by erin thursby scopes1925@msn.com
What: Peter Pan
When: December 7th @ 7:30 pm
Where: Thrasher Horne
I was just three years-old the first time I saw Peter Pan on stage, starring Sandy Duncan. For months afterwards my mother had to watch me very closely, because I’d gotten into the habit of jumping off of stairwells and the highest pieces of living room furniture in ill-fated attempts to fly.
The magic of Peter Pan captures not just the youngest in the audience, but adults as well. After all, kids aren’t going to feel themes about the loss of childhood as deeply as adults, who have already gone through it.
During this production you’ll see the usual flying with the help of a dash of fairy dust, the antics of Hook and his pirates, and the proud Tiger Lily.
Playwright J. M. Barrie (1860–1937) first presented Peter Pan on the stage in 1904. In 1911, Barrie novelized the play into a book, Peter Pan and Wendy. The musical version of the play wasn’t staged until 1954. Only a few incidental songs were to be added, but it turned into a full-blown musical and vehicle for Mary Martin, who played Peter Pan in the original musical version.
We had the chance to speak with Gary Kimble, the actor who will play Captain Hook and Mr. Darling in the upcoming Thrasher-Horne performance.
EU: What’s your favorite thing about playing Captain Hook?
GK: I think it was the sense of abandon, you know, being a grown man and getting to run around, act like a buffoon and carry on. It’s a lot of fun it’s very silly and the costume is wonderful. it’s such an iconic role and to get to flesh this out, this great icon, as Captain Hook himself says—‘the greatest villain of all time.’ I’m just thrilled to play that.
EU: What would you say to those that think this show is just for little kids?
GK: Each evening I see wives dragging their husbands…and you can tell sometimes the husbands aren’t too thrilled about being there, and then, I can see from my vantage point when the pirates come on stage, they light up and they turn into little kids. They get excited. I think it’s a cathartic thing. The whole play is about having lost touch with your childhood, and your sense of wonder and magic, spontaneity. And you see these husbands at the end of the show, they’re cheering and they just look so happy. That’s a thrill to me, to be part of that feeling and experience.
EU: What are the similarities and differences between the two characters you play: Mr. Darling, the father of Wendy and her brothers, and the notorious Captain Hook?
GK: Mr. and Mrs. Darling are on their way to a fancy dinner party at his place of business. They’re very well-to-do, upper class but not super rich. They have a maid and a brownstone with several floors and a cook, all that sort of thing. So they have some money. But he’s terribly worried about losing his job if he isn’t dressed right, if he doesn’t look right…The children are having fun and dancing, the mother is dancing and he’s all concerned about business. Yet, you can tell he has kind of a longing to be part of the fun…To me Captain Hook is Mr. Darling on steroids. [Hook] is a dreamland, almost a nightmare version of Mr. Darling. If you really lose touch with your sense of play and become a real grown up bully, you turn into Captain Hook…So they’re very much the same character…[although] the physicality is very different for Captain Hook.
Call the Thrasher-Horne at (904) 276-6750 for tickets and follow the second star on the right until you get to Orange Park for this magical show.
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