A talented director entertains, a gifted one elevates.
This weekend in a high school theatre that has blown us away more often than we can count, we once again transcended a story we had heard all our lives.
This time Peter Pan and his faithful, naughty sidekick Tinkerbell led us to Neverland, a place at once magical, sinister and real.
Appleton North High School Director Ron Parker challenges his young actors; they spend days researching their characters and discuss staging elements, blocking and script.
This collaboration consistently produces plays both innovative and painstakingly true to their original intent.
Such is the case with the fascinating J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan. Barrie gave the copyright of Peter Pan to London’s hospital for Sick Children in 1929, confirmed by his will when he died in 1937. This means that for the past 84 years the hospital has received royalties every time anyone, anywhere puts on a production of the play, which includes the sale of Peter Pan books and other products.
Likewise, the cast of Appleton North’s Peter Pan collected money after each show for the Children’s Hospital of the Fox Valley.
The sweet gesture is just one example of how high school theatre can teach students and audience members so much more than elocution and performance techniques.
When everything goes well, everyone — director, actor, crew and audience member, emerges with a clearer understanding of the story, the playwright, the actor and themselves.
Enjoy this clip of the production, put together by former Booster of Lightning Theatre’s Catherine McKenzie.
Here are a couple of post-show freshmen — Molly and Rachel were of the Arawak Tribe and Alex was Nibs, a lost boy.
The Arawak Tribe meets the pirates. In the Appleton North production, both the Indian Tribe and Tinkerbell created their own language.
In this, more sinister version of Peter Pan, the Pirates kill members of the Arawak Tribe. That’s Molly, second Arawak on the left.
Vinnie impulsively helped himself to Molly’s face paint after the show and was mortified when he had a little trouble scrubbing it off.
Molly and her pirate friend Jack holding collection cups for the Children’s Hospital of the Fox Valley. J.M. Barrie instructed the Hospital for Sick Children never to reveal how much money they have received from his Peter Pan royalties but, as they collect them in perpetuity, it is a significant amount. Due to the generosity of their audience members (and the fact that they sold out the entire run), the Appleton North Peter Pan cast collected a tidy sum as well.
“John” and Molly dump their loot into the cash box.
Before each show, this pirate added a new tatoo (thanks to help from the Appleton North make-up artist.
Captain Hook, Smee and the Storyteller, a character created by adaptors John Caird and Trevor Nunn to bring in the author’s voice. According to their notes, one of Barrie’s most bitter disappointments was the quickly established tradition of having an actress play the part of Peter Pan. Barrie wanted a real little boy to play Peter Pan, but in 1928 in London children were forbidden to work on stage past 9 p.m. In the Appleton North production, Ian Parker played Peter Pan with handsome, ominous perfection .
May 17
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Like the well-tailored clothes she chose with charming regularity, my Grandma left a legacy of timeless elegance. Yesterday would have been her 100th birthday and my mother urged us all to celebrate with a generous slice of chocolate fudge cake, her signature dessert. She also made perfect peach pie, bourbon balls and chocolate chip cookies, […]
May 15
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We trudged through the rain on Saturday, a three-generational team in an age-old battle against a scary disease. Cancer attacks with stealth; its biggest ally is silence, its greatest enemy is knowledge. Races like the 31st annual American Cancer Society Sole Burner 5k, which draws nearly 8,000 participants each year, provide a worthy nemesis for […]
May 13
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Faithful Blog-reader, I’m terribly sorry to have misled you, but my name isn’t really Molly. No, like Molly Pitcher and Molly Lincoln, my real name is Mary. Mary Margaret Biskupic. I’m fortunate enough to be named after both of my Grandmas. One of the greatest gifts my parents ever gave was my name, because with […]
May 10
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Thanks to the quirky magic of Facebook, the first person to wish me a Happy Birthday this year was my high school Spanish teacher. “¡Feliz cumpleaños, Laura! Desde Chile donde estamos de vacaciones. GWizz” Gee Wiz, that message thrilled me, though we probably hadn’t spoken in more than 30 years! Gladys Wisnefske brought an enticing element of savoir faire to […]
May 8
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On Monday, all smug with redundantly doomed parental pride, I shipped off a smartly bundled care package for my youngest son. The source of my pride lay not in the homemade goodies or the precise content layout within the package, but in the fact that I sent it at all. I don’t mail things. My […]
An awkward juxtaposition of my bi-annual physical and my 18-month anniversary of co-writing a food blog led to a Seinfeldian conversation in my doctor’s examination room.
“Step on the scale please,” said the cheerful and charmingly named nurse Molly.
“I’d prefer not,” I responded in an equally cheerful tone.
“Are you refusing?” Molly said.
“Refusing is a harsh word.”
“You don’t have to get on the scale,” Nurse Molly said. “But if you don’t, I’m going to have to write that you refused.”
The semantics banter could have continued indefinitely, but I’ve had 14 years of experience in debating Mollys. I knew I wasn’t going to win.
“Unless you absolutely need me to, I’m not going to get on the scale today,” I said.
“So you’re refusing?”
“Yes.”
Nurse Molly and I parted friends, which led me to an equally Seinfeldian conversion with my own Molly.
“Can I make dinner tonight?” she asked.
“Can you just make something for you and Dad? I am watching what I eat.”
“If I’m cooking, I’d like to cook for the whole family,” she said pointedly.
“Ok, but please make something healthy.”
Delicious smells soon filled the house and drew me to a sweetly set dinner table.
“Looks good, what’d you make?” I asked innocently.
“Chicken pot pie,” my evil co-blogger said.
I ate every bite of that rich, flaky decadence.
And then I took a stand.
I am going to drop a few pounds in the next couple of weeks so I can enjoy my summer unencumbered by straining buttons.
What follows are my own tips should you find yourself in a similar predicament and I would appreciate any tips of your own, if you would kindly post them in the comment section.
1) I am tasting but not eating all of the delicious dishes Molly whips up. A teaspoon of Molly’s homemade custard left me duly impressed, a tiny smidge of her lemon meringue pie earned an honest high five.
2) When possible, I have temporarily switched my workouts from 5:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. to eliminate any pre-dinner snacking.
3) I brush my teeth after dinner to discourage any post dinner snacking.
4) I make sure I have plenty of these beauties on hand because I really love fresh veggies and hummus.
5) I keep frozen bananas in a gallon Ziploc bag for dessert. With a little chocolate syrup and a festive maraschino, frozen bananas taste like ice cream sundaes.
6) I drink plenty of water, with a fresh squeeze of lime.
Summer is coming and I intend to enjoy it. (Now let’s pretend we never had this embarrassing conversation, shall we?)
May 3
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My Aunt Doris is one of the best gift givers in the world. Not only does she give gifts to her own children and grandchildren, she also never missed a birthday of her great nieces and nephews. Along with the birthday girl/boy’s present, she always sends something for their other siblings too, so no one […]
May 1
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Last week, during downtime in her freshman CA class, Molly engaged in a vigorous defense of her eternal essence. The instigators of this deep, philosophical debate were Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Molly’s mischievous pal who said, “If your mother’s a ginger, you don’t have a soul.” South Park references aside, I’m here to defend […]
Apr 29
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Meteorologists use scientific phrases like rising dew points and a waning gibbous to describe the spectacular weekend we finally enjoyed here in the Midwest. But I prefer a more whimsical approach. After 25 straight cold, grey days, I like to think we finally earned ourselves an Enchanted April, which is not coincidentally the name of the […]
