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February 20, 2009

Learning to fly

DLT opens season with ‘Peter Pan’ tonight

Derrick Miller

DUNCAN — There’s a little magic to flying. It takes a pinch of fairy dust and pleasant thoughts.

In Duncan Little Theatre’s production of “Peter Pan,” five castmates move around the stage, both on and above, to bring another dimension to the play. People will get a chance to watch the production at 7:30 p.m. today, Saturday, Feb. 27 and Feb. 28 in the Simmons Center. A special matinee will be at 2 p.m. Sunday.

The show, which was made possible because of the Oklahoma Arts Council, is a musical variation on the classic J.M. Barrie story about a boy named Peter Pan, who takes three children back to his home in Neverland. Along the way, they meet an array of characters and do battle with a horde of pirates, led by the infamous Captain Hook.

Before the play could be presented to a crowd, several of the stars had to learn to fly. While the audience might see a flutter of fairy dust, it takes more than pixie power to get children to levitate feet above the stage.

It takes an entire crew backstage to make the magic a reality.

Rachel Hadlock, who plays Wendy, said learning to fly might have been difficult, but it was a lot of fun.

“It was very tough,” Hadlock said. “It was scary the first night. It’s really amazing acting in the air.”

Each actor who was to fly wore a harness under his or her costume. Small holes were cut into each costume to allow the youths to be hooked up to wires, which were controlled by multiple people backstage.

The five actors had only three lessons to learn to fly with a trained instructor. They had to learn how to control their movements, take off and land successfully, and to make it all look effortless.

The consensus of the actors was that flying is somewhat painful. Each had to wear extra padding to reduce the pain caused by the harness.

But all said they would do it again because it was also a lot of fun flying through the air.

Chris Cowan, who plays the title role of Peter Pan, said, “It hurts a little, but it’s really fun when you’re up in the air in character.”

Hadlock she didn’t mind the pain because she enjoyed getting to swing through the air. At first, she had worst-case scenarios rushing through her mind, but she quickly got over them.

Instead, she just had to deal with the pain caused by the harness.

“It’s very painful, but it’s worth it,” she said.

Rylee Rich, who plays Jane, said it is painful, but she had other concerns, too.

“It’s kind of scary if you get too high,” Rich said. “It was fun.”

Hadlock said actually flying in the play only adds to the performance. She said “Peter Pan” was the first professional production she ever saw. Since then, she’s always wanted to be a part of the show.

She said flying in the professional show was something she has taken with her throughout her life on and off stage.

“I think it adds a lot,” Hadlock said. “I remember the flying. The flying is impressive.

“Out of all the shows I’ve seen, it’s the one that stuck with me the most.”

To get ready for the show, everyone (actors and stage crew) had to practice dealing with the harnesses, hookups and hoisting. Cowan said repetition helped the actors develop their movements, while familiarizing the crew with obstacles, like costuming.

By repeating the motions, everyone gets a chance to improve what he or she is supposed to be working on.

“It just took lots of practice, doing it over and over again,” Cowan said.

While flying might have added an element to the play, it also created an obstacle for those few actors to overcome. They had to wear the harnesses throughout the musical.

The harnesses restrict motion, but the actors had to make it look like they weren’t wearing anything additional.

“I have to wear it the entire play,” Cowan said. “I had to learn how to make it less noticeable.”

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