'Peter Pan and Wendy' opens

By Dean Poling
The Valdosta Daily Times

October 16, 2008 01:09 am

— VALDOSTA — Valdosta Middle School Players plans to make an audience of all ages believe tonight with a showing of “Peter Pan and Wendy.”
This show is by playwright Doug Rand based on the original Peter Pan story of a boy who never ages and his lost boys in Neverland by Sir J.M Barrie.
“This is taken from the children’s book by Barrie,” says Toni Jarvis, VMS Players director. “The students checked out the book from our Media Center and were surprised that the book and our play were almost identical word for word. The fact that it stayed so true to the original story was one of the charming features of this show.”
This show is not a musical. The musical comes later in the season for Valdosta Middle School with “Schoolhouse Rock LIVE” this spring. VMS presents the eighth-grade show “Law & Order Fairy Tale Unit” next month, Jarvis says.
As for “Peter Pan and Wendy,” the student cast has been working hard.
“I got the script and started reading it over the summer months,” Jarvis says. “Our seventh- and sixth-grade classes have been preparing for this show since the first day of school. We have had a few after-school rehearsals and met up at the middle school on Saturdays to build the set. We’ve also met over at parents’ houses to put together the pirate ship, which is a really big feature of this show.”
The cast is a mix of new and past students of VMS Players, Jarvis says. This is the first show for VMS sixth graders, while many of the seventh graders have returned from last year. Eighth graders are helping with moving sets and the flying scene.
“The main cast is coming primarily from the seventh-grade class, which has some old faces, as well as some fresh ones,” Jarvis says.
In addition to this evening’s public show, “Peter Pan and Wendy” will be performed for 600 Valdosta elementary school students on another date.

THE CAST: Hannah Findlay, Mychael Holmes, Church Barnes, Anel Miranda-Smith, Hillary Hawkins, Nadine Fares, Reed Bailey, Celina Valles, Kamri Brown, Krupa Dudani, Danova Martinez, Brittany Johnson, Kayley Carter, Courney Boone, Jaquavian Walker, Alan Michael Bennett, Titus Coleman, Ayla Barlow, John Haddin, Kaleb Snyder, Kelsey Strickland, Khushbu Patel, Shelbi Case, Torri Thomas, Abbey Sandoval, Kaitlyn Green, Savannah Bell, Hanna Hauser, Leannah Hicks, Kaitlyn Koebble, Jessica Milam, Laine Oaks, Katelyn Price, Zana Russell, Alden Walker, Alexis Boncek, Dasjonia Burgman, John Fulton, Christy Menjivar, Miles Ross, TeCarah Taylor, Gregory Washington, Tanisha Bhavnani, Alexis Conner, Amanda Edwards, Julian Fraser, Taylor Jaramillo, Jennifer Jones, Hannah Lansburg, Jordan Muldrow, Koesha Harris, Saphire Gavin, Darby Glenn, Mackenzie Synder, Jeronica Wade, Zanaora Koon, Nikole McLeish, Sedric Williams.

DIRECTION, PRODUCTION: Toni Jarvis, director; Zachary Goddard, technical director; Haylee Johnson, publicity; John Haddin, the Johnsons, Chris Hilgert, Angela Bell, John Haddin Sr., Larry Hauser, Anne Barnas, set designers; Haven Hampton, costumes & props; Tatyanna McKinnon, Tink spotlight; Will Campiglia, Darius Covell, Christie Jo Mayo, Kenny Gordon, Kaki Clements, Andrew Akers, Kyle Bragg, Cathy Nguyen, Amber Akers, Caleb Koebble, flying crew; Paul Jarvis, fight coordinator; John Haddin, rigging crew.


SHOWTIME
Valdosta Middle School Players presents “Peter Pan and Wendy.”
When: 7 p.m. today.
Where: Valdosta High School Performing Arts Center, off North Forrest Street.
Ticket: $2.

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