Don’t tell the audience, but Captain Hook and Wendy are actually best friends.
Well, in real life. Wendy, portrayed in the first act by McKenna Bryan, 15, a sophomore at Rochester High School, said she’s met many of her best friends at the Centralia Ballet Academy, including Hook, who’s played by Tess McMurry, 16, a sophomore at Centralia High School.
Though friends off the stage, the performers in Centralia Ballet Academy’s performance of Peter Pan make the classic story’s conflict feel incredibly real, especially in the self-choreographed final fight scene.
The show will be held this weekend, on April 21, 22 and 23 at the Centralia High School Performing Arts Center. Showings will take place at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
Wesley Wilhelmi, who plays Peter Pan, created the fight with McMurry, mixing martial arts with ballet in the high-tension scene. Each dancer interviewed by The Chronicle said it was their favorite part of the show.
Wilhelmi has danced in eight ballets previously and said this is his first time being cast as the lead.
Dancers in the ballet academy performance range from ages 8 to adult. Over 60 people are in the Peter Pan cast and, in the final fight scene, 30 of them appear on stage.
For Cael Best, 10, who plays John, creating the feeling of true conflict and eventual resolution with little brother Michael was the most challenging and rewarding part of the performance.
“The starting part with his family — (John) loves his family so much. He’s basically nice to everyone, I like that about him,” Cael said, later adding, “I feel like (the fight between he and Michael) is a good way to just start off the play.”
For the most part, the ballet is true to the Disney adaption of Peter Pan, said Mickey Gunter, who owns the academy with his wife, Nancy. The only big change is Neverland’s “Indians” are replaced with Roman-style warriors.
“We just felt that wasn’t our story to tell,” Gunter said of the original animated Disney version’s portrayal of Indigenous people.
One scene that slightly deviates from the original, Gunter said, is when Peter Pan dons a veil and skirt in the “Bugs Bunny versus Elmer Fudd method” to fight the pirates. He said most of the kids hadn’t seen Bugs Bunny before Gunter showed them the clip. Most of them had seen Disney’s Peter Pan, though.
“Anything that we do, we try to make it funny,” Gunter said. “Intentionally.”
All tickets cost $10 and can be purchased at the door to the show or at centraliaballet.com. For questions, call or text 360-623-9010.
