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Regional Reviews: Florida - West Coast Peter and the Starcatcher Also see Bill's review of A Motown Christmas
As always, Artistic Director and director Eric Davis makes the most of the physical set-up, serving up a lively production. However, the performance is not always well paced, some episodes fly by so fast that details are lost, and other scenes slow things down so much that they become a tad dull. This problem may be inherent in the script. Mr. Davis gets the most of his young cast, especially Lucas Wells as The Boy, Kelly Pekar as Molly Aster, and Chris Crawford offering a lesson in star turns as Black Stache (he chews so much scenery that I was told they had to build three versions of the sets). He is aided and abetted by Craig Sculli as sidekick Smee. Nick Lerew adds to his body of fine work at this theater playing Slank, and Daniel Schwab offers a fine performance as Lord Leonard Aster. Bonnie Agan as Mrs.Bumbrake and Christopher Rutherford as Alf add dimension to the story as an older romantic couple. Chris Metz as Ted and Taylor Simmons as Prentiss are The Boy's sidekicks while Clinton C. H. Harris in a variety of roles, notably a hilarious take on Grempkin the leader of an Island tribe, and Chris Jackson as Captain Scott complete the cast. The technical elements of the production are all first rate. Costumes by Eric Davis (the man has so little to do otherwise), set design by Charles Murdock Lucas, and lighting by Mike Wood combine to enhance the theatricality. Fight director Blake Braswell has his hands full, as there are multiple melees during the story. I was seated on the stage left side, so I had a great view of musical director Michael Raabe, assisted by Burt Rushing on percussion, playing music by Wayne Barker. It is impossible not to notice the joy Mr. Raabe brings to each performance. Peter and the Starcatcher is proving to be a popular production for freeFall—many performances have limited availability—so plan now to see this fun family friendly production. freeFall Theatre Company presents Peter and the Starcatcher through December 24, 2015, at 6099 Central Avenue, St. Petersburg. For ticket and performance information, visit www.freefalltheatre.com. Cast: (in order of appearance) Director: Eric Davis
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