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Barletta, Yudichak, Toohil to co-host heroin/opioid forum

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Big plans from Luzerne County’s big three colleges

<p>NUANGOLA &#8212; Take pirates and orphans, an oh-so-proper British nanny, an oh-so-cruel headmaster, and a lagoon full of fish.</p><p>Add a touch of starstuff, and you&#8217;ll have many of the ingredients for Theatre at the Grove&#8217;s production of &#8220;Peter and the Starcatcher.&#8221;</p><p>Since starstuff is a magical substance that makes wishes come true, you&#8217;ll also find the lagoon full of fish has turned into a lagoon full of mermaids.</p><p>&#8220;We have men in drag playing mermaids,&#8221; director Mike Marone said with a laugh. &#8220;Their upper parts are covered with clocks and coconuts. It looks like whatever was lying around on a ship.&#8221;</p><p>Based on a 2004 novel by humor writer Dave Barry and suspense writer Ridley Pearson and transformed into a play by Rick Elice, &#8220;Peter and the Starcatcher&#8221; is a prequel to the classic tale of Peter Pan, the boy who didn&#8217;t want to grow up.</p><p>Why was Peter so reluctant to leave childhood behind?</p><p>&#8220;Grempkin, the schoolmaster of the orphanage is so very, very mean, he forms the basis of Peter&#8217;s distrust of adults,&#8221; said local actor Scott Colin, who has that role.</p><p>In an ensemble cast where a dozen actors portray multiple characters, Colin also portrays Fighting Prawn, an islander who was kidnapped as a boy and forced to work in a kitchen.</p><p>Just about everything Fighting Prawn says sounds like a word from an Italian cookbook, but it means something different in his language.</p><p>&#8220;Cannelloni and Chianti and tiramisu all mean something else,&#8221; Marone said. &#8220;It&#8217;s like &#8216;pasta&#8217; means &#8216;capture them&#8217; and &#8216;antipasto&#8217; means &#8216;let them go.&#8217;&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s family friendly,&#8221; the director continued. &#8220;Kids will love it for the ridiculous physical humor, and adults will get some of the innuendo that goes over the kids&#8217; heads.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;If you ever wondered about Peter Pan and how he got to the island and how Hook loses his hand and why the crocodile is so big&#8221; the show will satisfy your curiosity, Marone said.</p><p>With 11 men and one woman in the cast, Colin said, the show has an extra rambunctious flavor, as if a fraternity got together for a hilarious adventure.</p><p>The cast is headed by Katie Roarty as Molly and Karl Kleist as Boy (Peter) with director Marone as Black Stache, and Matthew Buckman as Smee.</p><p>Jonathan Muniz and Tyler Ocasio play the other orphan Lost Boys, Ted and Prentiss.</p><p>The rest of the company includes Kevin Costley as Mrs. Bumbrake/Teacher, Brian Ladner as Lord Aster, John Beppler as Bill Slank, George Steltz as Captain Scott, and Jarrett Gabriel as Alf.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Oh, what&#8217;s a Lost Boy to do? Sing, maybe. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_peter.starcatcher.jpg</photo0><caption0>Oh, what&#8217;s a Lost Boy to do? Sing, maybe. </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photo </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_peterandstarcatcher2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Michael Marone portrays the dastardly pirate Black Stache, and Matthew Buckman is his henchman, Smee. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_peterandstarcatcher2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Michael Marone portrays the dastardly pirate Black Stache, and Matthew Buckman is his henchman, Smee. </caption1><photoCredit1>Submitted photo </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_peterpanwithwendy.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Karl Kleist as Boy (Peter) and Katie Roarty as Molly have developed a special friendship in &#8216;Peter and the Starcatcher.&#8217; </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_peterpanwithwendy.jpg</photo2><caption2>Karl Kleist as Boy (Peter) and Katie Roarty as Molly have developed a special friendship in &#8216;Peter and the Starcatcher.&#8217; </caption2><photoCredit2>Submitted photo </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Magical substancemakes dreamsreality at Grove</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p><p><strong>What:</strong> &#8216;Peter and the Starcatcher&#8217;</p><p><strong>When:</strong> Through May 14 with performances at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays</p><p><strong>Where:</strong> Theatre at the Grove, 5177 Nuangola Road, Nuangola</p><p><strong> Tickets:</strong> $22, $18</p><p><strong> Info:</strong> 570-868-8212</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Theatre at the Grove in Nuangola presents ‘Peter and the Starcatcher’ shows