Starting tomorrow and continuing for the next three weekends, Anne Arundel Community College's Moonlight Troupers will present the musical Peter Pan, providing an escape from reality with the boy who refuses to grow up and the three Darling children flying together to Never Never Land.
Creating such magic requires long hours of hard work, something Professor Robert E. Kauff- man, the show's director, thrives on. AACC is saluting the chairman of the performing arts department on his "directorial finale" before he retires Jan. 31.
After a 30-year career covering about 65 Moonlight Troupers productions and nearly 500 performances, this teacher universally known as "the Chief" looks back on a number of peaks.
"Among my favorite dramas are The Crucible, which I directed the second year I was here, and The Diviners that we took to England in 1997. Favorite musicals are Guys and Dolls and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. I've enjoyed directing such family audience plays as Charlotte's Web and Wiley and the Hairy Man.
"In shows where I served as the designer, my favorite was Noises Off - the most ambitious show we ever did, requiring a two-story set that had to revolve, causing about 15 students to give up their spring break that year to complete it."
Backstage at the Pascal Center, Kauffman paused to reflect on why he had worked three 13-hour days in succession.
"Peter Pan is a show I've never directed, and for my final production, I like the challenge," he said. "This is the only show that we ever repeated, having done it twice before, in 1991 and 1996. On those first two productions, I served as set and lighting designer. The show itself is a wonderful vehicle for us."
Standing at the nursery set, Kauffman said the set "speaks volumes. The nursery goes away in the middle of a song as the children fly out the window. It takes a crew of 12, who each move sections of the set."
To make Peter and the children fly, Kauffman hired Flying By Foy, the same company that flew Mary Martin for 152 Broadway performances in 1954, Sandy Duncan for 551 performances in a 1979 revival and Cathy Rigby on Broadway and on tour in 1998.
At Pascal Center, Flying By Foy representatives spent three days choreographing each flying sequence and training Troupers staff in the procedure.
Kauffman considers Moonlight Troupers "a splendid theater troupe mixing students and community members. ... Our mission is to provide an educational training program for students who are interested in theater as either a profession or as an avocation."
One current AACC student is Ashley Adkins, who plays the title role in this Peter Pan. A local theater veteran, Adkins was a memorable tomboy in Annapolis Summer Garden's West Side Story, Annie in Summer Garden's Annie Get Your Gun and the wisecracking Babe in Good News. With her strong athleticism and high energy, Adkins seems ideally cast as Peter Pan.
Playing the role of Wendy is 15-year-old Nicole Anderson, who has also given audiences more than a few memorable moments. Her Chesapeake Music Hall performances include a stint as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, Little Jake in Annie, and various Cratchit family members in productions of Dickens' A Christmas Carol. The role of Wendy marks her debut with Moonlight Troupers.
Talented AACC student Jessica Hyman will be seen in her fourth Moonlight Troupers show, this time in the role of Smee. Jessica will be remembered for her Dolly Tate in Annie Get Your Gun.
AACC student Katelyn Linnell plays Tiger Lily, and Towson University student George Johnson will play the dual roles of Captain Hook and Mr. Darling.
Others in the cast include Annie Bik, Michael Chambers, Darrell Conley, Emily Cusimano, Jennifer Goldsmith, Art Hall, Brett Harwood, Brad Illuminate, Devon Jones, Jen Kohlhafer, Eric Langenstein, Peter Moses, Katelyn Ashley O'Daniel, Kenneth Plumley, Valerie Westall Sale, Scott Simpson, Sage Snider, Solon Snider, Eric Tesh, Hunter Torggler and Emily Zimmer.
Peter Pan can be seen tomorrow through Sunday, Nov. 15-17 and Nov. 21-24 at the Pascal Center for the Performing Arts. Call 410-777-2457 for further information and for reservations.