VALDOSTA —
After “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” better known to many as “Willie Wonka,” children’s author Roald Dahl’s best-known work is “James and the Giant Peach.”
In this tale, a young orphan boy named James has strange adventures with insects and others upon entering a magical, giant peach.
This week and next weekend, Gingerbread Players of Theatre Guild Valdosta presents playwright David Wood’s stage adaptation of Dahl’s beloved tale.
Creating a play filled with lively insects and a magical, giant peach is no easy feat, and Gingerbread Players have upped the ante. Director Lynnette Kenworthy had so many talented kids arrive for the show’s auditions that she wanted to use as many as possible. Kenworthy tapped several children to play the show’s flock of seagulls and sharks, but she also double-cast many of the principal roles. There are two Jameses, for example, as well as two groups of insects. Cast A will perform one show then Cast B the next, etc., on a rotating basis.
Two casts placed more work on Kenworthy and assistant director Robin McLendon’s shoulders, but two casts give more children an opportunity to shine on stage.
Joining the numerous child performers are two veteran Theatre Guild members. Sisters Brenda Brunston and Diane Brunston play Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker.
While two youngsters, Jackson Anderson and Billy McLendon, rotate playing James, one Giant Peach is hidden backstage. A critical prop given its second billing in the show’s title, and audiences should be
impressed with the Gingerbread Players’ work even in a region known for its famous Georgia peaches.
THE CAST: Jackson Anderson, Billy McLendon, Raini Singleton, Kara Nelson, Shelby Stacey, Ashley Slade, Isaiah Carlile, Jinjer Hammond, Maggie Tarpley, Madison Ott, Jon Michael Slawinski, David Bass, Diane Marie Brunston, Brenda Kay Brunston, Katie Lancaster, Andrew Rogers, Charlly Young, Sommers Coleman, Kaitlyn Albritton, Ryan McGee, Dallas Freeman, Sean Manning, Mary Catherine Burns, Samantha Kassum, Nicole Sinnott, Naja Aleem, John Laurent Dean, Asa Gaines, Claire Hannasch, Zoe Lammons, Rebecca Lancaster, Elijah Ochoa, Lucia “Razzie” Raspet, Taylor Sparrow.
DIRECTION, PRODUCTION: Lynnette Kenworthy, director; Robin McLendon, assistant director; Lindsay Herring, scenic designer; Rosemary Coleman, scenic artist, assistant stage manager; Katelynn Kenworthy, costume designer; Brenda Kay Brunston, producer, dialects coach; Teresa Doscher, stage manager; Pauline Owens, costume mistress; Keri Dean, Mary Ann Green, Meredith Lancaster, Elaine McMilian, Shannon Ott, Wanda Rice, Mindy Sparrow, Kelli Thomason, Mary Helen Watson, costume crew; Lois Allbritton, props mistress; Parker Allbritton, Ellie Carlile, Katelynn Kenworthy, sound and light board operators; Kimberly Lammons, backstage crew; Ryan Swaims, graphic designer; Charney Young, front of house manager.
Local News
Related Photos
-
James (played by Billy McLendon) meets the Old Man (Sommers Coleman) in Gingerbread Players of Theatre Guild Valdosta’s ‘James and the Giant Peach,’ opening this weekend. Dean Poling
Discussion
James and the Giant Peach
Two casts enjoy the fruits of children’s play
- Local News
-
-
VECA recognized at VSU
Rising juniors from the Valdosta Early College Academy (VECA) were recognized at Valdosta State University Wednesday night as the first group of students to begin earning college credit while still in high school.
-
Businesses raise funds for Oklahoma disaster
By now, we’ve all heard about the tragedy in Moore, Okla., a mile-wide, F5 tornado with winds of more than 200 miles per hour carved through 17 miles over a span of 50 minutes on Monday afternoon.
-
Southwestern State Hospital to close
One of Thomas County’s largest employers — at more than 700 people — and a longtime regional state mental hospital will close Dec. 31.
-
Search for survivors continues
Helmeted rescue workers raced Tuesday to complete the search for survivors and the dead in the Oklahoma City suburb where a mammoth tornado destroyed countless homes, cleared lots down to bare red earth and claimed 24 lives, including those of nine children.
-
Curator offers arts a helping hand
If you’ve been to the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts in the past four years, you have seen the quiet art of Bill Shenton.
-
Albino gators visit Wild Adventures
Two rare albino American alligators have joined the other gators at Wild Adventures for the summer.
-
Officers wound man in shootout
A Lanier County man was wounded Saturday during an exchange of gunfire with lawmen, according to a Lanier County Sheriff’s Office press release.
-
Woman fights to live after cancer
To be whole again, the desire that sometimes overwhelms chair-bound Mandy Painter, fuels the Realtor each day through walking lessons during physical therapy and it's also what could see her through a cutting-edge program in Boston, where world-class neurologists can reawaken her cerebellum and see the mother of three to her feet again.
-
North Ashley Street closed following accident
A Sport Utility Vehicle traveling north on North Ashley Street drove into a telephone pole Monday morning, resulting in the closure of the road.
-
Gornto extension half complete
The Gornto Road extension project is more than half-way complete, and could be finished ahead of the one-year deadline contractors were given when the project was approved Oct. 11 by the Valdosta City Council.
- More Local News Headlines
-
