‘Peter Pan’ opens July 20 at Moonlight
The Tony Award-winning musical production “Peter Pan” soars back to Vista’s Moonlight Amphitheatre from July 20 to Aug. 6.
The classic, family favorite production hit the Broadway stage in 1954 and has since been adapted for the movie screen several times over 60 years. The original Broadway production and revivals received nine Tony Award nominations with the most recent in 1999 for Best Revival of a Musical.
The Moonlight production features the sets and costumes of the famous Cathy Rigby production, including spectacular flying effects.
The high-flying musical whisks you away to a place where dreams are born and no one ever grows up. Peter and his mischievous sidekick Tinkerbell visit the Darling children’s nursery late one night, and with a sprinkle of pixie dust begin a magical journey across the stars.
In the adventure of a lifetime, the travelers come face-to-face with a ticking crocodile, a fierce Indian tribe, a band of bungling pirates and, of course, the villainous Captain Hook.
This is the second run for “Peter Pan” on the Moonlight stage. In 1996, the show was the third production of Season 16 with Steven Glaudini making his Moonlight acting debut as the oddly friendly pirate, Mr. Smee. Glaudini, who is now Moonlight’s artistic director, will direct the 2016 version of the crowd-pleasing musical and plans to take a sophisticated take on a classic story.
Not only will Glaudini breathe new life into a story that has been told hundreds of times before, but also provide the audience with the traditional moments they expect.
Glaudini has cast principal roles from a mix of award-winning actors and others with a long history of performing at the Moonlight. Cast in the title role of Peter Pan is Misty Cotton, an Oceanside native who began her acting career at the Moonlight. Cotton is an accomplished stage actress, capturing roles in Broadway and National Tours of “Miss Saigon,” “Les Misérables” and “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” opposite Donny Osmond. She was last seen at the Moonlight in the 2013 production of “The Who’s Tommy,” produced as part of Glaudini’s first season as artistic director.
Rounding out the principal cast are Robert J. Townsend as Captain Hook, James Vasquez as Mr. Smee, Jill Townsend as Wendy and Elliot Weaver as John Darling.
Townsend is a recent recipient of a San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Award for his portrayal of Georges in San Diego Musical Theatre’s “La Cage aux Folles.”
Vásquez is another San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Award winner for playing Jacob in the same show.
Tickets are $10 to $55. General admission lawn tickets are between $8 and $20 and include a lawn chair provided at entry.
To purchase tickets or for more information, call 760-724-2110 or visit moonlightstage.com.