Review: Dinner and a Show - Levoy's PETER PAN and the Old Oar House Irish Pub

We enjoyed a lovely lunch at the Old Oar House Irish Pub who offer both traditional Irish dishes such as corned beef and Sheppard's pie to homemade sandwiches and platters. They also boast a generous specialty beer list. Our choices were the Ruben and sauerkraut balls, a traditional Ruben sandwich and a roasted pork, spinach and cheese sandwich with sweet potatoes fries. The pub is located directly across from the theater on N. High Street. www.oldoarhouse.com 856.293.1200

The Levoy Theatre opened in 1908 with a theatre on the first floor and a dance hall on the upper floor. By the 1920's "The New Levoy" was expanded and seen as a "second to none" Vaudville House. Through the 1930's-40's it was taken over by Warner Bros. and became home to movie goers. During the 1950's the theatre declined as television became readily available. In 1976 after several years a young Joey Pierce championed the preserving of historic structures and rekindled and restored the Levoy with the help of many volunteers and supporters.

On to the show... Peter Pan is a show that has a lot of moving parts, so it's not easy to create. Stage and Musical Director Walter A. Webster and team present a fun, vigorous and vibrant production. Peter Pan requires a well-prepared cast of adults and kids who can sing and dance and the Off Broad Street Players have every reason to crow as well. Leading the cast as the flying boy who refuses to grow up is Caitlin Geisser. Young Geisser, an artistic director herself captures the role as well as any who have mastered the trick of flying, jumping and generally convincing the crowd that she indeed will never grow up. She has a full grasp on the role and simply delights.

Her arch enemy Captain Hook is played by Sidney Manfred Maycock. No stranger to stage having performed in several lead roles including Shrek (Lord Farquaad), and Spamalot (King Arthur). Maycock is comically evil and a bumbling mess of fun to watch! A standout performance is offered by Victoria Rose Mozitis who plays Wendy Darling in a very mature manner with a sweet singing voice and Lindsay Nakai's Tiger Lilly is high energy and athletic as well as truly adorable. The Darling children played by Scott Magee Jr. (John) and Mason Corey (Michael) are in good hands as the youngsters never skip a beat in their roles. Hook's sidekick Smee ( Matthew Camardo) is animated and entertaining to watch as are all the bumbling pirates, the energetic natives and the bouncy Lost Boys invited on board for this production. Each seeming to have the time of their lives!

Katie Kiessling is a commanding choreographer as she captures enormous amounts of energy and harnesses this rather large ensemble of adults and quite creatively. Scenic designer Mary Boner magically morphs the stage from a house to a ship to a jungle with nice originality and a fairly smooth transition. Costumes by Shaun Laurencio and Shannon Sheridan ranging from Nanny the sheepdog (and other random animals) to evening wear to pirate garb are impressive! An orchestra that's playing nearly all the time and special effects that depict a twinkling fairy, among other things create great excitement that one would expect...but the flying by ZFX Inc. is outstanding and the actors are thrilling throughout all the flights!

PETER PAN plays at the Levoy Theatre, 126 N. High St. Millville, NJ through August 20th. For more information about this production, The Levoy Theatre and their upcoming season visit www.levoy.net or call 856.327.6400

Production Photos by White Marsh Photography

Levoy Theatre Photos courtesy Levoy Theater