Olney Theatre Center

Jim Petosa to Continue as Artistic Director

Learn what Jim has to say about his renewed commitment to Olney!

PETER PAN – THE MUSICAL
ESCAPE TO NEVERLAND AND NEVER GROW UP

(Olney, MD) The magical family favorite musical Peter Pan is set to enchant audiences at Olney Theatre Center for the upcoming holiday season.

Peter Pan plays on the New Mainstage November 19, 2008, through January 4, 2009. Tickets are $25 - $48, with half price tickets available for children under 18, and discounts available to groups, seniors, and students. Call the Box Office at 301.924.3400 or visit olneytheatre.org for tickets. In addition, Olney offers several special performances that include sign interpretation, audio description, and post-show discussions. (Please see the attached “Fact Sheet” for more details.)

“Peter Pan is extraordinarily joyful and celebrates childhood,” says Director Eve Muson. “It stays with us because of the characters. We know Wendy, Peter, and Captain Hook better than we know the plot because they are mythic in their proportions.”

Based on J.M. Barrie's 1904 tale of the same name, Peter Pan is the story of a boy who didn't want to grow up and spent his life in Neverland battling the pirates and Indians. When he brings the Darling children – Wendy, John and Michael – to Neverland with him, Peter finally defeats his foe, Captain Hook. The original production, directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins, featured Mary Martin as Peter Pan and Cyril Ritchard as Captain Hook. It opened on Broadway in October, 1954, and ran for 152 performances. Twenty-five years later, a revival of Peter Pan opened with Sandy Duncan in the lead role, and ran for 551 performances.

“Barrie celebrates childhood in Peter Pan,” says Muson. “He expresses our yearning for childhood as adults – our memory and idealization of that time. As such, we’ve cast adults in roles typically played by children. We’ve also chosen to cast Daniel Townsend as Peter, instead of casting a young woman.”

In addition to being the director of Peter Pan, Eve Muson also serves as the Director of the Olney Theatre Institute, Olney’s education department. Muson recently directed Big River for National Players and Cinderella and Her Sisters, as well as Olney’s productions of Godspell and Venus. She has also directed at Boston Playwrights Theatre, American Stage Festival, and Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Muson received the 2002 Addison Award for Best Direction for the Boston University production of Venus and was twice cited for Outstanding Direction by The Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival for her work on two new plays, Un Tango En La Noche and a musical version of Jack London’s Call of the Wild.

Daniel Townsend is featured in the title role of Peter Pan. This is his second Olney production; he was recently in Big River (Tom Sawyer). Previous stage credits include VSA Arts Playwrights Discovery Program at the Kennedy Center, The Other Room (Austin), and the Kennedy Center’s Page-to-Stage Festival’s She Was My Brother (Wilson). His nemesis, Captain Hook, is played by Mitchell Hébert (he also plays Mr. Darling). Hébert recently directed Olney Theatre Center’s critically acclaimed production of Rabbit Hole. Other Olney roles include Dysart in Equus, Salieri in Amadeus, and the title role in Tartuffe.

Two-time Helen Hayes Award nominee and National Players veteran Peggy Yates returns to Olney to portray Mrs. Darling and Jukes. Recent appearances here include Omnium Gatherum, The Rivals, Hayfever, Man of La Mancha, She Loves Me, and The Secret Garden. Wendy Darling is played by Patricia Hurley, who has performed at Olney in Doubt, Fiddler on the Roof, Cinderella, 13 Rue de L’Amour, and The Heiress.

Dan Stowell makes his Olney debut as John Darling. He has performed with Shakespeare Theatre Company, Hartford Stage, Huntington Theater Company, and Vineyard Playhouse. The role of Michael Darling is shared by Aviad Bernstein, a seventh grader at the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, and Jace Casey, an eighth grader at H-B Woodlawn in Arlington. Ethan T. Bowen returns to Olney Theater Center in the roles of Nana and Smee, after last year’s double header of 13 Rue de L’Amour and Brooklyn Boy. Boo Killebrew, who performed in Olney’s Godspell, plays Tiger Lilly, Liza, and Jane.

