“Faith, trust, and a little pixie dust” will take center stage this weekend, as STARZ Theater Company brings one of the most celebrated musicals to life January 17-19 at the ENT Center for the Arts. STC will kick off its 12th season with J.M. Barrie’s classic “Peter Pan,” with performances guaranteed to take audiences from the “second star to the right and straight on 'til morning.”
But before we take our seats for award-winning classics like "I'm Flying," "I've Gotta Crow," and "I Won't Grow Up," we caught up with STC Artistic Director Laura Bergen to see just what audiences can expect as they run away to Neverland.
Turning Pointe Dance: Hey, Ms. Laura! STC last performed this show in 2019. What was behind the decision to return to Neverland?
Ms. Laura Bergen: “We've been planning to bring this show back to the stage for quite some time. We LOVED the first time we performed Peter Pan Jr. in 2019 and I knew during that season that it would be one of the first I would want to repeat. The full-length production has more songs and expanded characters that bring so much life, humor and energy to the show! While this feels familiar, it also feels new!
Another reason for our return to Neverland is that the show offers quite a bit of opportunity for speaking roles for younger and older students. Not something you see often in most musicals. Our program is in a different place now in Season 12 than we were in Season 6. When we first did Peter Pan Jr., we had our Starz Rizing (average ages 11-14) training division in place, but it wasn't until the next year that we launched our All-Starz (average ages 9-13) training division. Having a program at Starz that is scaffolded and helps train and develop our performers as whole-people while they lay a strong foundation in their theater skills has made a tremendous impact on our company. The training works! Over the last couple of years, we have been amazed as we've seen our students display a unique strength and readiness at younger and younger ages. We wanted to choose a show for our season that would allow opportunities for younger performers.”
TP: The company has obviously come a long way in those six years! Besides younger readiness, what are some of the biggest differences you've seen, and how will this production be different as a result?
LB: “The biggest difference I feel this time is how the company has grown over the last six years. When I had my first meeting at the ENT Center for our show they brought out a relic from the archives—our specs doc from our 2019 production. WOW! I was taken back by how much has changed since that time. In our 2018-2019 season we were a small creative team and a relatively small company, but we were united in a big goal: Helping students find their voice and tell their story through our season. During 2019, we had four people on our creative team and 50 performers in the cast. This season, there are nine people on the Creative Team, six Student Assistants, a cast of 96 and a student stage crew of 15!
One thing that hasn't changed—we are still all united in our goal of finding our voice and telling our story. I love STARZ, and the size of the group has never impacted the dearness of our company, but it does change a few very practical/logistical aspects of the show (volume of sound, variety of characters, etc.) that audiences will notice within the show. We also have a few new ensemble groups with the addition of All-Starz and Starz Rizing to the mainstage show!
Fun fact: We have a few students in our cast and student assistant crew who were with us the first time we did Peter Pan Jr.! Two of them are seniors this year and the others aren't far from being seniors. That has been incredibly fun this season—reminiscing with them and enjoying all the memories we have from that first season as we work on the show together again.
I'm so endlessly grateful for the many who have linked arms with and believed in STARZ over the years. It is a gift I do not take for granted!”
TP: Wow, you've now gotten to serve on the STC production team through both performances of this particular show! What's been your favorite part of working on Peter Pan?
LB: “Well, I'm a boy mom x4 (and I have four brothers). So offer me a show with a lot of adventure, wild energy and battle scenes and I'm so IN! My boys and my brothers inspired a lot of the character choices you will see throughout. This story truly is one of my favorites, and I really do think it’s because of the youthful, playful and fun energy that is infused throughout. Each scene is just a joy to work on!
Another thing I love about the full-length version of Peter Pan is the incredible amount of dancing involved in the show. We have so many different styles of dance and, because Peter Pan is a golden-age musical, we even have ballet.
This show is also very special for me because Peter Pan Jr. was the first show I directed at STARZ, and my first large-scale directing project. To be back in the script and character has been such a fun and joyful process.”
TP: So what can audiences expect to see and experience at a performance this weekend?
LB: “A whimsical story filled with adventures and heartwarming moments. Iconic and memorable characters including Peter Pan, Wendy, John, Michael, Tiger Lily, Captain Hook & Smee! Stunning flying effects as we fly seven different performers throughout the show. An epic battle on a pirate ship between the pirates, the Lost Boys & Brave Girls. A gorgeous rented set from California for our Neverland scenes. Memorable songs and family-friendly humor and fun. We hope our audiences enjoy every minute!”
TP: STC's mission is to share the freedom of Christ's love, tell the redemption story, stir hearts to our Creator, and engage others in worship. How have you been able to experience the gospel through this story this season?
LB: “One thing that I noticed right away when I was reading through the script was that in Peter Pan, every ensemble group is always together. The Lost Boys are always together, Pirates, together; Animals, together. Brave Girls, together. Community and commitment are a huge underlying tone in Neverland. We have spent this season focused on the same verse as Turning Pointe: "O Magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt His name together." Our devo times have been precious as we have been studying magnifying the Lord together through thanksgiving, praise and surrender. We have also pressed into the command in Proverbs of being committed to encouraging and supporting one another in our walks with the Lord "As Iron sharpens Iron." (Proverbs 27:17
For this show, we have also partnered with a ministry this season called Every Village. Every Village is a ministry that partners with the people of South Sudan to provide every village with sustainable access to safe water, healthy churches and the gospel by radio. Audience members can learn more about supporting the ministry in their efforts this weekend at the show. We will also have a representative from the organization coming to share a devo with students. You can learn more at https://www.everyvillage.org/!”
TP: Last but certainly not least, how can we come and see Peter Pan this weekend?
LB: “You have five chances to see the show: Friday, January 17, at 6 p.m., Saturday, January 18, at 1 and 6 p.m., and Sunday, January 19, at 1 and 6 p.m. Saturday’s 1 p.m. show includes ASL access—meaning there will be students of the PPCC IPP Program providing ASL-Access for a reserved section of our audiences! These seats are marked in red on Saturday's box office. Saturday’s 6 p.m. show is STC Alumni Night, and on Sunday night, we’ll honor STC’s graduating seniors.
Tickets and information are all available at https://www.starztheater.org/peterpan!”