Just peachy

The Academy at Ocala Civic Theatre’s youth production of “James and the Giant Peach” is being directed by Dani Moreno-Fuentes. [Photo courtesy The Civic]

Richard R. George’s creative dramatization of the beloved book “James and the Giant Peach,” by Roald Dahl, is full of fantasy, whimsical imagination and colorful characters. The Academy at Ocala Civic Theatre will offer its youth production of “James and the Giant Peach” from April 11-13 at the Mary Sue Rich Community Center at Reed Place, at 1821 NW 21st Ave., Ocala.

A narrator (Alex Barlow) tells the tale of young James Trotter (Leif Bouker), who is left an orphan after his mother (Jordyn Tingler) and father (Grace Taylor) are swallowed by an escaped rhinoceros. Poor James has a sad and unhappy life with his two cruel aunts, Aunt Sponge (Liam Ortiz) and Aunt Spiker (Leighton Lightbody), until a Little Old Man (Summer Pineau) gives him a bag of magical “little green things,” according to the news release.

When James accidentally drops the bag in his yard, the magic gets into the roots of an old tree and suddenly a peach on it starts growing bigger and bigger, until it’s big enough for James to climb inside. Within the giant peach, James discovers a quirky gang of insects: the Old Green Grasshopper (Cadence Czarny), the Centipede (Caeryn Golden), the Spider (Layla Torres Perez), the Ladybug (River Head), the Earthworm (Thomas Hill) and the Glow-Worm (Kinsley Bowman).

The peach falls off the tree and rolls into the ocean, where it begins a journey of delicious dangers and delights as James and his new friends set sail from England on an amazing adventure. Aided by seagulls, the magical peach takes flight and is sighted by the crew of the Queen Mary.

The captain (Amelia Edsall), the first officer (Grace Otero) and the second officer (Yovanni Borrego) think they surely must be dreaming. But it’s no dream when James and friends fly through the clouds and find themselves across the Atlantic, in New York City.

“James and the Giant Peach” is directed by Dani Moreno-Fuentes and performed by a cast of students ages 11 to 17. The stage manager is Cheyenne Dever and the junior stage manager is Collin Blakley. The set designer is Nikki Bonfiglio, costume designer is Stephen Menard, lighting designer is Cheyenne Dever and sound designer is Jazmine Whipple.

The performances will take place at 7 p.m. April 11 and 12 and 2 p.m. April 13. The show is rated G. The run time is 50 minutes.

Tickets $18 for adults and $12 for ages 18 and younger and can be purchased at the OCT box office or over the phone at (352) 236-2274, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, and online at ocalacivictheatre.com