‘James and the Giant Peach ‘ glides into Oskaloosa – Oskaloosa Herald

OSKALOOSA Oskaloosa High School students are ready to take a big bite out a giant peach onstage at George Daily Auditorium

Roald Dahls beloved 1961 novel, adapted into a musical, will come to the stage March 6 and 7.

Director Allison McGuire said audiences of all ages will be very familiar with the story of James Henry Trotter and his new friends. James encounters a mysterious stranger and a magical spell that turns a regular-sized peach and nearby creatures into giants.

They have this fantastic adventure on the high seas on the giant peach that carries them all the way to New York City to get stuck on the Empire State Building, she said. The musical really tells the classic story; there are no major changes to the plot. The only thing thats been added is really the phenomenal music thats in this show.

The stage adaptation was written by Timothy Allen McDonald, with music and lyrics composed by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.

Theyre the composers who are behind the music and the movie The Greatest Showman, the musical Dear Evan Hansen, so theyve found a lot of commercial success in their projects, McGuire said. This is one of the earliest shows that they wrote together, but it really has that feel of just get stuck in your head, toe-tapping tunes and just really a classic show tune feel.

McGuire said there are 45 students who are involved with the production onstage and offstage, with lots of opportunity for creativity.

The show gives us a chance to be really fantastical, everything from the costumes for the bugs to the puppets that are involved, she said. There are parade-style, human-sized puppets that our performers actually wear at points. They were all created and designed by students, so this has been a really fun show since it is set in a fantastical world, the students have really been free to use all of their creativity to bring the world to life, whether its through makeup or through the set design.

Students have also worked on painting the set as well as creating the logo, working on marketing and other production tasks.

So it really is a student-designed piece, McGuire said.

Tickets are $4 for children and $8 for adults, with a family pass available for $20.

Once you reach that $20 ticket cost, everyone thats coming in your family can come for that $20, McGuire said. It is a show that really is meant to be enjoyed by kids and by families and we really want to make it a possibility for as many families to come together as possible.

James: Jade Whitley; Ladahlord: Nicholas Ingamells; Grasshopper: Sage Cochran; Ladybug: Lauren Milledge; Spider: Maddy Keough; Earthworm: Colin Fietchner; Centipede: Cayden Kinzenbach; Spiker: Maddie Hamilton; Sponge: Amber Lindley; ensemble performers portray seagulls, reporters, Oompa Loompas and other characters.

For the second year, Oskaloosa High School thespians will be participating in the Iowa High School Musical Theatre Awards, an initiative of Des Moines Performing Arts.

McGuire said nearly 90 Iowa schools of all sizes are participating

Three adjudicators will be coming to see the show over our weekend. They will give us feedback and ways that we can improve for the next performance that we do, she said. And then there will be a Tony awards-style awards ceremony at the Civic Center in June, where Oskaloosa will have the opportunity to have some students perform in group medleys and maybe in some other ways as well.

The students who participated last year, McGuire said, appreciated seeing the breadth of the musical theatre world in Iowa; just seeing more schools perform, understand whats out there, how schools do things differently.

And I think it really pushed them to know that they could take their performances to the next level, she said. And they really knew what they were striving for because the bar had been reset for them; they had seen what else is out there.

Managing Editor Angie Holland can be reached at aholland@oskyherald.com and followed on Twitter @OskyAngie.

When: 7 p.m. on March 6 and 7.

Where: George Daily Auditorium, 1800 N. Third St.

Tickets: Tickets are $8 for adults and $4 for students; a family pass is $20.

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'James and the Giant Peach ' glides into Oskaloosa - Oskaloosa Herald