The Georgia Southern University Performing Arts Center (PAC) is set to open their 2024-2025 Main Stage Season next week with the play, Peter and the Starcatcher. Peter and the Starcatcher is a musical prequel to the iconic story of Peter Pan that audiences have come to know and love.
This production will be a collaboration between the Georgia Southern Theatre Department and the PAC. Peter and the Starcatcher will have a soft opening on Thursday, November 14th at 10:30am. This morning performance will be a special showing of the production for area schools.
The production’s official opening for the public will be Thursday, November 14th at 7:30pm with additional performances running Friday, November 15th at 7:30pm and Sunday, November 17th at 2:00pm.
Lisa Abbott, the Director of the GS Theatre program, who is also directing the show, had this to say of the collaboration, “This has been a great opportunity for the theatre program to partner with the PAC, something we have not been able to do since before the Covid-19 pandemic. Not only that, but we also get to invite students from the area to a special school matinee performance.”
The script is an imaginative retelling of how the Boy, a miserable orphan, went on an epic adventure to become Peter Pan – the boy who never gave up. Join us as our intrepid adventurers travel the seven seas, visit fantastical islands, fight pirates, chat with mermaids, and discover the true magic of Neverland!
Abbott continued, “Peter and the Starcatcher is fundamentally an origin story for both Peter Pan and Captain Hook! We get to see how they ended up in Neverland. There are many layers of humor to this show – it doesn’t take itself too seriously and invites imagination and fun.”
Producing a show that appealed to audiences of all ages, including current season subscribers, as well as students from area schools, while actively supporting the training of Georgia Southern students, was something that appealed to both Abbott and Daniel Brown, Director of the PAC. Part of the Performing Art Center’s mission is to support and enhance the educational programming of the university’s entertainment and performance industry programs, including the Georgia Southern Theatre, the Fred and Dinah Gretsch School of Music, and the Department of Communication Arts, by facilitating a safe and instructive environment for future visionaries within the entertainment industry.
Of the collaboration, Brown said, “I am very excited to be opening a brand-new season here with the PAC and GS Theatre co-produced production of Peter and the Starcatcher. To be entering this season with a revitalized mission that includes facilitating space for our own students to learn and thrive has been one of my biggest goals as the Director of the PAC.”
Producing shows for our community that showcases Georgia Southern’s own students, and their respective talent, is something season subscribers can continue to expect in the PAC’s future. Peter and the Starcatcher will feature students from the GS Theatre department, as well as students and alumni from the Gretsch School of Music.
On working with Georgia Southern’s students, Abbott said, “One of the things that is a big benefit to my job is not just working with student actors but with student designers. I have a student lighting and costume designer on this show, and they are doing amazing work. “In addition to Peter and the Starcatcher, during the spring 2025 semester, the PAC will be co-producing The Country Wife with the GS Theatre department.”
Brown plans to continue focusing on featuring and supporting students when planning for future seasons. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, you can sponsor or fully underwrite a production at the PAC today.
“The PAC is open for sponsorships and underwriters for all our productions. Please know that donations made to the Performing Arts Center will be used to help fund future productions that showcase our own students and their talents. Additionally, this funding helps provide educational opportunities for not only Georgia Southern students, but also students of the greater Bulloch County area by allowing us to bring in professional theatre companies to perform in our annual School Matinee Series.”
If you are interested in giving a gift to either the Georgia Southern Performing Arts Center or the GS Theatre Department, please click the following link: https://www.givecampus.com/campaigns/53729/donations/new?.
Tickets for the 10:30am School Matinee performance of Peter and the Starcatcher are $5 for all attendees. Additionally, tickets for the three Main Stage performances are $20 for Standard tickets and $10 for Student tickets.
For all performances, tickets can be purchased online at any time by visiting https://www.tix.com/ticket-sales/gasouthernpac/7265 or in-person through the ticket office located in the Nessmith-Lane Conference Center at 847 Plant Drive, Statesboro, Georgia, 30460.
Additionally, tickets for can be purchased by calling (912) 478-7999. Ticket office hours Monday through Friday from 1:00pm-4:00pm. For more information about becoming a season subscriber, please email [email protected].