Director Danaelle Rodriguez and the cast of ‘Disney’s Peter Pan Jr.’ after the show.
Vivian Palm played Captain Hook.
Annabelle Jonkman played Tinkerbell.
Playhouse Merced’s production of “Disney’s Peter Pan Jr.,” a show with a cast of children ages 4 to 12, ran Dec. 17 through Dec. 20, at the theater at 452 W. Main Street in Merced.
It was artistically and musically directed by Danaelle Rodriguez, who has been involved with the Playhouse going on 10 years.
The play is about Peter Pan, a lovely boy who can be very conceited. On his adventures with his new friend, Wendy, and his old friend, Tinkerbell, he learns that happiness is being with and collaborating with the people that you love – – also, being part of a team means you get to work together and have adventures with your friends, but you don’t give up your individuality. Whoever you are, that’s great.
In the play, the foe is Captain Hook and with the help of his friends, Peter is able to defeat Captain Hook and the rascally pirates.
The traditional story is about it being okay to grow up, and Playhouse Merced was true to the story line in its production.
Rodriguez said, “There is much talk of mothers in the play — what they’re like and how your mother is always there for you — and I think that’s because it’s about growing up.”
Describing a new strategy utilized in the production, she explained, “Ultimately, we want each child to have an opportunity to say a line. With a single cast, we sometimes run into a problem with that. So what we did differently this year is we did a double casting situation — two completely different casts performing the show.”
She continued, “ Each of the casts has about 20 kids. I think that the two casts just affords more opportunity to those kids who want to step up and memorize lines and play a lead role. For others who don’t want a lot of lines, we have the ensemble that drives the story forward, which is very important, but only requires a line here and there.”
The way the double casting works is the role of Peter Pan on Tuesdays and Thursdays is played by Levi Ortega, and on Mondays and Wednesdays, Peter Pan is played by Lyla Perez.
Rodriguez commented, “As a director, traditionally the role of Peter is played by a female but because we had two casts, we could really explore a lead Peter Pan as a boy and one as a girl.”
About directing the production, she said, “One thing I bring to the environment is my passion for creating space for children to be creative. I am an advocate for children finding their creative voice. It takes a lot of patience and understanding. But in directing children, I find that children will rise to the occasion. Our words are very important to these small kids because if we tell them they can do it, they believe it. It takes encouragement for them to fly to who they are ( that’s a lyric in one of the songs).”
She continued, “We created a positive environment for them to find their voice and ultimately show their voice to the community. Being a 4-year-old and learning blocking, memorizing lines, and memorizing lyrics to songs can be overwhelming. But I was really proud of these kids. They did a great job.”
She explained, “At Playhouse Merced, we allow the children to become responsible for themselves the best we can. We do our best to assess their strengths, and how they are arriving into our space and how can we best offer the stage to them. It’s about knowing a child as an individual and encouraging them to grow in whatever way feels the best for them. Theater is one of those places where you learn very quickly you are responsible for what you do on stage. So there’s a lot of pressure, but I feel kids adapt pretty easily to it because when they know exactly what’s expected of them and are encouraged and given the right tools, they can really fly.”
Describing the crucial role played by Playhouse Merced supporters, Rodriguez said, “Because we function completely on volunteerism, we couldn’t do it without the parents’ support. We had parents backstage who really committed to bringing the kids to rehearsals, bringing them snacks during long nights, and being encouraging and accommodating to kids and staff as well.”
When asked whether the play’s script was changed at all, Rodriguez said, “If a child was having trouble saying a word, we would ask them how they would say it in their own words, and they were allowed to say it that way as long as it went with the story line.”
Describing her background, she said, “I was hired by Playhouse Merced in December 2009, and the first show I directed was ‘Jungle Book’. I had 18 little girls, and my lead was a five-year-old, Iris Ortega. From there, I directed ‘Cinderella’, ‘Seussical the Musical’, ‘The Little Mermaid’, and ‘’Winnie th Pooh’, and I direct as well at College for Kids, and this year we’re doing ‘Beauty and the Beast’.”
She concluded, “The next production I will be directing is ‘James & the Giant Peach Jr.’ My Stage Manager will be Emily McSwain. My Musical Director will be Becca Whitemyre. It will run from April 12 to 14, 2019. This production will also have two full casts.”