Page 3 - Riverfront Playhouse Presents Peter Pan

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Theatre celebrates the human experience. It enriches our collective soul. Riverfront Playhouse provides the stage for all within our community to explore, experience and learn all aspects of live theatre.
Director’s Notes
There is truly no place like Neverland! I am so excited to have had the opportunity to bring this production to life in my hometown of Redding, California for Riverfront Playhouse’s first 2021 Workshop Production. Neverland is like home to me and will always be a part of who I am as a person. Portraying the role for Walt Disney Entertainment, I identify with Peter in so many ways. I sometimes still look back years after my time with the Disney Company and think to myself how unbelievably lucky and blessed I was to be able to bring this timeless character to life in my own unique way, and to bring others the joy and magic that the book and musical has brought me.
In1987, mytripletbrothersandIsawthemusicalversionof“PeterPan”StarringMary Martin on A&E and oh how it changed my life. Sitting there watching her sing, dance, act, and yes, FLY, kept us in awe and wonder. It wasn’t long until the story of “Peter Pan” and my love for musical theatre took over my heart forever. I hope that with this Workshop production and the cast will reach your hearts the way Disney, Mary Martin and Cathy Rigby have for me.
This story, written by the incomparable and unforgettable author J.M. Barrie, follows a boy who never grows up, for those who believe. It explores a Neverland of Pirates, Indians, Lost Boys, Mermaids, a Crocodile, Fairies and the adventures of the Darling family. The world premiere of this timeless play back in 1904 changed the way we look at the stage today. It was the first play that implemented flying life-size actors onstage as it entranced audiences from a London nursery into a magical world where these characters live. Whoever thought a set of nursery windows would play such an iconic role in American theatre today, more than 100 years later? Seeing the set, lights, costumes and actors all come together in this production has been a life changing experience for me.
There have been so many challenges throughout the past year, both emotionally and mentally for our youth and for small and large communities, especially in the arts. This workshop, I hope, will bring joy, cheer and a way to escape into the magical world of storytelling on stage.
~Kyle Thurmond
Director~Peter Pan 2021 at Riverfront Playhouse
“To live would be an awfully big adventure” -J.M. Barrie - Peter Pan
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Playhouse of Redding, CA