by Leanne Loy
Starting Friday, March 25 at the Paramount Center for the Arts, Roald Dahl’s famous story, “James and the Giant Peach” is being brought to the stage by students and staff of St. John’s Preparatory School.
They have been working on the play since January of this year and all their hard work will be shown to audiences starting tonight and going through Sunday, March 27.
The story itself is timeless and St. John’s Prep theater teacher and the play’s director Brandon Anderson has put in a lot of time, thought and creative ideas to portray a version of the play with a few surprises.
It’s common for there to be a giant peach on the stage in most productions, but Anderson noticed how that limits an actor’s ability to move about stage as they must be on the peach at all times and that can take a good amount of action away.
“We didn’t want to have a peach,” Anderson said, “We wanted the chance to explore movement with the actors.”
In place of the peach? Anderson and his students use technology. Getting the students involved with all aspects of the production is something that St. John’s Prep is known for and creating the visual effects for the play has been an amazing opportunity for them to do just that.
Anderson said on top of creating some animations that students are also involved with running the lights which also involves two projects for the silhouette images and conducting sound cues from the booth as well.
The story is about a young boy who is forced to live with his terrible aunts after the death of his parents. When he is put in charge of chopping down an old fruit tree that has become the home of some “bugs and pests” that’s when the magic happens. He embarks on an adventure of a lifetime that teaches him what being a part of a true family means.
This storyline means something to Anderson and it’s this thoughtful analysis of the play that helps bring the setting to life.
“Everyone is trying to confine [James] or limit him in some way,” Anderson said pointing out the cardboard boxes the make an arch over the stage. “This is him breaking out of those boxes, the mold that he’s been placed inside of.”
Those interested in catching one of the three performances this weekend can go to the Paramount’s website to order tickets at:
https://paramountarts.org/event/jgp_2022/
At rehearsals for “James and the Giant Peach” March 18, St. John’s Prep sophomore Liz Komaguum, of Kampala, Uganda (left) and ninth-grader, Annika Dauer, of Cold Spring, step up to the spotlight as they practice their choreography.
At one of the final rehearsals on March 18, eighth-grader Cecelia Weldon, of St. Joseph, sings a solo from “James and the Giant Peach.”
Cast members from “James and the Giant Peach” practice lines, choreography and singing March 18 at one of their last rehearsals before performing at the Paramount this weekend. They are (left to right) senior Noelle Buehrer of St. Cloud, senior Sophie Hwang of Sartell; seventh-grader Aksel Newman of St. Cloud, ninth-grader Elizabeth St. Hilare of St. Cloud, eighth-grader, Isaac Miller of Cold Spring and eighth-grader Cecelia Weldon of St. Joseph.
St. John’s Prep theater teacher Brandon Anderson of St. Joseph directs ninth- grader Elizabeth St. Hilare of St. Cloud as they add the finishing touches at “James and the Giant Peach” rehearsals March. 18.
Br. Paul-Vincent Niebauer, OSB, (Saint John’s Abbey), and junior Luke Christoffersen of Cold Spring mend one of the puppets for “James and the Giant Peach” at rehearsals March 18.
Students from St. John’s Prep work on the stage lighting and sound effects during rehearsals for “James and the Giant Peach” March 18. They are (left to right) freshman Benjamin St. Hilare of St. Cloud; junior Kai Kang of Seoul, South Korea; sophomore Hannah Fremo of Cold Spring; and senior Kayla Okonu of St. Cloud.
St. John’s Prep Junior Luke Christoffersen of Cold Spring and eight-grader Cecelia Weldon of St. Joseph practice a scene with a life-sized grasshopper puppet at “James and the Giant Peach” rehearsals March 18.
