James V. Hart Set for PETER/WENDY Talkback, 5/31

the cell: A Twenty First Century Salon, Founding Artistic Director Nancy Manocherian, and Artistic Director Kira Simring, are pleased to welcome the screenwriter of Steven Spielberg's Hook, James V. Hart, for a post-performance discussion at the May 31st Jeremy Bloom's PETER/WENDY adapted from J.M. Barrie's "Peter Pan and Wendy" and "The Little White Bird", which will be playing a limited engagement at the cell (338 W. 23rd St NYC).

Performances begin Thursday, May 30 and continue through Saturday, June 22. Press are invited to all performances. Tickets are available at www.thecelltheatre.org. Donations to the The Peter Pan Children's Fund, an organization that encourages philanthropy by children in support of organizations worldwide for children, which was founded by Hart's daughter, will be collected at all performances and are encouraged in support of PETER/WENDY.

Hart plans to share his life-long interaction with the Peter Pan story including his writing the screenplay for Hook and many films inspired by adventure, imagination, and the spirit of youth. Signed copies of his recent children's book, Capt. Hook: The Adventures of a Notorious Youth will be available for purchase and proceeds will benefit the Peter Pan Children's Fund.

Hart came up with the idea that became Hook in conversation with his son, Jake. "We used to play a game at the dinner table where we tried to stand the great fairy tales and the great stories on their head and come up with a "what if?" "What if the glass slipper didn't fit Cinderella's foot?" "What if the ring didn't fit Frodo's finger?" And then Jake asked the question, "Well, did Peter Pan ever grow up?" And I was not a very good parent in those days, and I said, "Yeah, that's a stupid question. Of course Peter Pan never grew up. Are you crazy?" And then he sort of defiantly looked at me and said, "Yeah, but what if Peter Pan grew up?"

And that was it-all the bells and whistles went off. That was when we all realized that we had all outgrown our ability to fly and our belief in fairies, and we'd sold out our imaginations and our childhoods to be capitalists and materialistic and successful. We really had forgotten. We really had killed Peter Pan. And that was the beginning of the idea of Peter Pan growing up. And we worked on the story together as a family, and that became the basis for the movie seven years later."

In PETER/ WENDY the plight of Peter Pan takes on new life in an anxiety-ridden, deadly adventurous world of love, fairy dust and twilight. The pajama-clad performers, an exuberant ensemble of lost boys, pirates, fairies, and mermaids, explore familiar text compiled from the J.M. Barrie novels, "Peter Pan and Wendy" and "The Little White Bird." Featuring Bloom's signature low-tech, inventive image staging, PETER/WENDY reveals the nuances of Neverland.

The production stars John McLaughlin (Hard Times at the cell) as Peter, Jessie Shelton (Lady Han) as Wendy, LaChrisha Brown (La Boheme (Spoken) at the cell) as Tinkerbell, Julia Steele Allen (My Gay Banjo) as Tiger Lilly, Evan Kuzma (Sisterhood of the Night) as A Lost Boy/Mermaid, Tim Eliot (Empirical Rouge) as Mr. Darling/Smee, and Brittany Bellizeare (Sunjata Kamalenya at The McCarter) as Mrs. Darling/Hook.

Produced in association with RADY&BLOOM, the production features scenic design by Brian Rady, costume design by Erin Schultz, and lighting design by Gertjan Houben. Jessica Marrazzo is the associate designer, Keri Taylor is the assistant producer, Josh Kelleyis the assistant director, and Mackenzie Meeks is the stage manager.

PETER/WENDY plays the following regular schedule through Saturday, June 22:

Thursdays at 8 p.m.
Fridays at 8 p.m.
Saturdays at 8 p.m.

Tickets are $15-18 and are now available online at www.thecelltheatre.org or by calling 1-800-838-3006. Tickets may also be purchased in-person at the theater a ½ hour prior to performance