Peter Pan Goes Wrong

This show. What a monster. What a beautiful behemoth of a farce.

I auditioned for this production back in 2019, but I had a gig that overlapped and couldn’t do it. And then of course, the world shut down, so nobody could do it.

Last October I got to audition for it again — same production; they were going to make a second attempt in the spring and needed to fill one of the smaller parts. The audition went well, but someone else got the job. So it goes. About a month later, I got an email asking if I’d like to be a stand-by understudy. For five different parts. I said yes.

Well, I gulped — and then I said yes.

Having the luxury of a whole month off beforehand, I was able to come in off-book on day one. This turned out to be invaluable as I spent the entirety of the next four weeks scrambling just to get the blocking written down, sometimes bouncing back and forth between rehearsal halls, trying to pick up at least half of all that was happening. I ended up with a 19 thousand word document full of notes like “Enter stage left at a sprint, trip over so-and-so, be careful not to get crushed by the revolving stage.”

Then we opened. I dusted off my hands, put my feet up, and was immediately called in to cover one of the smaller roles. A few days after that, I did a four show weekend as Captain Hook (see photo below), and now I’m back doing the smaller part until we close on Wednesday, which means I’ll have gone on for nearly half of all the performances by the end of the contract.

Over this short run I’ve managed to hurt myself several times, including bruising a rib, aggravating my right knee (weakened by a bad sprain in a previous show), and badly stubbing a toe (I may lose the nail).

All that said, I’m still over the moon to be part of this show. I get to work with so many talented funny people — not least of all the director, Adam Meggido, who knows this play (and comedy in general, it seems) backwards and forwards.

If you missed us in Edmonton, we’ll be doing another run in Vancouver soon. You’ll be kicking yourself if you miss it; it’s one of the funniest things I’ve ever worked on. And if all goes well, I will be nowhere to be seen.

Click here to see the show page on the Citadel’s website.

(Photo Credit: Jamie Cavanagh. Costume Design: Roberto Surace.)

What would the world be like without Captain Hook?