Taking Flight

As a child growing upon a farm in the south, Bruce Steivel was enthralled by "Peter Pan."

The future dancer and choreographer says he was "brought up on 'Peter Pan,' and when the Disney movie came out we played 'Peter Pan,' and I was always Peter."

When Steivel first choreographed the timeless tale for the Nevada Ballet Theatre's 1999-2000 season it was a dream come true.

This weekend, the company presents its fourth production of the ballet at Judy Bayley Theatre on the UNLV campus.

It's also the company's season finale; next season's lineup will be announced at this weekend's performances.

Steivel says he has the video of the famous Mary Martin version of "Peter Pan,' but wasn't influenced by it.

"I had my own ideas for what to do with it," Steivel says. "I tried to put as much humor into it as I could," such as the scene in which Steivel has Capt. Hook dancing with the crocodile.

In Sir James M. Barrie's story of a boy who refuses to grow up, Peter takes children Wendy, John and Michael on a magical journey to Neverland, with the aid of his sidekick, Tinkerbell. There, they battle swashbuckling pirates led by Capt. Hook.

As he has done in previous productions, Steivel has given the title role to Kyudong Kwak.

Jared Hunt will handle the role on Saturday's and Sunday's matinees.

Meanwhile, Kara Hamburg takes the part of Tinkerbell, except for the matinee performances, which will be handled by Racheal Hummel-Nole, and Elena Shokina plays Wendy. Yoomi Lee plays Wendy in the matinees.

Zeb Nole takes on Capt. Hook in all performances.

The children, John and Michael, are performed by David Ligon and Jeremy Bannon-Neches, respectively.

"It's fun for the dancers to do 'Peter Pan,' it's sort of easy for them," Steivel says.

Flying By Foy, a local company specializing in flying effects, will sweep Peter Pan and other dancers above the stage, along with the help of eight cast members who will be pulling the cables from offstage.

The score is by composer Thomas Semanski of New York, who was commissioned by the company to create an original soundtrack.

The show's large set was designed by George & Goldberg Design Associates of Los Angeles, a company frequently used by Disney.

Catherine Irving designed the costumes for the cast of nearly 40 professional dancers, including children from the Nevada Ballet Theatre's academy who will be dancing the roles of the Lost Boys.

This weekend's performances had approached the sold-out stage, good news for a company that always can use another consistently popular production to go with "The Nutcracker" and "Dracula."