“Peter & the Starcatcher,” April 1 through 10

Friday, April 1, through Sunday, April 10

The Spotlight Theatre, 1800 Seventh Avenue, Moline IL

Winner of five 2012 Tony Awards and lauded by the New York Times as a comedy that “never stops flying,” the rib-tickling family adventure Peter & the Starcatcher runs at Moline's Spotlight Theatre April 1 through 10, the show a ticklishly original Peter Pan origin story that employs clever stagecraft and the limitless possibilities of imagination to bring its J.M. Barrie-inspired tale to life.

A wildly theatrical adaptation of Dave Barry's and Ridley Pearson’s best-selling novels, Peter & the Starcatcher was conceived for the stage by directors Roger Rees and Alex Timbers, written by Rick Elice, and explores the bonds of friendship, duty and love. In this inventive, touching, and hilarious entertainment, a young, nameless orphan (the future Peter Pan) and his only two friends are shipped off from Victorian England to a distant island. They know nothing of the mysterious trunk in the captain’s cabin that contains a precious, otherworldly cargo, and while at sea, the boys are discovered by a precocious young girl named Molly, a Starcatcher-in-training who realizes that the trunk’s precious cargo is starstuff – the celestial substance so powerful that it must never fall into the wrong hands. When, however, the ship is taken over by pirates – led by the fearsome Black Stache, a villain determined to claim the trunk and its treasure for his own – the journey quickly becomes a thrilling adventure in this work that finds nearly 20 actors portraying more than 100 vivid characters.

Directing Peter & the Starcatcher for the Spotlight Theatre, and making her Quad Cities directorial debut, is Whitney Fahner, with additional members of the show's creative team including stage manager Isabel Dawson; musical accompanist Mason Moss; music director Katie Griswold; assistant music director Haley Tromblee; choreographer and fight choreographer Lily Blouin; set and lighting designer Brent Tubbs; costume designer Sara Wegener; hair and makeup designer Becca Johnson; and producers (and Spotlight co-owners) Brent and Sara Tubbs. The Boy Who Will Be Peter Pan is played by Jacob Johnson, recently seen as Seymour in the Spotlight's Little Shop of Horrors, and Molly is portrayed by fellow venue veteran Amelia Fischer, one of three madcap comics of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)[revised]. Reader employee Mike Schulz makes his Spotlight debut as Black Stache – a role he previously played for the QC Theatre Workshop in 2017 – with his assistant Smee portrayed by Spotlight favorite Adam Sanders, who enacted the title character in the Spotlight's first musical, 2018's The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Additional talents returning to the Spotlight include Christopher Tracy (The Sound of Music), Nancy Teerlinck (The Spitfire Grill), Noah Hill (You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown), and Brycen Witt (The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical). And with young performers Charles Budan and Henrick Senne portraying Peter's pals, the Peter & the Starcatcher ensemble is completed by Becca Casad, Lauren Clarke, Sara Heiser, Emily Houdyshell, Doug Johnson, Mary Sales, Michael Tarchala, Phil Tunnicliff, and Keegan Walker.

Peter & the Starcatcher runs at the Moline venue from April 1 through 10, with performances Fridays and Saturdays at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Admission is $20-25, and more information and tickets are available by calling (309)912-7647 and visiting TheSpotlightTheatreQC.com.