Some faith, trust and a little bit of pixie dust
The fun and magic of the Christmas season just past was enhanced by the production of ‘Peter Pan’ which ook the Lionel Wendt stage from Dec. 12-18, 2016.The production was putforward by
St. Joseph’s College, in collaboration with Cold Theatre 7 and St. Bridget’s Convent.
The opening to Peter Pan the musical is set in the bedroom of the little Darlings.
The young actors’ earnest and energetic performances as Michael Darling and John Darling respectively, combined with Vinuri Weerawardena’s sweet and simple Wendy Darling immediately grabbed the attention of theater goers. The highlight of the evening came towards the end of the first scene where Peter finally managed to the get the Darling children in the air with “I’m Flying”. The young actors onstage were convincingly exuberant at being airborne that it seemed the magic took even the actors by surprise. What it was though was a carefully choreographed and expertly executed dance on platforms with wheels, camouflaged by luminous costumes on a dark stage.
Director Kevin Cruze also took the lead with the choreography for this production, creating a good blend of clever moves with playful ones that kept the young members of the audience giggling throughout.
Musical direction was handled nicely by Geethika Cooray. The harmonies and cannons were prettily sung by the little Darlings and the Lost Boys with much heart, while the pirates’ tunes were suitably cacophonous. Peter Pan was played on this night (Dec14) by Daniel Ferdinandusz who sang with well controlled tone.
Being a full length musical production taken on by mostly school students in collaboration with a few semi-professionals, the performance was brilliantly delivered, with much “faith, trust and a little bit of pixie dust”.
Pix by Indika Handuwala
