News Release

Cast announced for summer musical 'Peter Pan'; tickets on sale May 27


Contact: Christina Chapple

5/19/09



     HAMMOND – The cast has been chosen for “Peter Pan,” the latest show in the perennially popular series of summer musicals staged by Southeastern Louisiana University’s Opera/Music Theatre Workshop.

     “Peter Pan” will be performed June 26, 7:30 p.m., and June 27, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., at Southeastern’s historic Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts in downtown Hammond.          

     The cast, said Opera/Music Theatre Workshop Director Charles Effler, features “lots of kids, high school kids, community adults and Southeastern students.”

     “Other Southeastern summer shows – ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ ‘The Music Man,’ ‘Oliver!’, and ‘Annie’ -- were great hits with audiences,” said Effler, and garnered comments such as ‘as good as Broadway’ and ‘more, more MORE!’ Please join the cast, crew and orchestra for another wonderful experience of live musical theater.”

     Southeastern students chosen to play leading roles include Bridget Lyons of Ponchatoula as Peter, and Colby McCurdy of Slidell as the infamous Captain Hook and Mr. Darling. Mrs. Darling will be played by Whitney Vickers of Ponchatoula, and the three Darling children, Wendy, John and Michael, will be played by Alyssa Carranza of Lafayette, Christopher Newhouse of Covington, and Michael Harrison of Mandeville. Nana and the Crocodile will be played by Eric Hawkins of Hammond.

     Ponchatoula native Gabby Acosta has the role of Tiger Lily, and her Indian scouts will be portrayed by Fiona Allen of Jackson, Samantha Barnes of Slidell, Christopher Ekker of Ponchatoula, Damian Faul of Amite, Elyse German of Pearl River, Mimi Scardulla of Hammond, and Melissa Simien of Baton Rouge.

     Scott McDonough of Slidell as Smee will head up Captain Hook’s pirates who will include Cody Baham of Independence, Caleb Courtney of Hammond, Chris Giffin of Baton Rouge, Trey Miller of Deville, Weston Twardowski of Mandeville and Brandon Wear of Slidell.

     Peter Pan’s Lost Boys will be played by Mary Frances Chauvin, Bryce Ducorbier and Connor Scott of Hammond; Elizabeth Duhon, Sally Duhon, Allison Mathas and Blake Alexis Tabor of Mandeville; Emily Hines, Parker Ramirez, Katie Stansbury and Chloe Vallot of Ponchatoula.

     Tickets will go on sale on Wednesday, May 27, online at www.columbiatheatre.org
and at the Columbia Theatre box office, 220 E. Thomas St., (985) 543-4371, from noon-4 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

     Ticket prices for adults are $24, Orchestra 1/Loge; $21, Orchestra 2; $18, Balcony 1; and $15, Balcony 2. A $1 box office fee will be added to each ticket. Ticket prices for senior citizens, 60 and older, and children, 12 and younger, are $22, Orchestra 1/Loge; $19, Orchestra 2; $16, Orchestra 3/Balcony 1; and $13, Balcony 2.

     Southeastern students will be admitted free to Balcony 2 seating with their university I.D.

     The show will be directed by New Orleans native Brandt Blocker, artistic director and general manager of the Lyric Theatre of Atlanta, who staged Opera/Workshop’s 2007 production of the comic opera “Too Many Sopranos,” which was a hit with critics and audiences alike.

     The characters of “Peter Pan” were created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. In 1904 Barrie wrote a stage version of the story, “Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up,” which was later adapted and expanded as a novel, published in 1911.

     “Since then, Peter Pan has appeared in adaptations, sequels, and prequels, including the 1953 animated feature film, and various stage musicals, including the 1954 version that we are producing,” Effler said. The character has also “starred” in live-action feature films such as “Hook” (1991) and “Peter Pan” (2003), and in the authorized sequel novel “Peter Pan in Scarlet” (2006).

     “Peter Pan” is made possible through the major financial support of Southeastern’s College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences; Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts; the Department of Music and Dramatic Arts and Opera/Music Theatre Workshop. Funding has also been provided from the Louisiana State Arts Council and the Louisiana Division of the Arts and the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge through the Decentralized Arts Funding Program.

     Additional financial support has been provided by North Oaks Health System, Tangipahoa Parish Convention and Visitors Bureau, Brown Morris Pharmacy, Elois Effler and family, Fay and Phelan Bright, and Dr. Robert McMinn and Dr. Michael Turgeau.

     For more information, contact Effler at ceffler@selu.edu or 985-549-2249.



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