Wagon Wheel theatre’s production of “Peter Pan” is different than most versions many people have watched over the years. Peter Pan is being played by a male actor. Andy Robinson, who plays Captain Hook, Pan’s nemesis, explained in an interview Monday afternoon. Robinson said, “The story is the same. ‘Peter Pan’ was originally written as a play and then adapted by its author, James Barrie, as a novel. But the text is pretty true to that original play and that original novel. “It was first produced as a musical in the mid ’50s as a vehicle for Mary Martin,” he continued, “which follows the tradition from Victorian theater that young men’s or boys’ roles were played by adult women. Actually the ‘Peter Pan’ movie, Disney’s movie, was one of the first times a male’s voice was used for the character of Peter Pan. So this is the version people may have seen on TV with Mary Martin or Cathy Rigby that’s been on more recently but it’s the Broadway production that was done for TV. “Our production is special in that we’ve actually cast a young male actor, who is a college student at Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, to play Peter Pan, so that’s kind of an exciting change from how most people have seen the show.” Playing Pan’s rival is a role Robinson finds fun to add to his repertoire. “It’s totally fun to play. I have to say that it’s one of the roles I have often, as a tall character actor, thought I’d love to play. It’s been really fun to do with this group to collaborate with (Artistic Director) Scott Michaels. He has a great mind for slapstick and humor.” Playing with the other actors playing pirates is incredibly fun, Robinson said. “Its like when we did ‘Pirates of Penzance’ some number of years ago. We decided among ourselves that being a pirate was about as much fun as you could have on stage.” Robinson has a certain way he plays Hook for this production. “I think he is very definitely a man tortured by ambition to be the best villain and to beat Peter Pan. So there are aspects of him, so there are moments that are quite serious, and also moments that are campy and funny,” Robinson said. “But I see him as a little kind of Shakespearean tragic hero because he is fighting a battle he has to lose because he is fighting against youth and joy and freedom, as Peter says in the final scene, so there’s a tragedy to wanting to win that battle but ultimately age and time are not in his favor.” The song and dance numbers in this production of are well known, Robinson said. “The Disney movie is of course a musical version, but this just has different songs,” Robinson said. “Some of the more well-known songs are ‘I’m Flying,’ ‘I’ve Gotta Crow’ and maybe the most popular is ‘I Won’t Grow up,’ which many people might know. That one is performed out of context a lot, too.” Robinson said Peter Pan fans can still expect to see mermaids, pirates, Indians and the lost boys. One of the actors has a great track. She plays an Indian, a mermaid and the Darlings’ maid. “It’s one of those as a company we have a lot of fun performing,” he said. Peter Pan is not only for kids, he said, but also for adults. “As far as the Wagon Wheel season goes, we try to do a little for everyone depending on which show it is. We usually try to start the season off with a big family show. This is absolutely our big family show,” Robinson said. At the Wagon Wheel Theatre open house Saturday, he said there were a lot of kids that the company actors talked to about what they were going to see in “Peter Pan.” “We did some of our sword fighting, which has been choreographed for the show. It’s one of those things where I have to tell you, every time the company watches the characters fly for the first time, it doesn’t matter how old you are, it just makes you giggle or cry,” he said. “The story of Peter Pan is about the dilemma of what it means to grow up. Peter Pan is the character that doesn’t want to, but that also means that everyone he knows grows up around him. That’s kind of bittersweet. Several characters fly in “Peter Pan.” Not too many theaters in the round, like Wagon Wheel, have done that. “We’ve been rehearsing the flying since the beginning like we’ve rehearsed everything else,” Robinson said. There are “flying consultants” who go all over the world putting up shows and helping theaters put up shows that require flying and “Peter Pan” is one of those shows. “But flying in the round is not done very often. I was part of ‘Superman’ when we did that some number of years ago. This is by far a more sophisticated sort of matrix of cables and wires. We actually fly four characters at once at the end of the first major scene and it’s really breathtaking,” he said. Robinson isn’t one of the actors that gets to fly in this show.Besides Peter Pan, Hook also has to contend with the Crocodile. But Robinson is having fun with every aspect of the show. “The crocodile is still there. The crocodile is an elaborate costume puppet that’s beautifully designed. The crocodile is fun. I really like everything I do. I get to sing, I get to dance, I get to be a villain, I get to be funny. I get to be a ham, which is one of my favorite things to do,” Robinson said. “Another thing that I get to do is, Peter and I get to interact with the audience a little bit.” There’s a part in the second act where Tinkerbell drinks the poison Captain Hook left for Peter Pan. It’s through the applause of the kids in the audience where she comes back to life. Any time kids boo at Hook, he gets to threaten them, Robinson joked. There are other things going on at the Wagon Wheel Theatre this summer that Robinson is excited about. “Something I’m really excited about is, since the Wagon Wheel Theatre became a not-for-profit theatre, we’ve really expanded our youth and educational programs,” Robinson said. “So like always we’ll be doing two summer camps for the kids in the community.” The first camp starts next week. That is an introduction to theater with Danielle Robertson and Robinson co-teaching for kids in third through sixth grade. Then later on in the summer, culminating with a performance July 14, the theater will be doing its young actors workshop for seventh through 12th-graders. The young actors will perform a fully produced version of “Hawk.” Throughout the rest of this summer season, Robinson also can be seen as a member of the ensemble of “Legally Blonde,” and as the Starkeeper in “Carousel.” Ben Dicke will return so that he and Robinson can co-direct the play “Blithe Spirit.” “Peter Pan” is at the Wagon Wheel through June 16. For more information, visit the website at wagonwheeltheatre.org A full video of this interview is on the Times-Union website at www.timesuniononline.com
