James & The Giant Peach
James & the Giant Peach
ECS Middle School Drama Club to put on production November 14-15th
Photo / Stage Door Fine Arts
ELLICOTTVILLE – Ellicottville MS Drama Club will present its “master-peach,” a production of Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach JR. on November 14th and 15th, it was announced earlier this week by Freddie Gershon, CEO of Music Theatre International (MTI). A delightfully offbeat adaptation of the classic Roald Dahl adventure, James and the Giant Peach JR. is a fantastical tale of a boy, his insect friends, and their amazing journey across the ocean on a giant piece of fruit. The musical was adapted to be performed by students by educational musical theater firm iTheatrics under the supervision of Timothy Allen McDonald.
“Behind its wit and whimsy, James and the Giant Peach explores some sophisticated themes. How do we define our family? How we start over after a big loss? We’ve always planned to make it available for performance by schools and educational theaters groups as soon as possible, because - and we think Roald Dahl would agree - young people are capable of amazing things,” says Justin Paul who co-wrote the music and lyrics for the musical with Benj Pasek.
“James is a child put in a remarkable situation, and with the help and support of some new friends he is able to achieve great things. Similarly, these Ellicottville MS students are working together in extraordinary ways to present this musical. We know their show is going to be great. Break a leg guys!” says Benj Pasek.
Featuring music and lyrics by the Tony-nominated songwriters Justin Paul and Benj Pasek and book by Timothy Allen McDonald, James and the Giant Peach JR. is based on the beloved book by Roald Dahl and tells the story of a young orphaned child who finds a loving family in a most peculiar way. Sent by his mean, conniving aunts to chop down their old fruit tree, James discovers a magic potion which results in a tremendous peach occupied by some not-so-normal characters. From the center of the gigantic fruit, James and the unlikely crew launch a journey of enormous proportions. Together they discover that while we are all born into a family, we then go on to create a family of our own.
Says McDonald about the show, “I was a dyslexic student who hated reading when my third grade teacher, Mrs. Spencer, introduced me to the wonderful world of Roald Dahl. His stories instilled in me a love of reading and I have never looked back. Through their production these students are celebrating the power of storytelling, teamwork and imagination. We hope you’ll join us in applauding them.”
Ellicottville MS Drama Club at ECS will present Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach JR. on November 14th and 15th at 6:30pm in The Ward. Tickets are $5 and may be purchased at the door. Wishes & Kisses, popcorn and water will be for sale also. For more information, please email Crystal Wilder at cwilder@ecsny.org.
Middle School students involved in this performance at ECS include: Allison Terhune, Amaya Scott, Audrey Krause, Carly Erlandson, Caroline Sun, Cayda Kuszynski, Emma Wallace, Evelyn Earley, Grace Griffith, Gunnar Tirado, Jack Kerns, James Helie, Joanna Klein, Kaegan Bauer, Leah Studley, Liam Daniels, Liberty Bishop, Margorie Brown, Marshall DeChane, Mason LaCroix, Mason Puszcz, Nicholas Wedvik, Reagan Pawlowski, Rose Benjamin, Theron Rust, and Violet Bly.
James and the Giant Peach JR. is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. 421 West 54th Street, New York, NY 10019. Phone: 212-541-4684, fax: 212-397-4684, website: www.MTIShows.com.
Music Theatre International (MTI) is one of the world's leading theatrical licensing agencies, granting schools as well as amateur and professional theatres from around the world the rights to perform the largest selection of great musicals from Broadway and beyond. MTI works directly with the composers, lyricists and book writers of these shows to provide official scripts, musical materials and dynamic theatrical resources to over 60,000 theatrical organizations in the US and in over 60 countries worldwide.
MTI is particularly dedicated to the idea of theatre as education and has created special collections for younger performers. The Broadway Junior Collection® includes JR. titles, 60-minute musicals for performance by middle school children; and KIDS titles, 30-minute musicals for performance by elementary school children resulting in over 80,000 productions consisting of more than 300,000 performances.