Behind The Scenes: Quotes From The Students Behind Peter and the Starcatcher
By Swathi Ram, Kaitlyn Randolph, and Riley Mitlehner
Emerson Ertz — Stage Manager
I liked watching any scene with Smee and Stache because they were hilarious, but my overall favorite was probably the end of Act 1 because I liked the song and it was fun to tech. I would say set design and tech were the hardest [parts of the show] for me, just because there are so many different locations throughout the script and it was hard to figure out which ones to actually build and how we could adapt those sets to fit all scenes. The sound design was also extremely difficult because we had to deal with sound effects as well as background tracks so actors could sing. Trying to do everything together was very involved and tricky to get right. [The coolest scene to light was] the scene before/during the Neverland ship [breaking] apart at the end of Act 1, just because I loved the lightning flashes and the accompanying sound effects. We got to use a lot of flashing light, which is always fun from the booth. Obviously every mermaid costume was amazing but my overall favorite [costume] was Stache because the huge mustache was just so over the top and funny.
Courtney Robinson — Costume Director
My favorite scene was when Smee came out in the mermaid costume and played the ukulele and had some back and forth with Stache. My favorite costume was definitely Black Stache, it was so fun and extravagant. The most challenging parts were the quick changes. I helped with two of them, one for Smee and one for Molly, and they were some of the quickest changes I’ve ever done — luckily I’ve got an amazing team that works together so well to make sure everything runs smoothly.
Nate Leafblad — Head of Sound
“My favorite scene was Scene 7, Act 2. That’s the scene where Stache and Smee are in the jungle talking, and the crocodile attacks them. Tech days were very stressful for lights and sound. This was the hardest sound play in a while. In the booth we laughed a lot. Peter and the Starcatcher was a really funny show, and we as the audience got to laugh as freely as we wanted. I found that the whole theater department is very welcoming… Yeah, it’s just such a fantastic place to be, and I’m always excited to be there. I wake up in the morning excited to go to rehearsal, because I am so excited to see all the people there.”
Ella Kadz — Molly Aster
My favorite scene to act was the scene where I monologue Norwegian, it was also my hardest scene to learn because it’s harder to memorize a language you don’t know. The mermaid costumes were amazing and an overall favorite. I also loved watching the mermaid musical number in the beginning of act 2, it’s so random and fun. I loved the script of this play. It was very witty, but the cast is always the best part about working in these plays.
Lulu Little — Peter Pan
My favorite scene in the show to act out would be Scene 3 in the beginning of Act 2. Me, Teddy and Prentis were captured by the mollusks and we had to act out the story of Sleeping Beauty to escape. I really enjoyed that scene because of the different levels we were able to use, and how much fun we had while staging it. My favorite scene to watch would have to be the pirate brawl scene where
Black Stache and Slank fight with swords, and the Neverland breaks in half. I think the actors did a really good job at bringing the intensity to the scene, and it’s always so fun to watch. My favorite costume in the show is Black Stache. The costume goes with the character so perfectly, and I love the Jack Sparrow inspired hair style for the character. For me, the last scene of the show was pretty challenging, because everyone lifted me up at the end of the play. It took me a little bit to believe I wouldn’t fall over, but everyone did amazing and that became one of my favorite moments in the show.
Lu Muilenberg — Prentis
Fave scene: Definitely Act 1 Scene 4 because it’s my character’s introduction and I get to have some really fun dialogue with Molly and Ted. My favorite scene to watch is definitely Act 1 Scene 5: watching Stache, Smee, and Aster is so much fun. Fave costume has to be Mauve [Black Stache] and her sick red coat. My most challenging part has to be some of Act 2’s scenes, I am on stage for long periods of time and it’s a lot of lines to get down at once.
Soup Osterink — Ted
My favorite scene to act was either the mermaid scene or Act 2 Scene 2 I believe, the one where we act out Sleeping Beauty. Those scenes were really funny and fun to be dramatic in. My favorite scene to watch was Act 2 Scene 10 for sure. When Stache gets his hand chopped off it is hilarious especially with a good actor. Black Stache had my favorite costume because it was really fun and detailed to look like a pirate which was really cool. As for challenging parts we struggled with the mollusk scene, memorizing the chant they do and timing all the lines. Working with all the ropes and boxes to make it appear as if we were running through hallways on a ship was also a bit of a challenge but we pulled through nicely.
Mauve Beres — Black Stache
My favorite scene would have to be Act 2 Scene 10, there’s just so much going on at once and it’s where I get my hand cut off so it’s a lot of fun! My favorite costume would have to be [mine], from the hair extensions to the coat, I loved all of it. The most challenging (and stressful) scene for me was Act 2 Scene 2, where five of us are standing in our own separate areas of the stage while another group shouted random Italian dishes at us. It was really hard to get right because there’s nothing of substance said during it, and because nothing is important, every line has to be said correctly or it throws the whole stage off as there’s nothing to base where you’re supposed to say your line from.
