TV Exclusive: Behind the Scenes with Seattle Children's Theatre's JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH World Premiere!

Seattle Children's Theatre presents the world-premiere musical, James and the Giant Peach. Just in time for the holidays, Timothy Allen McDonald's wonderful adaptation from Roald Dahl's best seller will include original music by Tony-Award nominated lyricists Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. James and the Giant Peach runs at SCT's Charlotte Martin Theatre through January 12, 2014. SCT Artistic Director Linda Hartzell directs. BroadwayWorld has a behind-the-scenes look at the show below!

At last count, Seattle listed fifty-one "holiday shows" between the months of November and January. It was a challenge for SCT to offer something really special this season in such a crowded field, but has achieved that with James and the Giant Peach. Playwright Timothy Allen McDonald worked closely with Dahl's literary estate, and took care to preserve and honor the quirky essence of the original story in his adaptation. Children will see themselves as James, a young child who is orphaned and finds a loving family in the most extraordinary way. Sent by his mean, conniving aunts to chop down their old fruit tree, James discovers a magic potion which results in a tremendous peach occupied by some not-so-normal characters. From the center of the gigantic fruit, James and the unlikely crew launch a journey of enormous proportions. Together they discover that while we are all born into a family, we then go on to create a family of our own. With a truly exciting musical score, sophisticated set design, dazzling costumes and remarkable puppetry, SCT's James and the Giant Peach will be hard to match.

James and the Giant Peach features an all-star cast, including Mike Spee as the titular character in his Seattle Children's Theatre debut. He is joined Julie Briskman Richard Gray, Diana Huey, Kendra Kassebaum, Greg McCormick Allen, Jayne Muirhead and Heath Saunders. J. CameRon Barnett, Auston James, Ian Lindsay and Vickielee Wohlbach understudies.

Through Hartzell's direction, the James cast is backed by the exceptionally talented artistic team led by Choreographer Marianne Roberts, Musical Director Chris Distefano, Costume Designer Catherine Hunt, Scenic Designer Carey Wong, Lighting Designer Michelle Habeck, Sound Designer Chris R. Walker, Fight Choreographer Geoffrey Alm and Puppet Designer Annett Mateo. Underscoring and Incidental Music is courtesy of David Weinstein with Orchestration by August Eriksmoen.

James and the Giant Peach is being presented in SCT's Charlotte Martin Theatre. Seattle Children's Theatre is located at 201 Thomas Street, under the Space Needle at Seattle Center. Tickets for James and the Giant Peach range in price from $25 to $39 and may be purchased by calling the SCT Ticket Office at (206) 441.3322 or by visiting www.sct.org. James and the Giant Peach is recommended for ages 6 and older.