The Chattanooga Theatre Centre’s upcoming production of the Tony Award-winning Peter and the Starcatcher, a comic prequel to the tale of Peter Pan, takes audiences on a wild journey to the days of adventure when all the well-known characters were pursuing their dreams - some noble and some nasty.  

Based on the 2004 youth novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson and adapted by Rick Elise, the Theatre Centre’s production opens Friday, July 14, on the Mainstage and continues through Sunday, July 30.

The show, conceived for the stage by directors Roger Rees (of Nicholas Nickleby fame) and Alex Timbers (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson) with music by Wayne Barker, played on Broadway in 2012 and 2013. The Theatre Centre production is directed by Scott Dunlap and Beth Gumnick. 

Review for Peter and the Starcatcher: 

This family-friendly show, a play that features musical numbers, upends the century-old story of how a miserable orphan comes to be the Boy Who Would Not Grow Up, or Peter Pan. The young orphan and his mates are shipped off from Victorian England to a distant island ruled by an evil king. They know nothing of the mysterious trunk in the captain’s cabin, which contains a precious, otherworldly cargo. 

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, a celestial substance so powerful that it must never fall into the wrong hands. When 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. 

Featuring a dozen actors portraying more than 100 unforgettable characters, Peter and the Starcatcher uses ingenious stagecraft and the limitless possibilities of imagination to bring the story to life. How else can you portray an ocean voyage, a shipwreck, and a chorus line of singing mermaids on the stage? 

Part of the fun is watching the story unfold, unveiling all the surprising plot developments that reveal how Peter Pan, Captain Hook, Tinker Bell and the Darling family came to be.  

Performance dates are:
Friday, July 14 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, July 15 at 8 p.m.
Thursday, July 20 at 7 p.m. 
Friday, July 21 at 8 p.m. 
Saturday, July 22 at 8 p.m.
Sunday, July 23 at 2:30 p.m.
Thursday, July 27 at 7 p.m.
Friday, July 28 at 8 p.m. 
Saturday, July 29 at 8 p.m.
Sunday, July 30 at 2:30 p.m. 

Call the box office at 267-8534 or get tickets online by visiting TheatreCentre.com.