Wendy, played by Sarah Brown, receives flying instructions from Peter Pan, played by Kai Warren, as Tinkerbell, played by Brie Laws, listens to the conversation.
LINDEN — There will be a lot of flying around this weekend at the North Montgomery High School auditorium when Northridge Middle School performs the musical Peter Pan Junior at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Based on the Disney film and J.M. Barrie play, Peter Pan Jr. is a modern version of a tale about a boy who wouldn’t grow up. The score includes songs, such as “Following the Leader,” “You Can Fly,” “The Second Star to the Right” and “Yo Ho, A Pirate’s Life for Me.”
Wendy Darling (Sarah Brown) loves to tell stories
to her brothers, Michael (Harmon Hann) and John (Coy Deno). But when her father (Keifer Carmean) announces she must move out of the nursery, Peter Pan (Kai Warren) comes to visit the children and flies them away to Never Land. Their adventure introduces them to the Lost Boys, Mermaids, Indians and the infamous pirate, Captain Hook (Lane Bradley).
The production is large in sets and in performers. The cast and backstage crew totals 115 middle-school students. Brown, who has had parts in previous productions at Northridge and Vanity Theater, said the large cast has an advantage.
“With this many in the cast it means we don’t have a lot of double parts, which means less costume changes,” Brown said.
Warren, who is in his first production, was surprised to land the part as Peter Pan, but he is now glad that he did.
“When I auditioned I expected to maybe get a small part,” Warren said. “I was surprised and excited to land the part of Peter Pan, and I am really enjoying it.”
Co-director Mike Melvin said finding Warren was a pleasant surprise.
“When Kai tried out it was like he totally came out of the blue,” Melvin said. “He is doing a great job and has really accepted his major role.”
Both Warren and Brown complimented the cast for doing an outstanding job.
“We have all worked together really well,” Warren said. “I think people who come will enjoy the show because so many people have put a lot of effort into it.”
Like in past Northridge productions, the costumes are a big part of the show.
“We have to thank the costume moms for doing a great job on our costumes,” Brown said. “The great costumes and sets are really nice in this show.”
The play is directed by Megan Birk with Melvin and Daniel Martin as co-directors.
For the first time at the school, tickets are being sold before performance nights. Martin said a lesson was learned during last year’s production of The Wizard of Oz.
“We sold out last year, and now we have to know where we are in sales this year,” Martin said. “We have to keep the fire department happy. It is a nice problem to have.”
Tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for students and children younger than age 3 are admitted free. Tickets can be purchased at 7:45-8:10 a.m. today and Friday at Northridge and 6-8 p.m. today at the high school auditorium. Any extra tickets will go on sale at the door on performance nights.
