Venice, FL – Venice Theatre is proud to present the Tony Award-winning play Peter and the Starcatcher on its Pinkerton Stage from Sept. 7 through Sept. 16, 2018. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays. This swashbuckling adventure story features a nameless, homeless, friendless boy who becomes the hero we know as Peter Pan. Peter, his fellow orphans, and the precocious Molly Aster battle the villainous (and hilarious) pirate Black Stache on their journey to keep a treasure chest of powerful “starstuff” safe from those who would use it for evil.
Tickets to this family-friendly show are $12 for students through 12th grade, $15 for college students, and $20 for adults. They are on sale now at 941-488-1115, VeniceStage.com or in person at the theatre located at 140 W. Tampa Ave. on the island in Venice, FL. The production is generously sponsored by The Edmund and Elizabeth Campbell Family Foundation.
Peter and the Starcatcher premiered on Broadway on April 15, 2012 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre and ran for 319 performances and 18 previews. The play is based on the 2006 novel, Peter and the Starcatchers, written by Pulitzer Prize winner and humorist Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. The story, which is a prequel to J.M. Barrie’s Peter and Wendy, was adapted for the stage by Rick Elice with music by Wayne Barker. It won five Tony Awards.
Kathy Pingel, who co-directed the show last year in Ansbach, Germany, is at the helm of Venice Theatre’s production. She proudly calls her multigenerational cast the “A Team.” Casey Berkery (Into the Woods, A Midsummer Night’s Dream) plays Boy (Peter), Samantha Crawford plays Molly, and Cory Woomert plays Black Stache. Woomert’s performance of the same role earned him rave reviews at the Manatee Players in 2017. Pingel says, “It takes a group of inventive and fearless actors and technicians to do this delightful show justice. No special effects are used, so we rely on talent and imagination.”
The New York Times‘ Ben Brantley said of the Broadway production, “With grown-up theatrical savvy and a child’s wonder at what it can achieve, Peter and the Starcatcher floats right through the ceiling of the physical limits imposed by a three-dimensional stage. While there’s not a body harness in sight, like those used to hoist the title characters of Mary Poppins and Spider-Man, this show never stops flying.”
Again, Peter and the Starcatcher opens Friday Sept. 7 and runs through Sunday Sept. 16, 2018. Venice Theatre is located at 140 W. Tampa Ave. on the island in Venice. Summer Box Office hours are Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and one hour before performances. Regular hours will resume after Labor Day: Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and one hour before show time.
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