Matt Conner on ‘Peter Pan and Wendy’ at Creative Cauldron by Matt Conner

I have been a teaching artist with Creative Cauldron in Falls Church for eleven years now. Peter Pan and Wendy is a part of the Learning Theatre Workshop, a process where young aspiring artists work along side Professional Artists to collaborate on a final show. I have been privileged to be a part of such shows in the past as Oliver Twist, Madeline and the Gypsies, Eddie Allan Poe and The Selfish Giant. Peter Pan and Wendy has been created in the same process as other Learning Theatre shows in the past. Children who sign up for the workshop give their input, along with the Costume/Set Designer Margie Jervis, Artistic Director Laura Connors Hull, and my addition as composer.

For this particular show I wanted to embrace the show as if I hadn’t been influenced by other productions (which is nearly impossible, but I tried). I have given the Crocodile in the show a song called “Clock in a Crock,” wrote a song for the Mermaids called “The Lagoon”, and wrote an audience participation number entitled “Keep the Beat,” used to revive Tink from the brink of death. This is the most extensive score that I have written for the Learning Theatre, and I believe anyone who has seen Peter Pan before will thoroughly enjoy the originality of this production. We have even dusted off the novel and brought to life the Neverbird, (which is almost always left out of the show) and given her a song.

The proof in our Leaning Theatre experiences are the returning veterans who grow with each show and learn a little more about the performing arts which can be applied in their life on and off the stage. The character building helps them realize the necessity for collaborating, listening, responding and ultimately believing in what this particular story is about: dreams.