Zentertainment ENTERTAINMENT BRIEFS SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
‘One City’ The first One City, One Book group discussion about the book “All But My Life,” by Gerda Weissmann Klein, will be held from 3 to 5 p.m. today at the Laredo Public Library H-E-B Multi-Purpose Room. The group discussion will be held in an informal setting. For more information, call Pam Burrell at the Laredo Public Library, 795-2400, ext. 2268.
Mindfest The Imaginarium of South Texas will hold its family event MindFest at Mall del Norte from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today in a festival that will integrate science, art and engineering in playful experiences. It is free with admission. Whether it’s making music on a fruit xylophone or taking apart mom’s toaster, MindFest will dare children to harness the creative potential of technology and problem-solving. Among the engaging activities slated for MindFest are light painting, programmable “cricket” motor creations, making art with doodle bots and Rube Goldberg inventions. Today will also serve as the grand opening of our newest exhibit, “Visual Vibrations,” from the world-renowned Exploratorium of San Francisco. Illuminating insights into the complex process of interpreting our world though the eyes, brain and subjectivity are presented in “Visual Vibrations” — an exhibition that provides insight to how the eye and brain function together and determines what we see — or think we see. For more information, call the Imaginarium of South Texas at 728-0404.
Community art classes Tap into the right side of your brain and find your inner artist with a beginner adult painting class in acrylics at Texas A&M In-
ternational University this fall. Register for the class Thursday from 4 to 7 p.m. at the TAMIU Center for the Fine and Performing Arts, Room 219. Admission to the university is not required. Classes will meet Thursdays from 6 to 9 p.m. from Thursday, Sept. 4, through Thursday, Dec. 4. Tuition is $110 per month or $300 for the three-month session if paid in full. The fee does not include art supplies. A supply list will be available at registration. For more information, call the TAMIU College of Arts and Sciences’ department of fine and performing arts at 326-2654.
Call for performers Actors, singers and dancers are sought by the Opera Workshops of Laredo Community College and Texas A&M International University for their joint production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s popular musical “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” during open auditions Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. in the Guadalupe and Lilia Martinez Fine Arts Center, Room 102, at the LCC Fort McIntosh Campus. “Those who audition should prepare one song from memory and bring a copy of their sheet music for the accompanist,” said Dana Crabtree, TAMIU instructor of music and voice. Rehearsals will be held weeknights from 7:30 to 9:30. The performance will run from Thursday, Oct. 16, through Sunday, Oct. 19. For more information, call Joseph Crabtree at LCC at 7215869 or Dana Crabtree at TAMIU at 326-3040.
‘The Best Man’ Gore Vidal’s “The Best Man,” the first offering in a new cooperative theater venture between the Laredo Theater Guild and Texas A&M International University, will bow at TAMIU’s Center for the Fine and Performing Arts’ Sam Johnson Experimental Theatre on Thursday, Aug. 21, at 8 p.m.
SATURDAY,AUGUST16,2008
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‘Peter Pan’ features all-children cast By KIRSTEN CROW THE ZAPATA TIMES
For anyone who has Peter Pan syndrome or knows someone who does — and you likely do, regardless of your age — this is the weekend to embrace and appreciate that simultaneously aggravating and appealing quality by watching the source of the term play out on the stage in a charming production featuring an all-children cast. In its final show of the summer, the young thespians of Laredo Little Theatre are continuing their performances of the beloved characters of J.M. Barrie’s “Peter Pan,” in a production underwritten by the Women’s City Club and directed by Adalberto Chavarria. For the kids, this is a fantasy tale, complete with all the ingredients to widen their eyes — wild children with no parents to force them to clean their rooms, pirates, Indians and fairies — and for the adults, it’s a time to watch the children shine, as well as indulge in some clever social commentary about the behavior of men that spawned the term “Peter Pan syndrome.”
The play The production opens with the children — Wendy, John and Michael Darling — preparing for bed in their comfortable nursery as Nana, the dog, keeping watchful eye over their movements while Mr. and Mrs. Darling prepare for an evening out. Wendy is reliably the most sensible and sweet-tempered voice of the bunch, while John shows glimmers of an intrepid spirit, and Michael is the youngest and adorably precocious. Shortly after the children’s parents leave, a boy with a fairy in tow appears. He is searching for his shadow, which escaped from him while visiting the nursery a previous evening. The initial meeting is a sweet
one, as Wendy helps sew Peter Pan’s shadow back to his feet, including the famous exchange of a thimble as a “kiss.” Wooed by the idea of flying, the children follow Peter Pan to Neverland, where they are shown a world where the scrappy Lost Boys live unhindered by parental guidance or being forced to school “to learn solemn names,” mermaids are treacherous, Captain Hook is fearsome and “The Wendy,” as the lone female, “is better than 20 boys.” There are sword fights, laughter and tricks, and the biggest villain of them all is, in fact, an adult — but, of course, it all has a happy ending. It’s certainly a children’s world, where every time someone says they don’t believe in fairies, one “drops dead,” “forever” can mean a week and “Mother” is the healer of all ills. Some of the parts, such as Nana, are virtually silent, but the actors render them effective. As for the jealous Tink, she only responds occasionally with the angry jingling of bells.
Behind the scenes Chavarria, a coordinator at the Laredo Entertainment Center and director of “Peter Pan,” said while last weekend’s run was certainly successful, he fully expected this weekend would draw bigger crowds. For five weeks, the children — about 35 in total — have toiled away learning their lines and blocking, he said. A few of the principle roles, such as Wendy, Captain Hook and Peter Pan, were double cast to give several of the children an opportunity to share the limelight, Chavarria added. The costumes were created in Laredo by cast members’ parent and the crew “based on what we had seen in the cartoon and in the movie collaboration,” he added. The set was where it got tricky. “With children, you’ll find
Photo by Ricardo Segovia | Laredo Morning Times
Matthew Violeta, playing Michael, battles Polo Garcia, playing a pirate, during a rehearsal of “Peter Pan” at the Laredo Little Theatre. talent to different degrees, but with the set, that’s the challenging one,” Chavarria said, noting that backstage storage space at the LLT is scarce for a play with six scenes. “The initial concept was to give it representation, the idea … (i.e.) the beds (in the first scene in the Darling nursery) turn into other things. They were part of the Neverland scene, part of the ship and also the rock.”
Follow the morning “Peter Pan” will have performances at 8 p.m. tonight and 3 p.m. Sunday at the Laredo Little Theatre, 4602 Thomas Ave. The Laredo Little Theatre is a nonprofit organization. Admission is $5. For more information, call 723-1342. (Kirsten Crow may be reached at 728-2543 or by e-mail at kirsten@lmtonline.com)