Her arms kept spasming at her sides in excitement. First we waited for friends, then waited for the lights to go down, then waited for the actors to walk onstage. It was almost more than she could bear. But then the orchestra began to play, and the Darling children were in the stage lights, and her attention was caught.
I tend to get nervous when I see high school performances. Fourteen years of growth is gone in an instant and I’m quivering inside, just like I did before acting in my own high school’s shows. But tonight was different. Tonight my attention was focused on my child and I sat back and enjoyed the show like any other patron. And when Peter Pan made his entrance at center stage, literally flying in amidst sparkly fairy dust, I gasped like a kid—it was awesome. And Tinker Bell? Brilliant. Clearly, I’ve never seen the Peter Pan the musical before because I believe the staging was like this all along, but Tinker Bell was so well done. For the life of me I couldn’t guess how the director would pull off a pint-size fairy, but they didn’t have to. Tinker Bell was a little green light that “spoke” in xylophone-like tones. To further the magic, toys and drawers and dollhouses were rigged to fall over, open and close, and light up every time Tink came near. Great, great idea. And so well-executed by the crew tonight. The kids around me fully believed—or let themselves delight in believing for a few hours—that the green light was Tinker Bell. Livia’s friend Amani, during the audience-participation moment where clapping is needed to keep Tinker Bell alive, looked absolutely horrified at the small “dying” blinking light in Peter Pan’s hands. Peter begged the audience to believe that fairies were real, and Amani’s passionately concerned face was something to behold. Fortunately, the audience wholeheartedly believed, Tink lived to see another day, and Amani looked greatly relieved.
The student who played Peter Pan was a find. He could sing, act and fly like nobody’s business. He had the gregarious youthful charm needed to play the boy who refused to grow up, but he carried the show like a man. Bravo! My personal favorite, though—and perhaps the favorite of many others—was Captain Hook. It was hard to believe that the same actor who played the droll nincompoop Mr. Darling also played hilarious, weenie-with-bravado Caption Hook. Why are the best lines and moments given to villains, I wonder? At any rate, Hook was wonderful tonight. Also worth a huge mention were the ensembles. Pirates, Indians, Lost Children, all—the scenes where ensembles sang and dance were the best of the entire program. The choreography was phenomenal (Courtney Piccoli, whose name I’ve seen on the Lincoln arts scene time and time again) and the Indian/Lost Children dance number was my absolute favorite.
The show is at Lincoln Southwest High School and I believe it runs through next week. Support the arts—and the awesome Koenig kids who graced the stage tonight—and go see a magical musical.
