By Jennifer Smith | Reporter
The Jubilee Theatre will perform “James and the Giant Peach,” at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, and 2:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The cast will embark on a journey to help James and his insect friends travel across the Atlantic to New York City.
Trent Sutton, the Jubilee Theatre director, said the show is a whimsical and classic tale full of magic and silliness.
“This is the first year we’ve had a full production season, so we’re really on a course of rebuilding who we are,” Sutton said. “’James and the Giant Peach’ is a great show that has mass appeal. It’s great for kids, students and adults of all ages. It’s a fun, crowd-pleasing and family-friendly show.”
The Jubilee Theatre opened in 2010, but Trent said in the past, there has not been as much consistency as needed to maintain a business and theater.
“’James and the Giant Peach’ is a show to let people know who we are and what we do,” Sutton said. “We’re focusing on carving out our niche in Waco and learning how best to serve the community through theater.”
The theater’s cast and crew started working on this production in August, beginning with auditions. Trent said that after a cast of 14 local actors and actresses were picked rehearsals, which were three nights a week, started followed by costume and set design.
“In theater, there are a lot of moving parts, not just in the production itself but in maintaining the theater and getting people through the door to see the shows that we’ve put on,” Sutton said.
The Jubilee Theatre’s hard work and dedication to rebuilding their brand has not gone unnoticed by the public. David Crowder, a Christian folktronica musician, said the theater is a place of comfort.
“Being that I spend much of my time making music, thinking and talking about art, I love what the Jubilee Theatre has meant to the community,” Crowder said. “It is a special place, a space for people to come together, whether they are making art or being formed by the experience of what others have created.”
Austin junior Emily Adams, who is in Baylor’s vocal ensemble VirtuOSO, said she can not wait to see “James and the Giant Peach.”
“I’m taking the kids I nanny to see the show on Friday and I might be more excited than they are,” Adams said. “I love seeing different forms of art grow in Waco. There’s always something to go do or see, it makes the town more fun.”
“James and the Giant Peach” will be performing three shows this weekend: one at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, followed by two matinee’s Saturday and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for students and $7 for children 7 to 11. The Jubilee Theatre is located at 1315 N. 15th St.
