Theater Review: 'Peter and the Starcatcher' at Sacred Heart University

Review by Naugatuck Patch Mayor Nancy Sasso Janis

The clever “Peter and the Starcatcher” took over the Edgerton stage on the campus of Sacred Heart University. Students in the SHU Performing Arts Theatre Art Program worked together to bring their audiences this magical adventure that is a funny and heartwarming prequel to the beloved story of Peter Pan.

This theatrical adaptation written by Rick Elice is based on the novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, with just the right amount of music by Wayne Barker. This imaginative play with music explores how a young orphan came to be the boy who would not grow up.

We delight as we watch a fearless starcatcher and a surly young orphan embark on a high-flying adventure that is full of magic, mischief, and a cast of wonderful characters. The play is laced with imaginative stagecraft, lots of cheeky humor and plenty of connections to the source material, some major plot points and others just fun to notice.

The SHU production began quietly with the performers entering the impressively decorated stage area while some patrons were still being shown to their seats. When almost all of the performers were onstage, there was a blackout to indicate that the show was about to begin. New York City-based director Zoe Elizabeth Lillis encouraged the actors to have fun with their roles as we join the “first children ever to explore Neverland,” allowing the classmates, family and friends that came out to support them to enjoy all of the performance.

In her first production at Sacred Heart, freshman Emma Blanchette essentially led the cast in the role of the plucky Molly Aster, the starcatcher apprentice who comes to know the unnamed orphan boy who transforms into Peter. Diana Martucci tackles the role of Boy/Peter and does well before and after the transformation.

Sophomore Grace Anderson is a riot in the delicious role of Back Stache, even more so when she had some difficulty with her mustache. Junior Bella Generazo was the pirate’s sidekick, Smee and I laughed every time she corrected the malapropisms of her captain.

Junior Andrew Gunneson (Ed in “Curious Incident) got to play the Lost Boy Prentiss, with Ryan Romero as the food-obsessed Ted. (Kudos to Romero for rehearsing for “A New Brain” and “Starcatcher” at the same time.) In some roles switched from the traditional gender, Nora Serrao (“Curious Incident”) took on the roles of Molly’s nanny Mrs. Bumbrake and the mermaid called Teacher, while junior Erin Pellegrini (Jo in “Little Women”) played the captain Bill Slank. Junior Anna Allegretti, who just finished playing Rhoda in “A New Brain,” was cast in the role of Captain Robert Falcon Scott and senior Juliana Balzano, who played Siobhan in “Curious Incident,” did really well as Fighting Prawn and Sanchez.

Taber Johnston, a freshman who appeared in “Curious Incident, displayed the perfect amount of adulting in his role as Molly’s father, Lord Leonard Aster. Junior Nolan Young played Alf, along with Roger in “A New Brain.” Sophomore Lucas Orwicz stepped up to play Grempkin and Mack and freshman Jack Schafler stepped up to play Hawking Clam in his first SHU show as a performer. The ensemble included sophomore Kathryn Bliss, freshman Olivia Hansen-Hartmann and junior Sami Millerick.

Although I have seen “Starcatcher” several times, I still enjoy seeing how a director chooses to interpret the script and, at this viewing, I noticed some references that I had missed in the past.

Kudos to Stage Manager Katie McCabe, a SHU junior, for keeping everyone on track. SHU junior Connor Nelson acted as the show’s producer and juniors Tori Cutalo and Caitlin Neville as assistant directors. I loved the lighting design by Maddie Leong and Adam Petrosino and the sound design by Mia Cicarelli and Bella D’Andrea functioned well. The costumes designed by Isabella Ferdinandi and Sierra Sailer fit each character well, with hair and makeup designed by Danielle Toppa. The mermaids that open the second act were fun without being over the top. There are some clever props, including a cat and a bird on a stick, credited to Will Heidelberger V and Maggie Ives.

The 2024/2025 season of the Performing Arts Department continues with Theatrefest: Black Box Staging in the Little Theatre Nov. 22-23, at 8 p.m. and Nov. 24 at 3 p.m.

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theater reviews since 2012 as a way to support local venues, and she posts well over 100 reviews each year. She became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle in 2016. Her contributions of theatrical reviews, previews, and audition notices are posted in the Naugatuck Patch as well as the Patch sites closest to the venue. She is also a feature writer and theater reviewer for the Waterbury Republican-American newspaper. Her weekly column IN THE WINGS and theater reviews appear in the Thursday Weekend section of the newspaper.

Nancy is a proud graduate of Sacred Heart University, BA'81 MAT '89.

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