At a glance

In the 1960s, young John Heisel was fascinated by the televised Broadway production of the musical “Peter Pan,” with Mary Martin in the title role.

Now, he wants to recreate that feeling of enchantment in young audiences with his production about the boy who never grows up.

“I remember watching this show with my mother and my family, and it was just an awesome, magical time,” said Heisel, artistic director of the Grandview Carriage Place Players. “I want the community to have that chance to feel that kind of magic that theater can bring to a family.”

The GCP Players will whisk audiences away to Neverland with three performances of “Peter Pan: The Lost Boy of Neverland,” an original script based on J.M. Barrie’s classic 1904 play. The shows will take place at the Columbus Performing Arts Center.

Heisel promises that it will be the troupe’s most ambitious show to date, with 75 cast members and high-wire stage flying.

“It’s something that you don’t see often in a live-theater production, especially a local program,” said Heisel, who will play the crocodile and Nana the dog. “You’d have to go to a Broadway show to see this happen.”

Todd Decker, a member of the GCP Players, wrote the script in the fall. His play still follows the mischievous Peter Pan and the fairy Tinkerbell as they lead the Darling siblings to Neverland, where they join the “Lost Boys” and fight pirates.

But the playwright added action sequences and depth to the characters. And the show contains music but isn’t a musical.

“It explores the characters a little bit deeper, especially looking at the relationship between Peter Pan and Captain Hook,” said Decker, a retired theater teacher at Fort Hayes Arts & Academic High School.

“I’m very excited about it.”

Decker, 47, will play Hook opposite Cassidy Byron, who will portray Peter Pan.

Byron, an 18-yearold senior at Dublin Coffman High School, said her approach to the role allows audience members to interpret whether the events are really happening or only a figment of the imagination of a boy at play.

To underscore the mystery, she’ll portray Pan as viewing his adventures initially with lighthearted indifference but gradually taking them more seriously.

She’s looking forward to the challenge of the role, of course, but what she said she’s most excited about is taking flight.

“It’s every theater kid’s dream to fly in a show,” she said. “I’m super-excited to cross it off my theater bucket list.”

“Peter Pan: Lost Boy of Neverland” Columbus Performing Arts Center, 549 Franklin Ave. 614-645-3715, www.columbus.gov/theatre 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday $5