The acting (and the facial expressions) are elastic, as the ensemble cast of "Peter and the Starcatcher" soars between playing sailors, pirates and natives, in addition to individual characters.
Brud Giles / Portland Playhouse
Ever wondered how Peter Pan came to be the boy who never grew up? Or how he and Captain Hook came to be archenemies?
We might never know the real reason (at least according to author J.M. Barrie), but writers Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson sure dreamed up a fabulous possibility in the book “Peter and the Starcatcher.” Billed as a "grown-up's prequel," it was adapted for the stage by Rick Elice and ultimately won five Tonys on Broadway in 2012.
Now the musical is having its local premiere at Portland Playhouse, through May 29.
We thought, who better to see it with than actor Rodney Hicks for the next stop in our “What Are You Looking At?” series. Hicks has starred in a number of Broadway productions, including the original production of "Rent." He also happens to have seen the off-Broadway and Broadway productions of “Peter and the Starcatcher.”
Highlights from the conversation:
On the charm of a prequel
Aaron Scott: We have a cast of characters we all know so well. But at first you don't know them; they're the seed of the character they become in the J.M. Barrie books, the movies, the plays, and cartoons.
Rodney Hicks: And that's really what's fascinating about the piece, because you're waiting: 'when is this going to happen, when is that going to happen?'
On the fabulous DIY production design
AS: Let's talk about the production. It starts out on a dock, the curtain is a big sail, but everything has this DIY edge to it.
RH: It looked like it came out of someone's imagination. They're not trying to hide anything. And that to me is what makes it magical. You know, the opening of Act 2 when they're all in makeshift mermaid [costumes].
AS: It could be a bunch of kids who've raided momma's pantry and put together these mermaid outfits that are made out of curtains that are held up with suspenders, and their tails are a broom tucked into the end of the curtain, and they're all wearing baskets and colanders.
RH: It's completely transparent. It was before we even heard the word "pan," and you saw pans as their breast plates, versions of different pans, and I thought, 'That's great. That's really great.'
The cast of "Peter and the Starcatcher" decked in DIY mermaid costumes by designer Laura Shirk Charles.
Brud Giles / Portland Playhouse
On the standout performance by Isaac Lamb as the pirate Black Stache [that is, Captain Hook before the fateful loss of limb]
AS: Isaac, I have to say, stole the show for me. He plays Black Stache, who is this foppish pirate captain who mixes up his words, so he's having a "dilemna." But he played Black Stache with such glee and dandyism, that Captain Hook, who we feel like we know so well, this gives such new depth to that character.
RH: Yes, and what was great about it is he just tapped into the humanness of it, and he wasn't just going at us for laughs. And that's what I loved about the production as a whole, it wasn't a 'ba-dum-bump-pshh,' it was just let it happen. I loved the flow, and I loved that you didn't see [directors Brian Weaver and Rebecca Lingafelter]'s hands. And that to me is the key to "Peter and the Starcatcher." It has to look like it's just happening.
On the pacing and never growing up
RH: And the pacing. Because this show, it just has to keep moving. And it did.
As: It felt a little tighter for me in the second half. The first half, there were moments, where because so much of the narration is group narration, it felt like too many waves hitting me at once. There was more variation in the second act.
RH: That's the show, and that's what I love about it actually, because it is like a tidal wave. And it should be disarming – it should be: 'who am I following?' — because it is all of their story. It should be a Greek chorus.
It's not fluff. It's actually very intelligent theater. For me, it makes you tap into your child self. Because children can take all of that in, and they'll listen to what they want to listen to. Adults, we're like, "whoa, whoa, whoa, what's going on?" And I think your adult was leading you for the first act, until you're like, I'm going to give into this.
AS: I like that a lot.
RH: Because to me that's the point of it. Because Peter Pan doesn't grow up, so you have to not grow up.