National Tour Cast Announced for Peter and the Starcatcher
Peabody Opera House
The producers of PETER AND THE STARCATCHER, the five-time Tony Award®-winning musical play written by Tony Award® nominee Rick Elice and directed by Tony® Award winner Roger Rees and Tony® Award nominee Alex Timbers, are pleased to announce casting for the National Tour, which kicks off in Denver, CO on August 15, 2013 at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House.
The PETER AND THE STARCATCHER National Tour cast features Joey deBettencourt (Boy), Megan Stern (Molly), John Sanders (Black Stache) Harter Clingman (Alf), Jimonn Cole (Slank), Nathan Hosner (Lord Aster), Carl Howell (Prentiss), Ian Michael Stuart (Captain Scott), Benjamin Schrader (Mrs. Bumbrake) Luke Smith (Smee), Edward Tournier (Ted), Lee Zarrett (Fighting Prawn), Ben Beckley, Robert Franklin Neill, Rachel Prather and Nick Vidal.
In the spirit of the PETER AND THE STARCATCHER Tony Award®-winning sustainable set design, the producers invited the venues on the tour route to contribute reusable items to help build the tour proscenium. Denver sent in Coors bottle caps, Seattle collected wine corks from the bars at their theater and Dallas arranged a special collection drive at Klyde Warren Park to collect items. Additional items donated by the PETER AND THE STARCATCHER tour markets include small children’s toy figures, old silverware, used rope, buttons and whopper poppers, cords, aluminum can lids, old cooking tools, tin can tops, balls and paper tubes.
Set Designer Donyale Werle, who won the 2012 Tony Award® for PETER AND THE STARCATCHER, is a leader at the Broadway Green Alliance and has gained much acclaim for her use of salvaged materials in her sets. The Broadway set for PETER AND THE STARCATCHER was made almost entirely of recycled materials.
The rest of the design team for PETER AND THE STARCATCHER includes Paloma Young (Costume Design), Jeff Croiter (Lighting Design), Darron L West (Sound Design), who all won Tony Awards® for their work on the show, along with Steven Hoggett (Movement), Wayne Barker (Music), Jacob Grigolia‐Rosenbaum (Fight Direction) and Marco Paguia (Music Supervision).
PETER AND THE STARCATCHER, a grown up’s prequel to Peter Pan, is the innovative and imaginative musical play based on the best‐selling novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. A company of a dozen actors play more than a hundred unforgettable characters, all on a journey to answer the century‐old question: How did Peter Pan become The Boy Who Never Grew Up? This epic origin story of popular culture’s most enduring and beloved character proves that your imagination is the most captivating place in the world.
PETER AND THE STARCATCHER won five 2012 Tony Awards® (the most of any play of the 2011-2012 season) and was named one of The New York Times, New York Magazine and The New Yorker’s Top 10 Shows of the Year.
The New York Times hails PETER AND THE STARCATCHER as “the most exhilarating storytelling on Broadway in decades,” New York Post exclaims it is “the gold standard of Peter Pan shows” and Entertainment Weekly calls the show “an absurdly funny fantastical journey.”
PETER AND THE STARCATCHER is produced by Nancy Nagel Gibbs, Greg Schaffert, Eva Price, Tom Smedes and Disney Theatrical Productions.
PETER AND THE STARCATCHER is suitable for younger audiences but most enjoyable for those 10 and up.
Biographies
JOEY deBETTENCOURT (Boy) Proud Chicagoan and Northwestern graduate. Theatre: South of Settling (Steppenwolf Theatre), Punk Rock - Jeff Award, Flare Path (Griffin Theatre), Cherrywood (Mary-Arrchie). Film: At Any Price. Thanks to Julie, my family and Shirley’s.
JOHN SANDERS (Black Stache) returns to Neverland after appearing on Broadway as Black Stache, Aster, Bumbrake and Capt. Scott. Other credits include Sergei in the original Broadway cast of Matilda the Musical, and Sam in the Mamma Mia! North American Tour. Chicago credits: Goodman (Turn of the Century), Chicago Shakespeare (Cymbeline, Troilus & Cressida), Writers’ (The Real Thing, Oh Coward), Drury Lane Oakbrook (Spamalot, Miss Saigon), Stage Left, Chicago Dramatists. TV: “Last Man Standing”. Film: “Alleged;” “No God, No Master.”
MEGAN STERN (Molly) Credits include: Be the Death of Me (The Civilians), Raptured (Play Co.), The Material World (Dixon Place), The London Merchant (Storm Theatre), The Tempest (Porpentine Theater Co.), Straight Up Vampire (Joe’s Pub), and Pride and Prejudice (NYMF).
