COLUMBUS, Ohio — The kids of Liberty Union High School's musical theater are taking to the skies to tell one of the most beloved children's stories of all time with their high-flying take on Peter Pan.
"We've had Peter Pan on our shortlist for a while," said Jill Henwood, director and choreographer of Liberty Union Musical Theatre's production of 'Peter Pan, Jr.' "But we did not want to do it unless we flew it."
After working with a professional effects company to set up and train the actors and volunteers, the group was off and running - or rather flying - with weeks of rehearsals.
"It's kind of like when you're in water and you don't have a lot of weight on you," explained Bailey Shy who is taking on the title role of The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up. "It's really weird because you don't have control over where you move."
The decision to fly hadn’t been finalized at the time of auditions and, after finding out she got the part, Shy was asked if she was afraid of heights; she was, but the exhilaration of getting to fly quickly helped her overcome her concerns.
"Overall, it's just really hard to adapt to it at first because the wire spins you and it gives a little bit of a pendulum effect," she explained.
A successful flight depends on trust and collaboration between the actors and the crew of volunteers who have been trained to fly the young performers.
"We have people here every weekend working on set and we have people here doing, you know, costumes and props," said Henwood of the communal effort required to put on a school production of this scale. "An additional thing that we needed this year was for flyers; we needed people to be able to lift these kids in the air."
Volunteers for the fly crew include students as well as parents. Helping with the trust aspect Shy mentioned, she is relying on her father who has volunteered to help hoist her as she soars as Peter through Neverland. Other actors are paired with their fathers as well.
Praising the hard work of all the volunteers, Henwood said, "We just have so many people helping in so many different ways."
Liberty Union Musical Theater's production of "Peter Pan, Jr." runs March 15-17 in Baltimore, OH. For showtimes and ticket information, click here.