You've been warned by Katie Siegel (Molly)
[Katie releases David from the trunk she keeps him locked away in]
David: “Oh, boy! Is it time to write another blog post?”
Katie: “Yeah, sure.”
David: “Yay! I love writing blog posts :)”
Katie: “Stop smiling.”
David: “Okay :( …What am I writing about this time?”
Katie: “Peter and the Starcatcher.”
[David lets out a long, loud groan; his frown becoming more genuine]
David: “Isn’t that show, like, a prequel?”
Katie: “It is.”
David: I hate prequels.
I do, I hate them. I hate most prequels, sequels, reboots, and remakes. They typically ruin the magic of the original piece and make me pretty jaded about it, actually. But I’m also a cynical, pretentious, jaded asshat, so what do I know.
With that said, I friggin’ loved Peter & the Starcatcher when I caught one of their dress rehearsal runs, despite going in with this “prequel” bias and no other knowledge of the show other than that it’s Peter Pan’s backstory.
I am Nishika before seeing PATS, Celine during PATS, and Emily afterwards.
BUT here's what I learned: there’s something called starstuff and everybody wants it, but everybody can’t have it because that would be super NOT GOOD, and it’s probably an adult that shouldn’t have it because the adults are also NOT GOOD, but the kids are great and they’re going to make sure they’re catching the starstuff and not the NOT GOOD adults.
Personally, I felt the show was so steeped in realism, as somebody who’s existentially grappling with the fact that he’s on the verge of full-blown adulthood; and, as a result, I couldn’t help but enjoy the thrilling ride.
As John Lerman (Boy) explains (because he has a much better way with words than myself), “It hits you hard in the feels and makes you piss yourself laughing.”
Which is to say it isn’t Pan…remember Pan? That 2015 Peter Pan origin film with Hugh “The Hunk” Jackman. No, you don’t.
You will remember Peter & the Starcatcher, however. And, sure, you don’t get Wolverine as Blackbeard in this, but you do get Emily Woods as Black Stache, which is a darn good trade-off.
“[She’s] really stealing the show. The character is truly larger than life and Emily absolutely has got the chops to fill that role,” says Ryan Morey (Mrs. Bumbrake).
Sick stache, girl.
I’ve got to agree; but it doesn’t stop there. The whole cast is [sifts through thesaurus to find words exaggerated enough to relate my feelings accurately] preposterously prodigious thespians with superhuman chemistry.
No matter who your eyes drift to, their grasp on their given character is so impressive that I oftentimes got so lost watching them to the point where I started missing out on things happening with the plot, which gave me a lot of anxiety because things are moving SO FAST in this show.
Seriously: you finna starcatch these hands if you try and tell me that you’re ever, at any time, even remotely bored while watching this show. Also, especially because, there’s music??? Which totally threw me off???? Considering I thought this was Cabaret’s fall play?????? Was I duped?? Bamboozled??????????
Katie Siegel (Molly) reassures me, “At the end of the day this show is a play (I really didn’t mean to rhyme, yikes). Musicals usually use musical numbers to advance the plot throughout the show. I feel like our main musical numbers are more for effect, while it’s still the dialogue that moves along the plot.
The range of how in awe I felt whenever they were doing music stuff (but mostly Steph).
Yet, the music meets the standard of any musical you’re bound to see at the Rut this year, which is, like, duh. The director of the show is also a music education major, who has been an accomplished musical director in the past; and, on top of it, you’ve got the as-talented-as-he-is-dreamy Skyler Fortgang coordinating the music so I actually don't know why I was really so surprised really about this tbh honest.
I am Steph and all the talent involved in this show is Emily's fist.
There's a thin pit, with one percussionist and one keyboardist, but the two manage to add so much texture to the show with their live sound effects and accompaniment for the cast.
“I am Mike's–the percussionist–biggest fan. And Ed is absolutely killin it on the keyboard! Honestly, I am maybe too excited about the music in this. Like TOO excited!” Emily Woods (Black Stache) relates.
Ordinarily, I would totally tell Emily to calm down, but she’s totally, objectively, justified here (again: you will starcatch these hands if you disagree with this).
So, let’s review: cast? Bomb. Music? A more pleasant surprise than getting two pink Starbursts in those mini-packs of Starbursts (mmmmmmmmmmm).
But what about props & costumes? They even have a staff position for it in this show, and since they haven’t had one at Cabaret since Rent during the 2015-2016 season, it’s obviously important, why haven’t you commented about it yet, David? What the heck? Why the heck aren’t you doing your motherh*cking job???
Please, stop yelling at me :(
Me af when you won't stop yelling at me :(
I just don’t want to ruin the surprise of it because they both surprised me and I feel for you, my three readers. But I will say, holy moley, the cast looks so dang comfy while their onstage; and I will say, holy moley, there’s so many props used in so many interesting ways.
You’re just going to have to see this show to fully get what I’m dishing out here; because, I am aware, I’m not dishing out much. That’s the point. This is a hype-piece about a show there’s so much to get hype about.
Peter and the Starcatcher runs from November 2 through November 5. Tickets are still available at: http://sabo.tix.com/Schedule.aspx?OrgNum=4785&framed=true
All photos courtesy of Paolo Arceo.
So…come. “Mrs. Bumbrake says so.”