Tristan Leafblad — Smee
My favorite scene to act in was definitely Act 2 Scene 10. It starts off as my ukulele song (which no matter how embarrassing it could be I loved every bit of it), and the rest of the scene with Black Stache going “oh my gah, ohmigod, oh my god!” is so, so, so funny. It was a blast being able to perform that whole scene. I never really got to watch all the scenes since I was always backstage most of the time. Though the fight scene with Black Stache and Slank was very entertaining. [My favorite costume is] like a really hard choice because a lot of the costumes were drippy and silly. The Mollusk costumes were so dumb and I loved it! I feel like it actually kinda fits with all the characters. Though ‘Teacher/The Mermaid Queen’ was pretty awesome as well. I also really liked Black Stache’s costume, the swagg just fit him so well. When I first read the script I had no idea how we could actually convey that there are two different ships without needing to change the whole stage for it. So really trying to convey that seemed to be a challenge… Overall I loved how the play turned out. All of these people are like family to me. Everyone in this community is so kind and welcoming, and I absolutely love each and every actor/crew member that was a part of this production. I’m glad that at the end of the show people kept coming up to me and saying how they loved it and how much they laughed.
Saylor Anderson — Slank
{My favorite scene to act was] definitely the sword fight in Act 1 Scene 10. [My favorite scene to watch was] the mermaid scene or any of Stache’s scenes. [My favorite costumes were] Molly or Stache. The stage fighting took a while to learn and I feel like there were always some complications with the cat, there was one night Ella [Molly] threw the cat a lot harder than she meant to and it hit the ship wall in the back, it was really funny actually.
Katie Friend — Ms. Bumbrake
My favorite scene was probably Act 2 Scene 10 when Black Stache cuts his hand off. [My favorite costume was] 100% Black Stache. Right after [the mermaid scene] there were four quick changes that had to be done in a minute or less. Bless costume crew for helping us out every night.
Mel Kang — Alf
My favorite scene to act was the prologue of Act 2, which was the mermaid scene. My favorite scene to watch is the fight between Stache and Slank [in] the final scene in Act 2. (I’m in it, but I didn’t have many lines in that scene). Mauve, aka Stache, had a really cool costume. I also think that Zoe (Aster) and Eden (teacher/mermaid/sailor) had pretty costumes as well. I didn’t really like my costume at first because of the fake belly (I got over that before opening night). I got the high part of a short song, but the song was fast and the notes were out of my vocal range (also got over that).
Eilee Tran — Sanchez
I really enjoyed the scene with Black Stache cutting off his hand on the trunk. The consecutive “Oh my god’s” were done differently every show, and it was super funny every time, for cast and crew. Every rehearsal that would get people laughing. I think most people would be impressed how the show progressed from the first rehearsal to opening night. When we started, it was pretty rough and I didn’t really have high hopes for the show to be honest, but I was just glad I could participate. The first rehearsal it was quite literally just nose in script read throughs, and the set was just white boxes. Seeing it come together, from an actor’s perspective was really satisfying, and something I found was that the farther we got into it, the more freedom and confidence we had to make new acting choices. A moment where it felt it really came together was tech/dress week, seeing all the costumes was super fun.
Eden Penugonde — Teacher/Sailor/Mermaid
My favorite scene to act was probably the mermaid song! I loved singing in that and having fun! It was kinda like a bit instead of a serious performance, and I had so much fun! Before every show, the mermaids would all group together and have a dance party and circle up and cheer ourselves, and it really made our song 10 times better. My favorite scene to watch was Act 2 Scene 10, where Stache cut his hands off. I was on stage, so I did have to keep some composure, but I loved all the “oh my god!”s. They added some much needed humor to the scene. I think my personal favorite costume was Stache’s, and Grempkin’s was a close second. I also thought all the mermaids had really fun costumes and that Molly’s were all pretty. We definitely had some challenges. Some notable ones were: running around J-Hall because we don’t have a catwalk and need to get to the other side of the stage in a minute, any quick changes, not having enough time and practice with all the songs, and not all the props would work perfectly.
Naomi Kap — Sailor/Narrator/Mollusk
I chose to join the play because I really enjoy theater and the theater community is just very welcoming and I wanted to make friends. For our first actual rehearsal, we were using our scripts and just learning our blocking and pantomiming props. The set wasn’t even made yet so we were just kind of goofing off a lot…We weren’t as stressed out I think [on opening night] because we had rehearsed so much that it was basically ingrained in our brains.
Perry Waugh — Hawking Clam/Sailor
I believe that my favorite and quite honestly the best moment was the final bows on closing night. The last night we were all tired. We were prepared for this thing that we had spent weeks working on, to end. The emotion behind the closing night performance was at an all-time high, we all over-acted and made everything so over-the-top and fun that the last performance turned out to be one of the best. Anyway, the final bow was when we were enjoying the fact that we were done and that we had done it. We had made a truly good play.
I would recommend that others in Sunset join the cast and crew of the musical or any other show. The theater department is a close-knit group of people that makes the hard work that you have to put in, worth it. Cast and crew is such an interesting group of people that truly make the theater department closer to a family of good friends as opposed to a group of people doing a job.
