Barn Stage Company to Present the West Coast Regional Premiere of Road Dahl's JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH

The Barn Stage Company in association with Temecula Presents present the West Coast Regional Premiere of James and the Giant Peach, based on Roald Dahl's beloved children's book, on the Old Town Temecula Community Theatre stage from August 17th to the 27th. Join The Barn Stage Company for this delightfully imaginative production, perfect for the whole family! The Old Town Temecula Community Theatre is located at 42051 Main Street, Temecula, CA. 92590. For tickets, call 866-653-8696 or visit www.TheBarnStagecompany.com.

PLOT: One of Roald Dahl's beloved books comes to vivid life on our stage in a whole new imaginative production. Young orphan James is sent to live with his horrible Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker. Long days of grueling chores and demeaning remarks from his Aunts make James's life miserable, until one day when a mysterious stranger arrives and suddenly James's life is turned upside-down! When the stranger accidentally spills some unusual crystals on his aunts' withered peach tree, magic abounds and James finds an enormous peach growing in his yard! James crawls inside to the very center of the peach where he finds an unusual group of talking insects. The peach starts rolling downhill and James' extraordinary adventure begins.

THE AUTHOR: Roald Dahl (September 13, 1916 - November 23, 1990) was a British author, famous as a writer for both children and adults. Among his most popular children's books are Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The BFG, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, and The Witches. Dahl's first children's book was The Gremlins, commissioned by Walt Disney and published in 1942. In addition to writing some of the best-loved children's stories of the 20th century, Dahl also wrote adult short stories and screenplays, including Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the James Bond film You Only Live Twice (both adaptations of novels by Ian Fleming). He adapted his own work into the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

THE CAST: The cast is comprised of Barn Stage Company veterans as well as some dynamic newcomers. Lucas Coleman joins the cast as Lahdalord after originating the role of Jehan in Disney Theatricals The Hunchback of Notre Dame at the La Jolla Playhouse. 10 year old David Landis takes on the role of James. His regional credits include Death of a Late Summer Songbird (Cygnet) and roles in Willy Wonka, Aladdin, Seussical and more! Morgan Carberry (On the Twentieth Century (Cygnet), Oklahoma, Big River (New Village Arts) joins the cast as his horrible Aunt Spiker. Alongside her in the role of Aunt Sponge, is newcomer Carly Carlstrom, a recent BFA graduate from AMDA with roles in Nine, Memphis and Jesus Christ Superstar. The actors taking on the roles of the bugs include: Sidney Aptaker (Elle Woods in Legally Blonde and Little Red in Into the Woods) as Spider; Austin Wright as the Green Grasshopper (9 to 5 with SDMT, I'm Not Rappaport with La Jolla Theatre Ensemble). In the role of the Centipede, Joshua Powers makes his Barn Stage debut (Baker in Into the Woods and Shrek in Shrek the Musical), Brooke Farnum joins as the Ladybug (Damn Yankees with SDMT, Eurydice with Oceanside Theatre Company). Audience favorite Jake Bradford returns to Temecula after hosting the 2017 Rising Stars show and starring in Peter and The Starcatcher at The Barn Stage Company. He was recently seen in The Little Mermaid at Moonlight Stage Productions. The rest of the cast includes Emily Chelsea (Next to Normal in Florida, Spring Awakening BSC), Enrique Duenas (Monty Python's Spamalot, Noises off), Fisher Kaake (Dance Captain) seen in The Little Mermaid at Moonlight and Bert in Theatre Royale's Mary Poppins. Alexandra Lee (25th Annual...Spelling Bee, Chess in Concert), Kimberly Marron (Hello Dolly, Thoroughly Mordern Millie, Beauty and The Beast), Collin McCarthy (Beauty and The Beast with MTW, My Fair Lady at The Welk), Ethan Park (Camelot in Concert, Phantom, Last 5 Years) and Katie Walsh (Music Man at The Welk).

THE TEAM: Directed by Susan DeLeon, who returns to The Barn Stage Company and Southern California after spending the last year teaching acting and musical theatre at Wofford College in South Carolina. Susan has been with us since conception and directed and starred in Next To Normal along side her daughter Jordan in the summer of 2014 at The Merc and returned that following year to direct The Last Five Years. The creative team for James and The Giant Peach includes John Mario Di Costanzo (Conductor/Musical Director) a veteran musical director who was awarded a Founder's Award for his work on Chess in Concert, also has worked on Carousel and Camelot. Chelsea Nicole Lapp (Choreographer), returns to The Barn Stage Company after choreographing Peter & The Starcatcher and Camelot in Concert. The Design team includes Matthew Herman (Scenic Design), Zach Simons (Lighting Design), Costume Design by Cookie Oien, Makeup and Hair Design by Kiana Bjur and Sound Design by James Heliker and Steve Caster. Sheila O'Rourke provides the props and Michael Mulligan creates the Puppets. Sarah Hughes serves as the Stage Manager.

Enhance your performance experience - kids 5 and older and their adult chaperones are invited to join the cast at our Page to Stage events at the Ronald H. Roberts Temecula Public Library on August 6th from 2-3pm. This exciting new programming gives kids a behind-the-scenes peek at how plays are created, instills the value of community, teamwork and teaches valuable social skills. For information, please call 951.693.8900.

James and the Giant Peach begins previews on Thursday, August 17; opening night is scheduled for Friday, August 18 at 7:30pm; and the show then runs through Sunday, August 27, 2017. To purchase tickets or for more information, call the Old Town Temecula Community Theater Box Office at 866.653.8696, visit us online at www.TheBarnStageCompany.com or www.TemeculaTheater.org, or stop by the box office. The Old Town Temecula Community Theatre is located at 42051 Main Street in the heart of Old Town Temecula.

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