by Michael Van Buren

J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan is the definitive western icon of unending childhood and his home in Neverland; the archetype for all fantasy lands. For so many of us, this story is not only a symbolic representation of the wonders of our own childhood, but the anchor by which we hold on to our child-like heart.

This October the Golden Chain Theatre of Oakhurst, California, is presenting you with an opportunity to renew your childhood heart and sense of adventure with an all original, musical production of Peter Pan. The story adapted, with permission, from Barrie’s original play will be both familiar and surprising as aspects of Pan’s character and the relationships in Neverland and the Darling household that are glossed over in many modern productions restores the context of nineteenth century adventure stories and the legacy of the fairytales on which they were based. The all-original music, composed by The Golden Chain’s musical director and composer of multiple musical and film scores James Mierkey, is nothing short of magical. It is beautiful, haunting, heartening, and heart-wrenching. With, by far, the largest production team we have ever assembled, The Golden Chain has pulled out every stop to make this production a memory for a lifetime.

Cast of “Peter Pan”

Director Jennifer Janine’s love of the original story was the inspiration for this project, “When I was a little girl, I was captivated by Peter Pan. I found his cockiness charming and hilarious. As I grew older, I fell in love with Barrie’s novel, and found a satirical portrait of Edwardian England’s middle class, a whimsical peek into a fairyland of absolute magic, a rollicking adventure story, a complex and bitter-sweet portrait of childhood, and a message of love and change all wrapped into one dazzling story.” The cast of over forty, headed up by Lyric Gianni as Peter, Cassie Longcor as Wendy, Brandon Mallard as Mr. Darling/Hook, and Mary Posluch as Mrs. Darling have all united in Janine’s labor of love to bring this wonderful story to life in a spectacular way. Pirates and Pixie dust, fighting and flying, mermaids and mayhem, love, loss, and laughter, The Golden Chain’s production of Peter Pan will have everything you expect and much that will surprise and enchant you. It will be an awfully big adventure.

Lyric Gianni as Peter

Golden Chain Theatre
42130 Hwy 41 Oakhurst, CA 93644

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