Waupaca students perform play
Waupaca High School’s Drama Department has scheduled three performances of “James and the Giant Peach.”
Showtimes in the school’s Performing Arts Center are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Feb. 17-18; and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 19.
General admission tickets – $8 for adults and $5 for students – can be purchased in advance at the high school office or at the door one hour prior to the show.
James, played by Simon Baumgart, faces adversity as he struggles to find somewhere he belongs. The show promises theatrical magic, music and voluntary audience participation.
The story of Roald Dahl’s classic tale is told by James himself and insect characters Miss Spider, Green Grasshopper, Centipede, Lady Bird and Earthworm.
The play begins at the end of the story as James and his friends are in the peach stone in Central Park. Soon, however, James reminisces of his childhood and how he was forced to live with his outrageous relatives, Auntie Spiker and Auntie Sponge. Through magic, a peach appears, James meets the newly enlarged insects and they go on a remarkable journey in the air, ocean, under the ocean and back to New York’s Central Park.
“Approximately 90 minutes in length, this is a show enjoyable for all ages,” WHS drama director Monica Reeves said. “The cast and I have enjoyed creating one of Roald Dahl’s masterpieces on stage.”
The cast also includes Nate Schuler-Jones, Connor Andersen, Myra Buelow, Bailey Seefeldt, Chance Bucholtz, Elle Miller, Abby Perket, GP Consoli, Nathan Wachsmuth, Derek Emerson, Sandra Jorgensen, Ethan Achten, Colin Studzinski, Asher Wright, Jesrael McCourt and Spencer Sondrol.
The stage crew consists of Kayla Cain, Rachael Brewer, Carolina Cortez, Courtney Olson, Courtney Kasper, Jesrael McCourt, Callisto Verhalen, Grace Henneman, Sandra Jorgensen, Isabella Elandt and Rebecca Timm.
Russell Reeves is in charge of set construction and Cole Pankratz created the light design. Ethan Heisler and Lillian Sommer will operate lights and sound and onstage musicians are Lily Sletten and Spencer Sondrol.