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Center Valley, PA, June 20, 2023—With a lively cast, imaginative scenery, and vibrant costumes the story of James and the Giant Peach comes to life at Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival July 7 to August 5 in the Schubert Theatre at the Labuda Center for the Performing Arts at DeSales University.
This charming adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic children’s story follows the adventures of orphaned James who discovers a magical potion that transforms an old ordinary peach into an enchanted fruit of epic proportions. James and the Giant Peach comes hilariously to life in this delightful story about finding family and forging your own path. Through peach-eating shark-infested waters and seagull-filled skies, James’ journey of enormous proportions is fast-paced fairy tale fun for the entire family.
“I love that we are continuing the tradition of plays for young audiences here at PSF, and I love that we are doing so with this inventive and exciting production. From the fantastic story to the brilliant creative team, to the excellent company of actors, James and the Giant Peach is going to be a real treat for young people and the young at heart,” says Artistic Director Jason King Jones.
The cast of James and the Giant Peach features emerging artists from the Festival’s 2023 Young Company. Come along on this peachy adventure with James, played by Abagaile Ruger, and his super-duper sized bug pals portrayed by Patrick Byrnes (Earthworm), Megan Castellane (Grasshopper), CaSandra Kay Danubio (Ladybug), Nicole Lawrie (Glowworm), Gabrielle Moseley (Spider), and Christian Tuffy (Centipede). Joining the fun are Sydney Abbott (Sponge), Alaina Hurley (Spiker), Iyanu Joshuasville (Father), and Moriah Faith Wilt (Mother).
With carpet seating along the stage, kids can get a front-row seat to watch the action; and the entire family can meet James, his buggy bunch, and all the cheerful characters following every performance for photos and autographs.
James and the Giant Peach will be directed by Jenna Place. The creative team includes Costume Designer Bailey Rose Gavin, Sound Designer David M. Greenberg, Lighting Designer Trey Brazeal, and Set Designer Charlie Calvert. Anja Patience Thomas is the stage manager.
Tickets for children (12 & under) are $14; and adult tickets are $18. Patrons can purchase a Family Fun Pass for $22 to receive one ticket each to both James and the Giant Peach and Shakespeare for Kids for one low price.
Accessible performances include a sensory-friendly Relaxed Performance on Saturday, July 15, 10:00am. The 10:00am performance on Saturday, July 22 will include Audio Description (for the visually impaired) and American Sign Language interpretation (for deaf patrons).
The Production Sponsors are The Auvil Family and Co-Sponsors are Darbin and Deborah Skeans. The 2023 Season Sponsors are Yvonne Payne and Edward Spitzer. The Associate Season Sponsors are Douglas Dykhouse, Linda Lapos and Paul Wirth, Kathleen Kund Nolan and Timothy E. Nolan, The Szarko Family, and Harry C. Trexler Trust.
Artistic Leadership, Cast, and Creative Bios, here.
Summer 2023 Season:
Schubert Stage: Henry IV, Part 2 (May 31 to June 11); James and the Giant Peach (July 7 to Aug 5); Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill (July 19 to August 6).
Main Stage: In the Heights (June 14 to July 2); The Tempest (July 12 to August 6); Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility (July 20 to August 6); Shakespeare for Kids (July 26 to August 5).
Outdoor Summer Stage: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] [again] (June 28 to July 16).
“Play On!” A Midsummer Night’s Dream Community Tour: (June 2 to June 18).
About Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival
Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival is the only professional Equity theatre of its scope and scale within a 50-mile radius. PSF is one of only a handful of theatres on the continent producing Shakespeare, musicals, classics, and contemporary plays, all of which can normally be seen in repertory and in multiple spaces within a few visits in a single summer season. Similarly, PSF was among just a handful of theatres on the continent in recent summers to produce three Shakespeare plays in a single summer season. A patron would have to travel seven to nine hours from PSF to find a comparable range of offerings at a single theatre within a few weeks’ time.
The Festival’s award-winning company of many world-class artists includes Broadway, film, and television veterans, and winners and nominees of the Tony, Emmy, Obie, Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, Jefferson, Hayes, Lortel, and Barrymore awards. A leading Shakespeare theatre with a national reputation for excellence, PSF has received coverage in The Washington Post, NPR, American Theatre Magazine, Playbill.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and in recent seasons The New York Times has identified PSF as one of the leading summer theatre festivals in the nation. “A world-class theater experience on a par with the top Bard fests,” is how one New York Drama Desk reviewer characterized PSF.
Founded in 1992 and the Official Shakespeare Festival of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, PSF’s mission is to enrich, inspire, engage, and entertain the widest possible audience through first-rate productions of classical and contemporary plays, with a core commitment to Shakespeare and other master dramatists, and through an array of education and mentorship programs. A not-for-profit theatre, PSF receives significant support from its host, DeSales University, from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Traditionally, with 150 performances over ten weeks, the Festival attracts patrons each summer from 30+ states. In 30 years, PSF has offered 200+ total productions (82 Shakespeare), and entertained 1,000,000+ patrons from 50 states, now averaging 34,000-40,000 in attendance each summer season, plus another 13,000 students each year through its WillPower Tour to schools. PSF is a multi-year recipient of awards from the National Endowment for the Arts: Shakespeare in American Communities, and is a constituent of Theatre Communications Group, and the Shakespeare Theatre Association (STA). In 2013, leaders of the world’s premiere Shakespeare theatres gathered at PSF as the Festival hosted the international STA Conference. The Festival’s vision is for world-class theatre.
Information provided to TVL by:
Tina Louise Slak
Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival
The Professional Theatre at DeSales University
2755 Station Avenue
Center Valley, PA 18034
p: 610-282-WILL [9455]
www.pashakespeare.org
