Lyndonville soars with Peter Pan musical

Photos by Tom Rivers

LYNDONVILLE – Lyndonville Central School is performing Peter Pan for the school’s annual musical. The top photo shows the cast on Friday’s opening night. There are more performances at 7 p.m. today and 2 p.m. on Sunday.

Gavyn Draper stars as Peter Pan and he gets to fly about the stage in several scenes. Peter Pan and other characters – Wendy, John and Michael Darling – get to fly by using wires with harnesses and pulleys.

There are about 35 students in the cast, 20-plus in the stage crew and another 14 in the pit orchestra.

Lyndonville is coming off a highly acclaimed musical season a year ago when its show, Newsies, was named “Production of the Year” for small schools in the Rochester region by the Stars of Tomorrow program which sends trained evaluators to the school musicals.

Draper, a sophomore, has been performing in shows since he was in third grade, first at his church. By fifth grade, he was on stage for the Lyndonville school musicals.

“I like singing and acting, and I like an audience,” he said before Friday’s show.

Last year’s show gave him “goose bumps” on stage to see how the cast came together in a  powerful way, and to see the crowd react.

He believes the message of Peter Pan is to embrace your childhood for as long as you can.

Austin Fonda plays the role of Captain Hook in Neverland. Captain Hook wants to kill Peter because he cut off his hand and threw it to a crocodile. Hook leads a group of pirates. In this photo, Fonda sings about a mysterious woman who has captured Hook’s fancy.

Sarah Corser plays the role of Tiger Lily, who leads a group of Indians who are hunting the pirates. Tiger Lily and Peter Pan reach a truce and friendship.

Peter Pan (Gavyn Draper) sprinkles some fairy dust on the three Darling children and urges then to “think lovely thoughts” so they can fly with him to Neverland. Emily Kroll plays Wendy (left), Jackson Hargrave is Michael Darling (center) and Bella Bresett is John Darling. In this scene, they’re singing, “I’m Flying.”

Draper is playing the role his mother, Katie (Thurber) Draper, played as Peter Pan in 2002. Becky Botsford, a Lyndonville music teacher, also was Wendy in the 2002 production. She is playing the bassoon in the pit orchestra for this year’s show.

Jen Trupo, the musical director the past 15 years at Lyndonville, said the flying characters make the show feel “magical.” She believes the musical shares a powerful message.

“I just want everyone to really soar above adversity and the all the Captain Hooks in their life and all the things that they are weighing them down,” she said.

Wendy Darling (Amy Kroll) is in Neverland and shares stories with the Lost Boys, who ask her to be their mother.