HARTER CLINGMAN (Alf) is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago. Recent credits include Terry Twyman's Saloon (Peninsula Players), See What I Wanna See (Bailiwick/Steppenwolf), Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (Bailiwick), State Street (City Lit), Absolute Hell (The Gift Theatre) and Spring Awakening (Griffin Theater).
JIMONN COLE (Slank) Off-Broadway: New York Theatre Workshop, Signature Theatre, The Culture Project, The Acting Co., Keen Co.. Regional: The Old Globe, The Shakespeare Theatre DC, Arena Stage, Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Film: Spinning Into Butter. Graduate of The Juilliard School.
NATHAN HOSNER (Lord Aster) Chicago: Chicago Shakespeare, Goodman, Writers', Paramount, and First Folio Theatres. Regional: Alabama, Arkansas, Door, and Illinois Shakespeare Theatres, American Players, Boarshead, and Madison Rep Theatres. Nathan is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
CARL HOWELL (Prentiss) is a Hammonton, NJ native. Credits include: Romeo and Juliet (Romeo, Hudson Valley Shakespeare), Halo/Titanic (Old Vic New Voices), The Seagull (Konstantin), New Victory, The Pearl, Shelby Company. BFA NYU. Major thanks to Mom, Dad, Meredith, and Angie. www.carlhowell.com
IAN MICHAEL STUART (Captain Scott) NYC: Rocky, The Last Goodbye. Regional: Sweeney Todd, Phantom, A Man Of No Importance, and Tick, Tick…BOOM! Graduate of UC Irvine. Thanks BRS, Jason, Roger, Alex, Jillian and Roundabout. Love to Jimmy, and Jenn. For Mom and Dad! www.Ianmichaelstuart.com and www.Ianstuartphotography.com
BENJAMIN SCHRADER (Mrs. Bumbrake) Broadway: The Book of Mormon (Original Elder White and Yoda), Avenue Q, Ragtime. National Tour: Big River. Film/TV: Disney's “Frozen”, BBC’s “Rebels and Redcoats.” Host of SiriusXM radio's "The Stage Door Supper Club". www.benjaminschrader.com
LUKE SMITH (Smee) Off-Broadway: Hit the Wall (u/s). Regional: The Buddy Holly Story, Hedwig..., My Fair Lady, Godspell. B.F.A. University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Songwriter for band Awning: awning.bandcamp.com.
EDWARD TOURNIER (Ted) Selected Credits: Mother Courage and Her Children (American Repertory Theatre), The Rivals (Huntington), The History Boys (Ahmanson), Secrets of the Trade (Black Dahlia), Mercury Fur (Needtheater), Supernova (Elephant) Futura (Boston Court), Monkey Adored (Rogue Machine).
LEE ZARRETT (Fighting Prawn) Broadway: Hair, Spelling Bee, Jane Eyre. Tour: Les Misérables, My Fair Lady. Off-Broadway: New Victory, Vineyard, Encores!. Regional: La Jolla, NY Stage and Film, Williamstown. TV: “Boardwalk Empire,” “Louie.”
BEN BECKLEY (u/s Smee/Slank/Alf/Fighting Prawn/Mrs. Bumbrake) Theater: The Assembly, The Actors Company, New Georges, Berkshire Theatre Group, Joe's Pub, Flea, HERE, Temporary Distortion. Film: “The Onion.” Ben has developed and premiered work with Christopher Durang, Adam Rapp and Robert Wilson. www.benbeckley.com
ROBERT FRANKLIN NEILL (u/s Lord Aster/Slank/Alf/Black Stache/Captain Scott) is a founding member of the NY Neo-Futurists. Broadway: London Assurance; London: The Cherry Orchard; Regional: You Never Can Tell, Tartuffe; Off-Off Broadway: Spring Awakening, Hamlet, Doughboy. He studied at LAMDA, NTI, and Grinnell.
RACHEL PRATHER (u/s Molly/Ted/Prentiss/Mrs. Bumbrake) is honored to join the cast of PATSC. Regional credits include Fiddler on the Roof (WBT); Nine (SpeakEasy Stage). BFA The Boston Conservatory. Thanks to God, her family, friends, CGF, and Jim Carnahan Casting.
NICK VIDAL (u/s Boy/Prentiss/Ted/Fighting Prawn/Captain Scott) Chicago credits: Iphigenia 2.0 (Next Theatre); The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (Steppenwolf for Young Adults); Aftermath (Signal Ensemble); The Picture of Dorian Gray (Life Line Theatre); TV: "Chicago Fire" Film: "Black Box".