Okemos resident Noah Kimmel, 14, third from right, performs as Peter in the play Peter Pan Saturday afternoon. Presented by the All-of-us Express Children’s Theatre, the production was held at the East Lansing Hannah Community Center, 819 Abbot Road, and featured a cast of performers ranging from kindergartners to high school students.
Capturing the magic of Peter Pan is part of Sarah Willis’ job.
Willis, a creative writing sophomore at Grand Valley State University, directs this summer’s production of Peter Pan at All-of-us-Express Children’s Theatre at the Hannah Community Center, 819 Abbot Road., which premiered Friday night.
The All-of-us-Express Children’s Theatre is a local nonprofit organization that produces plays throughout the year.
Willis has been with the children’s theater for 12 years as an actor and director, and said she makes it a point to come back every summer.
“Live theater is such a lost art these days,” she said. “The only place you can really go to get it is New York or Chicago, or something like that. It’s nice to have it in not a huge city. It’s great to get kids involved in theater when they’re young, because then they will love it for the rest of their life.”
This summer, the production of Peter Pan came as a surprise to Willis, who said she was thrilled to be able to lead a production of such magic.
Experiencing the casts growth from being inexperienced to becoming the character is one of the best parts of her job, Willis said.
“My favorite part of directing is watching all these kids grow into these roles, because when we started they didn’t necessarily know what they were doing. They have learned a lot,” she said. “My job is to teach and they have taught me as well.”
Seventeen-year-old cast member Amelia Rogocka has been acting with the theater for 10 years, and landed a role as Captain Hook in the production.
Rogocka returns to the theater every year to act, and said she has gained many positive experiences from acting with the group.
“I have learned how to be a better leader, like I know how to bring a show together,” she said. “I have also gotten more confident on stage, I don’t get pre-show jitters or anything like that (anymore).”
But the audience’s reaction is her favorite part of acting, Rogocka said.
“Being able to express a different story, you get to dress up as someone else and you get to portray someone else,” she said. “Then everyone in the audience is like, ‘Wow.’”
Grand Ledge, Mich., resident Sherri Kolb has three children in the play, all of whom are participating for the first time.
Kolb said she had the chance to watch the play evolve from rehearsals to production, and opening night was an emotional experience for many of the parents, including herself.
“Opening night, I cried,” Kolb said. “I did, my mom cried, lots of parents cried. It just went really well; it just all came together. It was just really nice for everyone … and just watching all these kids put their hearts and souls into it, they just dug in and really took it seriously.”
Kolb said watching the final product was an amazing experience for her children who have never acted before. Seven-year-old Jeffrey Kolb played Michael, while his brothers, twins Johhny and Joshua Kolb, played sprites, which are fairies.
“As a parent, it was a very exciting to see all the different kids take their roles and make it theirs,” Sherri Kolb said. “It really teaches the whole experience and how to share the magic. It has just been an amazing experience.”
Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
