have a run, there is no official opening and reviewers are welcome, but not allowed to post reviews. The cast rehearses daily, up until the end of their run.

Disney is behind it, with hopes of it having a future somewhere down the line. It sounds interesting, though very bare bones. My friends say Christian Borle is hilarious and brilliant. Can't wait to see it, though don't know that I'd book a flight to come out to see it. Thankfully, I'm local.

[Magica]

Posted: 1/31/09 at 10:05am

It is a public workshop. There are minimal sets and costumes and at the end of the show there is open dialogue between the audience and production on how to improve the show. Definitely not something you should be flying out to San Diego exclusively for.

[Mama De]

Posted: 2/1/09 at 2:55pm

Dear Toddlisatyriem,

Even though "Peter and the Starcatchers" is only a "barebones production" at the La Jolla Playhouse, it might be worth the trip to San Diego at this time of year! It's beautiful right now! Sunny and dry, 69 degrees today(Sunday), but will be continuing to warm up to 76 degrees Monday and Tuesday. We hardly ever have rain and we NEVER have snow, so it is absolutely a good time to come to San Diego for a weekend, see the show, go to the beach, go to the Zoo, Seaworld, Scripps Aquarium,Balboa Park Museums, go Whalewatching, go kayaking on Mission Bay, etc.

Next weekend is a 4-day weekend and I am sure you can still get tickets to the show, buy a City Pass at Costco and do the town!

San Diego is great town for families with kids! I'm a Mom who grew up here and raised my daughter here, who is now she a young actress, on her way to an MFA in Acting (possibly, at NYU or UMKC!) My daughter flourished here and grew up going to plays, concerts, museums, art galleries, libraries, book stores, dance programs, language classes, acting classes, dance classes, Balboa Park, kayaking on the bay, whalewatching, the beach,etc.

Southwest Airlines is running Gotta Gettaway Specials and Valentines Weekend Specials right now. There is NO BETTER TIME to come to San Diego!

You should absolutly come to San Diego and get away from Winter in Kansas! You deserve a break from all that snow and ice! Come to San Diego and thaw out!




Updated On: 2/1/09 at 02:55 PM

[toddlisatyriem]

Posted: 2/1/09 at 6:11pm

Thanks so much for the responses! I really have zero expectations and I'm thinking that we will be making the trip for the "experience" of it all. My son's 12th birthday was on the 30th of January so I'm thinking this will be a nice getaway for just he and I. Personally, I don't want to miss Christian either. Warm California weather sounds REALLy great about now!

[Mama De]

Posted: 2/2/09 at 1:51am

I'm so glad that you and your son are comming to San Diego for a Birthday Aventure!

In keeping with theme of pirate ships, San Diego has a great waterfront with a wonderful old ship called the Star of India that is now a museum!

The La Jolla Playhouse is a cool place to see a show - all of the seats are good! And you might even get to meet the cast after the performance! Seeing a play here is very different than seeing one in New York or Chicago... The Playhouse is on the UCSD campus and the theaters are surounded by trees! And many people here dress very casual... your son would be comfortable in jeans, sneakers and a tee shirt! You could also wear jeans, if you like! You might want to bring a sweatshirt or sweater for the evenings! Have fun!

[Heybeenfood]

Posted: 2/17/09 at 10:35pm

Any updates?

[Magica]

Posted: 2/22/09 at 9:25am

I found these comments over at ATC:

http://www.talkinbroadway.com/allthatchat/d.php?id=1689241 Updated On: 2/22/09 at 09:25 AM

[homeimp]

Posted: 2/22/09 at 4:42pm

I have read all 3 books in the series and loved them all, but especially the Starcatchers. I only wish I were closer and able to see the show at this stage of development. I was astonished at the clever backstory to the Pan fable provided by the authors, explaining so many things in the original story, the fairy dust, the mermaids, Peter's flying ability, etc. The explanations are very plausible, and although I am not willing to agree they work better as a prequel than Wicked, they certainly worked extremely well for me in my reading of the novel. Re: Wicked - My hat remains off to Winnie Holtzman who wrote the book of Wicked. That novel as written doth not a musical make. All the things I love about Wicked come courtesy of Ms Holtzman, not Mr. Maguire. I wish all my best to the creative team and cast of Peter & The Starcatchers.

[mlsheehan]

Posted: 2/22/09 at 4:55pm

I saw it on Friday night. It's definitely a workshop in that they are still trying to get a footing on the material.

The show still needs quite a bit of shaping. There is way too much going on - much movement, dialogue, music, all at the same time. The first act especially needs some focus. At times, it is hard to follow what is happening - nothing that can't be fixed with some additional re-writes and rehearsals.

I was not familiar with the book that the show is based upon, so I can’t compare, but it did seem like they tried to cover too much material in the time that they had. Things moved too quickly (and not in a good way).

Christian Borle and Celia Keenan-Bolger are giving a couple of terrific performances. Christian Borle is campy and completely over the top in his role as “Black Stache”. The show itself could benefit from more of his type of energy and comedy chops. Celia Keenan-Bolger brings an intensity and drive that is quite endearing to her role as “Molly”. There are many fun characters in the show which require strong characterizations. Unfortunately, in this production, the characterizations aren’t quite there. Consequently, some of the humor in the piece is muted and falls a bit flat. I wasn’t particularly fond of the actor that played “Peter”. He was overly petulant and did not have the required charm and charisma that the part requires.

One of the strong points of the show is the current style of staging – a lot of simple props that become set pieces and actors that create sets, as well. I don’t know if the plan is to keep this type of scaled-down environment staging or go for the full-on effects extravaganza (ala Wicked). It would be a shame to loose the charm of this type of presentation as it works quite well for the material.




Updated On: 2/23/09 at 04:55 PM

[4abetterworld]

Posted: 3/1/09 at 12:42am

mlsheehan nailed the production in his review! I was disappointed after seeing it since we had read the book beforehand. The play tells a very different story and changes everything, in addition, unexplainably changes parts of the story that are important. I also thought they did a poor job with Peter's character, not sure if it was only due to the actor, although I agree that he wasn't very charismatic. Elise was reinventing Peter and the story for adults, and it simply didn't seem to work.I'd love to see another play with the same style of staging and music, but definitely something that's better written.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 3/1/09 at 2:25am

I read a vague comment from someone that Tinkerbell was a very 'clever' effect. Can you elaborate?

[mlsheehan]

Posted: 3/1/09 at 1:18pm

Possible spoiler ---

Well, I can't say for certainty on the Tinkerbell effect, but it appeared to be some kind of laser or LED that the actors had on their hands and various other places. The actors move their hands about and in appears as Tinkerbell is flying. That actor turns off the device and another actor will activate his device so that it appears that Tinkerbell has moved. There are devices on some of the props as well - so it could be remote controlled by one of the lighting crew. They do this several times in a pretty quick timeframe, so it appears that Tinkerbell is flitting around. I was very far back in the theatre, but that's how it appeared to me. It works for the show, but I wouldn't call in spectacular or even "clever".

Again, I'm not involved with the show so I can't say this is exactly how it works, but that's how it appeared to me...