The formidable Peter Pan cast is rounded out by the following performers: Florrie Bagel, Steven Cupo, Elizabeth Fette, David Frankenberger, Jennifer Irons, Sandra L. Murphy, Joe Peck, Matthew Schleigh, Kyle Schliefer, Kevin Sockwell, Dan Van Why, and Kara-Tameika Watkins.

In addition to Muson, the creative team for Peter Pan includes Musical Director Chris Youstra (Olney’s 1776, Fiddler on the Roof, Cinderella, Anything Goes, and Oliver!), Choreographer Boo Killebrew (Olney’s Big River), Scenic Designer Tijana Bjelajac (a New York designer in George Tsypin Opera Factory team where she worked Spiderman and Little Mermaid, among others); Costume Designer Pei Lee (Olney’s Democracy, Miracle Worker, Carousel, Copenhagen, and Monster); Lighting Designer Colin K. Bills (Olney’s Venus); Sound Designer and Olney’s Audio Engineer Jarett C. Pisani (Olney’s The Underpants, The Mousetrap, 1776, Bad Dates, and more); Wig Designer Karlah Hamilton (Olney’s The Mousetrap and 1776 ); and Dialect/Vocal Coach Nancy Krebs (Olney’s The Underpants, Doubt: A Parable, and more).

Jim Petosa to Continue as Artistic Director

(Olney, MD) The Olney Theatre Board of Directors is proud to announce that Jim Petosa will continue as Artistic Director for the 70-year old institution. “Jim is one of the most talented Artistic Directors in the country. He is a tremendous artist with great leadership skills and we are delighted that he will be continuing with us,” states George Brown, Olney Board President.

The news comes after a June 2007 announcement that Petosa would finish his 15-year tenure as Artistic Director after the theater’s 2008 Season.

Since that time, a new zeitgeist has swept Olney. Motivated by critical and financial success of the 2008 season and the hiring of new, energetic Managing Director—Amy Marshall, the Board requested that Petosa reconsider his decision to leave at such an exciting time in the theater’s growth.

“I am energized by the Board's unexpected invitation to continue as Artistic Director of Olney Theatre Center and by the growing and excellent partnership with Amy. It is a new chapter in the life of this theater, and I am pleased to serve as its artistic leader for this next phase,” says Petosa.

Marshall is equally thrilled by the news. “I could not be happier about Jim reconsidering his decision to step away. I am delighted that our collaboration will continue; it allows me an opportunity to learn from his experience and wisdom. It is also inspiring to know that our productions will continue to be of the highest quality under Jim’s leadership,” says Marshall.

Petosa’s affiliation with the theater dates back to 1979. He has been Artistic Director since 1994, and he also serves as Artistic Director for National Players. In 2002, he was appointed Director of the School of Theatre at Boston University’s College of Fine Arts. Under

Petosa’s guidance, Olney Theater began a major expansion plan, the largest component of the plan was the New Mainstage (a 429-seat theater), which opened in the summer of 2005.

Petosa is a nationally recognized artist. His many Olney directing credits include

Democracy, Brooklyn Boy, In the Mood, An Enemy of the People, The Elephant Man, The Miracle Worker, Copenhagen, The Laramie Project, and Jacques Brel is Alive and Well & Living in Paris (Helen Hayes Award).

As a guest artist, he has directed at The Kennedy Center, The Studio Theatre, Round House Theatre, Washington Jewish Theatre, and Rep Stage. Petosa has directed for University of Maryland, College Park; The Catholic University of America; The George Washington University; and Middlebury College. He serves as a stage director for Boston University's acclaimed Opera Institute and serves as Executive Producer of the Boston University InCite Arts Festival, an annual event in New York City. His most recent direction of the Tom Stoppard/Andre Previn collaboration Every Good Boy Deserves Favour performed at The Town Hall this past March. He continues his association as one of three artistic directors of Potomac Theatre Project, now in its 21st season, its second in New York City where he will be directing the New York premiere of Neal Bell's Somewhere in the Pacific this July.

Olney Theatre’s 2008 Mainstage Season continues through the end of the calendar year. Tickets are still available by calling 301.924.3400 or visiting www.olneytheatre.org. The 2009 Season, again under Petosa’s leadership, will be announced in late summer ‘08.

Click here for more season information