LAKE FOREST, IL – Full cast and production team were announced today for the Equity-affiliated Citadel Theatre Company’s production of PETER AND THE STARCATCHER. The fantasy-comedy by Rick Elice, author of JERSEY BOYS, THE ADDAMS FAMILY and THE CHER SHOW, imagines how Peter Pan might have become lost in Neverland, PETER AND THE STARCATCHER’s Broadway production was nominated for nine Tony Awards (including Best Play) and won five. It’s an action-packed and humorous take on the Peter Pan characters in which 17 actors will play more than 100 roles. PETER AND THE STARCATCHER, will open to the press on September 19 and run through October 20. The Citadel production will be directed by Jeremy Aluma, founder and former Artistic Director of the internationally touring group, Four Clowns. Aluma directed the Red Theater production of THE ELABORATE ENTRANCE OF CHAD DEITY (later remounted at Theater on the Lake, Chicago), which was named one of the Top 10 Best Shows of 2017 in the CHICAGO TRIBUNE and won a Non-Equity Jeff Award for Best Fight Choreography. He also directed AN OAK TREE for Red Theater.
Aluma says, “PETER AND THE STARCATCHER is a play about finding your home. Where is home? And how do we find it? What does that quest look like? These are ever-pressing questions, especially in this country right now. This wildly entertaining adventure story is filled with song, dance, and clowning galore. I’m excited to bring the magic and awe of this world to the stage while dazzling the “kid at heart” in all of us.”
The 17-member cast will be led by Jayson Lee as Peter. Lee appeared recently in First Floor Theatre’s HOODED, OR BEING BLACK FOR DUMMIES, a 2019 Jeff award nominee for best play. Adrian Danzig, the founder of 500 Clown who has also performed with Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, the Goodman and California Shakespeare Festival, will play “Black Stache,” the character with a similarity to Captain Hook. Mariah Copeland, seen last fall in BoHo Theatre’s 110 IN THE SHADE, will play Molly. Scott Ray Merchant, co-curator and host of the clown and dance fueled variety show HINDRANCE AND HYSTERIA, who played Richard Mahew in Lifeline’s production of NEVERWHERE is the production’s Smee.
Also in the cast are Laura Brennan (Mack), Bernadette Carter (Grempkin), Christian Edwin Cook (Aster), Rebecca Fletcher (Mrs. Bumbrake), Daniel Gadaj (Scott), Val Gerard Garcia (Sánchez), Jason Goff (Prentiss), Matthew Martinez Hannon (Ted), Dave Honigman (Alf), Wanda Jin (Teacher), Gaby Labotka (Hawking Clam), Michael Morrow (Fighting Prawn), Dekyi Rongé (Slank).
The PETER AND THE STARCATCHER production team includes Jeff award winner Eric Luchen (Scenic Designer), Andrei Borges (Lighting Designer), Madeleine Byrne (Costume Designer), Robert Hornbostel (Sound Designer), Jeff Award winner Breon Arzell (Choreography), Jon Schneidman (Musical Direction), Jaq Seifert (Fight Choreography), Julia Atkin (Assistant Director), Samantha Tink (Stage Manager), Nick Peebles (Technical Director), Lindsay Mummert (Scenic Charge Artist). Scott Phelps is Citadel’s Artistic Director and co-founder.
LISTING INFORMATION
PETER AND THE STARCATCHER
by Rick Elice, based on the novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
Directed by Jeremy Aluma
Thursday, September 19 – Sunday, October 20, 2019
(Preview September 18 @ 7:30 pm)
PRESS OPENING Thursday September 19 at 7:30 pm
Thursdays at 7:30 pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm, Saturdays and Sundays at 3 pm. (No shows Fridays September 20, Oct. 4 or 18), Extra matinees Wednesdays September 25 and October 9 at 1 pm
Preview ticket prices – $20.00. Regular run prices Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays $40.00; Saturdays and Sundays $45.00. Discounts available for groups, seniors and student.
Citadel Theatre, 300 S. Waukegan Road, Lake Forest, IL
Tickets available online at www.citadeltheatre.org or by phone at 847-735-8554, ext. 1
The Tony Award-winning PETER AND THE STARCATCHER upends the century-old story of how a miserable orphan comes to be The Boy Who Would Not Grow Up (a.k.a. Peter Pan). A young orphan and his mates are shipped off from Victorian England to a distant island ruled by the evil King Zarboff. They know nothing of the mysterious trunk in the captain’s cabin, which contains a precious, otherworldly cargo. At sea, the boys are discovered by a precocious young girl named Molly, a Starcatcher-in-training who realizes that the trunk’s precious cargo is starstuff, a celestial substance so powerful that it must never fall into the wrong hands. When the ship is taken over by pirates – led by the fearsome Black Stache, a villain determined to claim the trunk and its treasure for his own – the journey quickly becomes a thrilling adventure.
BIOS
Jeremy Aluma (Director) is an award-winning, Jewish-American theatre director of Iraqi descent. He founded the internationally touring clown troupe, Four Clowns and served as Artistic Director during their first seven years. Directing credits include: ABRAHAM & ISAAC (MuBe Cultural Theatre, São Paulo, Brazil); PINOCCHIO and ROBIN HOOD (South Coast Repertory, CA); SUBLIMITY (Theatre Row, NYC); THE ELABORATE ENTRANCE OF CHAD DEITY (Theater on the Lake, Chicago) AN OAK TREE (Red Theater, Chicago); CRUMBLE, LAY ME DOWN JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE (Sacred Fools, LA); THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT (Urban Theatre Movement, LA); HENRY’S POTATO (REDCAT, LA); IN ARABIA WE’D ALL BE KINGS (Alive Theatre, Long Beach); JONAH (Annenberg, Santa Monica) and HAMLET (American Coast Theater, CA). His original show, FOUR CLOWNS toured nationally to La MaMa (NYC); Chopin Theatre (Chicago); Gremlin Theatre (St. Paul, MN); Exit Theatre (San Francisco); Space 55 (Phoenix, AZ); and Insurgo Theater Movement (Las Vegas). Aluma is a company member at Red Theater, a Board Member for the Alliance for Jewish Theatre, and a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Union (SDC). He continues to teach classes at The Clown School and graduated with an MFA in Directing from The Theatre School at DePaul University. jeremyaluma.com
Rick Elice (Playwright) co-wrote JERSEY BOYS (winner 2006 Tony Award, 2007 Grammy Award and 2009 Olivier Award for Best Musical) with Marshall Brickman. His play, PETER AND THE STARCATCHER, received nine 2012 Tony Award nominations (including two for Rick) and won five, more than any play of the season. Also on Broadway, Elice wrote THE ADDAMS FAMILY (with Marshall Brickman, music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa). It was reported earlier this year that Elice is working on a musical adaptation of the film THE PRINCESS BRIDE with David Yazbek and Bob Martin for Disney Theatricals.
Citadel Theatre is one of Chicagoland’s premier live theatres, producing hundreds of performances annually and inspiring audiences for over 16 years. Founded by Scott and Ellen Phelps in 2002, Citadel Theatre is comprised of its Main Stage performances, its On Tour programs, and its theatre acting classes for children. A proud member of the League of Chicago Theatres and the Lake Forest/Lake Bluff ArtsLink, Citadel Theatre offers a unique intimate theatre experience that transports you to another setting and leaves you feeling exhilarated and wanting more. A recognized 501(c)3 non-profit organization, Citadel can accept tax-deductible donations. For more information, ticketing, and to donate, please visit Citadel online at www.CitadelTheatre.org or call 847.735.8554.
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