‘It sparks your imagination’: Spokane Children’s Theatre brings ‘James and the Giant Peach’ to life with puppets, changing scenery, larger-than-life set

Beth Taylor’s name has been tied to music and theatrical productions across the Inland Northwest for more than 20 years.

She, along with her husband, Rick, have music directed at Northwest Christian, as well as Christian Youth Theater North Idaho, CYT Spokane and Spokane Civic Theatre.

With all that experience under her belt, it’s a wonder Taylor is only now making her directorial debut with Spokane Children’s Theatre’s production of “James and the Giant Peach.”

And speaking with Taylor, she’ll admit it’s even more so a wonder her debut comes with this show, as she’s not the biggest fan of Roald Dahl, who wrote “James and the Giant Peach.” She loves Gene Wilder in “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” but other than that, she finds the adults in Dahl’s books to be just plain mean.

But when Spokane Children’s Theatre Executive Director Tanya Brownlee came calling after the person originally slated to direct was no longer available, Taylor bought and read the book then compared the book to the musical’s script. It was through the musical her feelings about the story started to change.

“The musical is so much deeper and has character development,” she said. “I felt like the book was shallow, which is awful, because there was no emotion and feeling for it. The show really brings that out, like the emotion behind what James is experiencing, and even the bugs and insects.”

“James and the Giant Peach” opens Friday and runs through May 4 at Spokane Children’s Theatre.

At the top of the show, Ladahlord (Selma Rhodes) sings about the adventure the audience is about to go on. We then meet James (Clare Miller) at the Painswick Orphanage in London, where he was placed after his parents were killed by an escaped rhino.

James dreams about the accident before waking up and noticing a grasshopper and ladybug who entered the room. James asks the critters to leave the orphanage, as it’s not the place for them, while sharing that he wishes he could fly away with the insects to some place he belongs.

Just as he finishes sharing his wish, the Matron Nurse (JoAnne Emery) enters the room and tells him he will be moving to Dover to live with his aunts Spiker (Kate Parker) and Sponge (David Morton-Burris).

The pair of pickpockets are not aunt material, and celebrate the idea of making James their slave, but they fool the Matron Nurse, who releases James to them. James is told he’ll live in the cellar of their run-down cottage and is immediately sent to the garden to chop down an old peach tree.

Outside, Spiker kills a spider, which Sponge eats, before the pair head to the beach without James, who had noticed his old friends playing near the water. Just before James cuts down the peach tree, an earthworm and a centipede appear. James finds himself mediating between the two before running into Ladahlord, who presents him with a book of spells and promises that if James chooses a spell from the book and consumes a potion, amazing things will happen.

James helps prepare the potion, which involves crocodile tongues and water, and is told that whoever encounters the crocodile tongues first will be enchanted. James rushes to find water but drops the crocodile tongues, which hunt after a grasshopper, spider, ladybug and centipede.

That’s not the only thing that’s been changed though, as James, Spiker and Sponge, back from the beach, discover that the old peach tree has grown a peach which quickly becomes larger and larger.

Spiker and Sponge decided to monetize the giant peach, telling James he won’t receive any money and that he should stay outside. After they leave, James enters the peach through a door that’s appeared. Inside, he meets the Grasshopper (Jeromey Morton-Burris), Spider (Maddy Arana), Ladybug (Jordan McGivern) and Centipede (Bailey Quirke) who encountered the crocodile tongues, now the size of humans.

As everyone gets acquainted, the peach snaps from its branch and starts rolling, setting the group off on an adventure big enough to rival the size of the peach.

“James and the Giant Peach” also stars Mace Lafave (Earthworm), Maximus Davis (Mr. Trotter), Rebekah Morton (Mrs. Trotter), Luisa Sheehan (young James), Stone Thorne (Buzz), Amelia Prime (Lucille), Lacy Stoyko (Bunny), Ahnabelle Huntley (Matilda), Sophie Rollins (Charlie), Clarity DenHerder (Glow Worm), Makynzie Hutton (Bobby Bobby-Cop), Julianna Wagner (Bitsy Botana), Emma Lanet (Willy Wonka), Charlotte Horst (Oompa-Loompa), Gabriel Morton (Rhino), Alister Goldsmith (Jake) and Torin Davis (Joe).

The musical is stage managed by Adam Chavez, music directed by Jessica Chavez, choreographed by Miranda Hein and costumed by Neva White. “James and the Giant Peach” features music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and a book by Timothy Allen McDonald.

Set designer Cord Aaron tackled the task of making a larger-than-life peach capable of housing a cast of seven. Taylor and Brownlee said the peach stays put through the second act, when the story takes the peach and its inhabitants from the sea to New York City.

To illustrate the changing time and scenery, the show is, among other things, using elements like puppet clouds, a sun, moon and seagulls which will move around the stationary peach.

“It’s a huge collaboration, all the different things that go into a show,” Brownlee said. “There’s the lighting, there’s the costumes, there’s the set. There’s all these different effects that come together to give you that illusion of where you are.”

“And your imagination,” Taylor added. “That’s what’s so cool about the show is that it’s not intricate as far as the set goes, it’s very sparse, but it sparks your imagination.”

The show also features puppets in the first act, with young actors controlling insect puppets created by Arana, who plays Spider.

Taylor made the choice to have different actors playing the bugs in the second act than the ones who control the puppets in the first act, as it was an opportunity for younger performers, some whom are brand new to the stage, to learn a new theatrical skill with the help of puppeteer Doug Stephens.

“It is asking a lot of them to put themselves into these bugs as well, but it’s pretty awesome,” Taylor said. “I love the fact that our ensemble, they are multiple people, not just one character. They’re on stage all the time.”

Costumes help bring the insects to life in the second act. Taylor and Brownlee said there was no need for discussions about how, for example, a centipede might walk across the stage because the actors were already working on those movements without guidance.

The cast also didn’t need an introduction to the concept of a found family, something James experiences in this show, as that idea is ingrained into the Spokane Children’s Theatre community.

“At SCT, a lot of what we talk about is the family here,” Brownlee said. “A lot of the kids, they don’t feel like themselves other places, but here they do, right? So that’s a common thing for the youth to feel is that they’re not sure where to go or they’re not sure where they fit in, even at different ages, even when their parents are kind and love them so much. They still search.”

“Sometimes the richest relationships are people that aren’t necessarily like you,” Taylor added. “They’re different than you, and being the same can be boring. Being involved with Spokane Children’s, I’ve met so many awesome people that I would never have come into their circles if I hadn’t been in this community, in this family. I love it.”