All-ages cast brings 'James and the Giant Peach' to life on stage

CORVALLIS - "I'm so excited about that peach," exclaimed Rebecca Douglas at a rehearsal earlier this week for Majestic Theatre Education's latest play "James and the Giant Peach."

Douglas is the director of the production, which includes and all-ages cast of more than 30 actors and an extensive crew.

And, of course, one giant peach.

"We've had some people who have just been really amazing making this into the set of my dreams," Douglas said.

Not only does the production use some ingenious lighting to show the rapid growth of the magical fruit, but the full-grown peach stands nearly two stories high and dominates the center of the stage in most scenes.

That single movable, reversible piece of the set completely transforms the traditional stage space, drawing the eyes of the audience to the literally up-and-down relationships between the play's characters.

"James and the Giant Peach" is based on the popular children's novel written in 1961 by English author Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake.

It was also adapted into a Hollywood film of the same name in 1996.

The plot centers around an orphan boy, James Henry Trotter. His parents are killed in a rhinoceros attack in the opening scene. The unfortunate James is left in the "care" of his two miserly old aunts.

But, when a giant magical peach grows on their property, James discovers a portal into its fuzzy flesh and embarks on a wild and surreal cross-world adventure in the company of a group of talking insects whom he meets within its sticky walls.

According to Douglas, Majestic Education generally stages three shows each school year and a musical in the summer.

"James and the Giant Peach" was chosen because it had a lot of different parts for different age groups and had a roughly equal distribution of parts for boys and girls, experienced actors and novices.

"Really, it's abut trying to keep it balanced," Douglas said.

In addition, Douglas said that she likes to find plays that can tie back to a literary work. That way, if a teacher wants to have their class read the book before viewing the play, they have the option of adding it to their curriculum.

Despite only having two rehearsals on the stage of the Majestic Theatre before the first performance for school children on Wednesday morning, the debut show went off with barely a hitch.

"It went really pretty well," said Jason Clark, 18, a senior at Corvallis High School who plays the eccentric and loud-mouthed Centipede.

However, some of the young students were shy about meeting the actors in their giant bug costumes and face paint after the show, Clark said.

You can't blame them, for being wary. The play has some fantastic costumers, who convincingly outfitted the brigade of opinionated and ornate insects, as well as swarms of sharks and several human characters including the massive Aunt Sponge.

Aiden Hackett, a 17 year old Corvallis High School student is the play's narrator.

Ten-year-old Daniel Abbes, a fifth grader at Garfield Elementary School plays the role of James.

The actors, agreed that it was fun to get out of school for the performances, although the high schoolers were anticipating a lot of catch up work with finals looming.

"Mostly, it was just really fun working with the little kids," Hackett said. "They have some really interesting acting techniques."

There will be two public performances of the play at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 29, and 1:30 p.m. Saturday, May 30, at the Majestic Theatre.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for children.

CHECK IT OUT

WHO: Majestic Education.

WHAT: "James and the Giant Peach," as dramatized by Richard R. George. Based on the book by Roald Dahl.

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 29, and 1:30 p.m. Saturday, May 30.

WHERE: Majestic Theatre, 115 S.W. Second St., Corvallis.

TICKETS: $10 for adults, $8 for children.

INFO: www.majestic.org

or 738-SHOW.

CAST

Ara Duddlesten ………….. Mother

Levi Wardlaw ……………….. Father

Aiden Hackett ………….. Narrator

Daniel Abbes ……………….. James

Ryan Murray …….. Little Old Man

Scott Purviance … Grasshopper

Jason Clark …………… Centipede

Kat Zaremba ………………. Spider

Molly Duddlesten ……… Ladybug

William Whitley …….. Earthworm

Lindsay Beaman ….. Glow-worm

Brena Welch ……………. Silkworm

Breanna Froemke ………. Captain

Alyeska Reimer ……. First Officer

Taylor Smith …… Second Officer

The Ensemble: Andi Beck, Ricky Carson, Kami Corwin, Amira Danan, Kesaia Fifita, Wanda Humphrey, Natalie LaFevre, Aaron Lewis, Samantha McDonald, Samantha Simmons, Eleanor Smith, Jordan Smith, Norah Storniolo, Daniel Uribe and Nick VanVleet.

CREW

Rebecca Douglas ………. director

Rosy Phelps … Asst. director/makeup

Kaitlin Boyce ….. Stage manager

Brian Watkins ……….. Set design

Bill Nelson …………. Light design

Cynthia Mintun … Insect costumes

Amaya Egusquiza ….. Costumes

Julia Martins … Sound design/board

Zoe Elena …………….. Light board

Olivia Queen … Spotlight operator

Anna Robinson …………….. Props

Miscellaneous crew: Sophie Welch, Liza Yeager, Cory Correia, Emma Kate Schaake, London Swift, Bethany Wilson, Chris Abbes, Tim Flowerday, Aiden Welch, Angie Purviance, Andy Purviance and Scott Purviance.