By Lost Boy James Johnson

For the Cape Fear Regional Theater’s latest production “Peter Pan,” which will run Jan. 28 - Feb. 21, man is pitted against child, good faces off against evil, and gravity is given a harsh talking to. This week we decided to get both sides of the story: Below, we speak with the boy who never grew up himself, or er … herself, actress Megan Ellis. We sat down with Ellis in the hopes that she’d help us score some of that hard to get pixie-dust, and time permitted answer some questions too.
Ellis is new to the Fayetteville scene - having just recently graduated from Missouri State University with a BFA in musical theater. Though Fayetteville is new to her, Neverland is old hat, as the actress studied under none other than Cathy Rigby, one of the most famous actresses to put on the green tights.

FayettevilleFEED: Let’s start with the obvious - how’d you get to become Peter Pan?

Megan Ellis: This is my fourth time doing this show - I just graduated from college, I did some community stuff, I went to New York and auditioned for Cathy Rigby’s version of “Peter Pan” … and got cast which was … amazing. I spent eight months doing that - and … that’s how I’m here.
I had heard that the CFRT was looking to do “Peter Pan,” so I sent off a reel of my work. The artistic director (Bo Thorp) hired me without even meeting me.

F.F.: We couldn’t help but notice that you have girl parts - what kind of things did you find that you had to do to give off the appearance of being a boy?

M.E.: Well, boys are very economical in their movement - every movement has a reason… They don’t think about how they move as much as girls - boys are so much more impulsive.
I work with 30 little boys during the show - so what better character study than watching these kids picking their noses and farting on each other? Me as an actor, I always tend to go for roles that are going to be a challenge to me.

F.F.: We heard once that smiling was very difficult to pull off without revealing your gender - is there a trick to that?

M.E.: I just got my braces off a year ago, so now I’m proud of my pearly whites - but boys, the smile is more mischievous - they don’t smile unless there is a reason to smile, like when they are laughing.
You’ll also notice that boys don’t generally point; so much as they gesture or nudge.

F.F.: As Peter Pan, you get to do some ass kicking in this play - without the luxury of a stuntwoman - is that new for you?

M.E.: I’m not a certified trainer, but I’ve taken some stage combat - that was a big requirement at my school. Plus, I’ve been doing this show for the last eight months.

F.F.: What has been the biggest difference between this production and others you’ve done?

M.E.: Probably the use of actual children as Lost Boys. The actual children being on stage, they don’t really have to act like kids, they’re just being.

F.F.: So - this isn’t the type of show one could do if they were say, afraid of heights…

M.E.: No, not really. We haven’t gotten to that part of the rehearsal yet so, I don’t know what to expect - the fly operators that will be working with me, that’s not their main job, so I’m going to have to be a little fearless … You can’t be worried about that sort of thing, or it’ll effect your performance - you just have to trust … I plan on buying my fly operators a gift - a drink at least.

To buy tickets, go here.