CRHS Drama Club Takes a Trip to Neverland

Every year, the members of Central Regional’s Drama Club come together to put on a fall production. This year, with leadership from Nick D’Ambrosia and Ms. Beth Moore, both experienced performers and directors, we are

performing the play, Peter and the Starcatcher. As with every aspect of life, we face the challenge of the current global pandemic. This production continues the constant challenge of masks. Learning the show has proven to be more difficult, testing each cast members’ ability to project their voices and portray emotions through the eyes, rather than the full face. This year in addition to adapting to COVID-19 protocols, we are also learning how to adapt to performing a play, rather than our normal musical or cabaret. Although we’re facing new and unique challenges this year we’ve still managed to come together as a cast and create a beautiful show.

THE STORY

Many people know of the classic fairytale Peter Pan, but many are left in the dark of how Peter and the lost boys came to be on the island of Neverland. Through the play Peter and the Starcatcher the audience learns how Peter is able to fly and why he must remain a boy forever. In the play, we are also introduced to other beloved characters of the classic tale like Smee, Captain Hook, and the Tick-Tock Croc. You will also be introduced to the Asters, Mrs. Bumbrake, Alf, Slank, and many other memorable characters. The play follows Molly Aster, and orphans; Ted, Prentiss, and an unnamed boy. While on the British ship the Neverland, which is on route to Rundoon, the four meet aboard. While another ship, the Wasp,  possesses a precious cargo from the Queen of England, Queen Victoria, escorted by Lord Leonard Aster. The ship is quickly taken over by pirates and the whole mission falls to chaos. Lord Leonard Aster needs to enlist the help of his thirteen-year-old daughter, Molly, to complete the mission and ultimately save the world.

MEET THE DIRECTORS

The Central Regional Drama Club is advised by Ms. Beth Moore, who is also the choir director at the school. This year the cast of Peter and the Starcatcher is allowed to work with Nick D’Ambrosia, an actor and director who can be seen in many productions from community companies like the Spring Lake Theater Company. Beth Moore is the musical director of the production along with working on the internal business to allow this production to endure. Nick D’Ambrosia is the director, who staged each scene and supplied the club with props. 

To truly get to know Nick and see what he thinks about the show we asked him a few questions. When asked if he could describe his journey with Peter and the Starcatcher in one word thus far, Nick responded with “Teamwork. I think that’s really the heart of the show with what it’s about and how we put it together, it’s teamwork.” This play is packed full of memorable quotes ranging from funny to heartfelt. When asked what his favorite line from the show is he said “It’s supposed to hurt, that’s how you know it’s meant something. That’s my favorite line in all of theater,” that line is definitely a tear-jerker! The script can only give you so many ideas, so one has to analyze each aspect and line to allow the story to be presented to its fullest extent. The last question we asked him was what was the most difficult scene for him to block (the movement of actors during a performance) as a director: “Um, the opening like the first whole five minutes of the show, the prologue. It’s so nontraditional and so important because we need to deliver so much information to the audience in so little time with so many things happening at once and if any beat is missed the audience is lost for the first half of the show. So that’s super important and it’s always a challenge.” From an actor’s point of view the opening scene is definitely difficult too! The opening scene is like a choreographed dance because of all the moving parts.

   Ms. Beth Moore has put on many loved shows at the middle and high school level. She has directed countless shows, but recently in the past few years for the annual fall production she has opted to put on a cabaret, a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. This year rather than the accustomed cabaret, she decided to do a play. We decided to asked Ms. Moore to explain why she decided to choose to do Peter and the Starcatcher this year, “Over the course of the four years, I love trying to do all sorts of different things, so that students can have different opportunities and so I felt it was time to do a play this year.” As a director watching the story unfold can be exciting, so we asked the same question from Nick to Ms. Moore, if you can describe your journey with Peter and the Starcatcher in one word thus far, what word would you use and why: “Exciting, because it’s always exciting to watch a story unfold and watch students connect to the characters in that story.” She truly sees each member grow on stage as they are telling the story. Lastly, we asked the question, what is your favorite line from the show? She had to think hard because there are so many lines that can easily be one’s favorite, but ultimately came up with this response: “The more you claim leadership, the more it eludes you.” Through their creativity, the Drama Club presents our own version of this wonderful story.

CAST INTERVIEWS

Each cast member brings more life to the show through their expressions and continuous hard work. We asked some members of the cast who their favorite character is in the show other than the one they are portraying. Haiden Cortez, who plays Ted, stated “My favorite character is Alf because he has funny lines.” Joey Krog, who portrays Black Stache, states his favorite character: “My favorite character is Smee because he [she] is funny.” The last cast member we interviewed was Kailyn Sinnett, who is Bill Slank in the show, she states, “My favorite character is Black Stache because he has such funny dialogue.” Senior Griffin Petry, who plays the male lead, Boy/Peter, tells us of his thoughts of his last fall production. When asked how he would describe the show with one word, he says, “Home. In a contemporary show such as this, it makes you appreciate the journey, no matter how difficult, and the friends and family you make along the way.” We asked him the same question as Nick and Ms. Moore, what is your favorite line in the show? He said his favorite line from the show, “There are more important things in this world than saving your own neck, like saving someone else’s.” As a senior, having the last landmarks in high school can always be emotional, while discussing how he feels about the show coming to an end he says, “It’s hard to say goodbye but I’m glad this show is my last fall production.”  

WRITERS’ OPINION

Through this production, we get the opportunity to play a father and daughter relationship. Grace, who is playing the female lead, Molly Aster, is a stubborn, but smart British thirteen-year-old girl. Lindsey, who is playing Lord Leonard Aster, a dedicated minister to Queen Victoria and father to Molly Aster. Although working on this show has been challenging, we have both devoted a lot of time and dedication to our roles. As two females trying to portray a father-daughter relationship we have faced challenges trying to make the relationship seem as realistic as possible. Our shared goal for this show is to try to master our characters as they both play huge roles in the development of the story. We both can confidently say that after weeks of work, we now feel as though we are family. 

VIEWING INFORMATION

Peter and the Star Catcher will be playing from November 19 to 21 in the Central Regional Auditorium. The Friday and Saturday viewing starts at 7 p.m. and the Sunday viewing starts at 2 p.m. Tickets are available online as well as in person, but it is strongly recommended to purchase tickets online. If you choose to come to watch our show in person be aware that you will be asked to wear a mask while viewing the show for the safety of others and the performers. All ticketing information is available at https://centralreg.booktix.com/. At each show, there will be concessions sold during the 15-minute intermission by dedicated members of the show’s stage crew. The cast has put in a lot of work towards the show and we hope to see you all there.