Heritage uses big budget to bring 'Peter Pan' to stage

During a rehearsal for Heritage High School’s upcoming production of “Peter Pan,” Sarah Lewis crouches behind what will eventually be the Darling children’s bedroom window.

Right now, the set includes half-painted walls and the beginnings of three beds and a doghouse for the children’s beloved pet, Nana.

Suddenly, Lewis (aka Peter Pan) flies through the open window and lands in the room, while backstage several students work a series of cables to make it happen.

Lewis and six of her cast mates are flying through the help of ZFX Flying Effects, a company that not only provides the equipment but also flying directors, choreographers and technicians who install it and teach actors and crew members how to use it.

“It’s a really random skill set,” said Jason Schumacher, the flying director who worked with Heritage on this production. “You have to be able to rig and teach.”

The equipment — all of which is manufactured in-house — includes a fly system that sits above the stage with the lights; harnesses, which are custom made to fit each performer; and costumes.

The production is the most expensive one Heritage has done, with a budget of a little more than $30,000, said drama director Larry Hart. A typical Heritage production costs between $10,000 and $15,000; in this case, it cost about $17,000 just to fly.

At first, Hart said he wasn’t even sure the show would be possible because Heritage’s theater is what’s known as “dead hung” — which means the rigging above the stage is fixed and cannot be raised or lowered.

(Most professional theaters have fly space or a fly tower, an opening above the stage that allows operators to move set pieces on and off stage vertically.)

Hart sent the theater’s specs to ZFX and soon got an answer he wasn’t expecting: “They said, ‘We can make you fly.’”

Schumacher arrived in Lynchburg and put the system up on Thursday, then spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday working with the students.

Day One: ‘Think lovely, wonderful thoughts’
Schumacher’s first flying lesson focused on getting the kids familiar with the equipment and creating a rapport between the operators and actors. (Each character who flies is assigned one operator, who works the cables to make him or her go up in the air.)

During the actual show, the operators will hoist their actors based on script cues. But during this invaluable practice time, the operators had to ask the actors if they were ready to fly each time and get a firm yes before doing anything.

“It’s really disconcerting to get lifted up when you’re not expecting it,” Schumacher said.

“They have to understand that safety is the most important thing,” he explained later in an interview. “There’s a process where you’re constantly checking in with performers.”

He said they do everything slowly and deliberately; his job is to instill that sense of caution into the crew and the performers.

The harnesses have shoulder, leg and waist straps, and they’re attached to a thin, barely visible cable from a spot in the center of each actor’s back. That cable connects to another series of cables, located on the side of the stage, that the operators pull to move the actors up, down and around.

Before any of them went up in the air, though, Schumacher outlined a few rules: don’t jump, but instead let yourself be picked up by the cable; keep your shoulders back and chest opened up (“It makes it look like you’re flying,” he said, “and not hanging from a cable”); and when landing, find the ground with one foot and then the other.

“And the fourth rule, guys,” he said with a grin, “think lovely, wonderful thoughts.”

The first actor to go up was freshman Bryan Rapp, who plays Michael, the youngest Darling.

During one of his flights, Rapp put his arms out like he was flying and then, to the raucous applause of the actors gathered below, started running in place.

But when he glanced down at his audience, the reality of how high he’d traveled hit him.

“OK,” he said, “I’m not gonna look down.”

Days Two and Three: ‘You just gotta sell it’
After the initial introduction on Friday, the actors spent the weekend working within the confines of the set.

“Flying is a really unique, physical discipline,” said Schumacher, who has done this kind of work on countless productions of “Pan,” as well as “The Wizard of Oz” and “Beauty and the Beast,” during his two years with ZFX.

“There is no way to explain it through something else. It takes time.”

Since Peter flies the most, Lewis spent a few intensive hours working with Schumacher. He had her attempt that aforementioned entrance into the Darling nursery many times, with spotters standing nearby in case she came down too fast.

Her first few landings were a little rough, but she remained on her feet.

After a couple more tries, Lewis’ technique became more and more graceful. The smile on her face grew right along with it.

Then, finally, it was time to try it all on her own.

“No spotters,” Schumacher said. “This is all you and her. It’s a dance, guys.”

She stuck those landings, too.

Schumacher later elaborated on the relationship between operator and actor: “It’s choreographed. It’s a partnership between the operator and the performer to get the desired effect. Everything the operator does, the performer can feel, and vice versa.”

The operators have to work the rope system as smoothly as possible — so it looks like the actors are actually flying — while timing it perfectly with key moments in the script.

The actor’s have to, well, act and sing and make the flying look natural.

Another challenge: The cables constantly turn the actors backward.

Schumacher taught them a technique to use their legs to move back into place, but it’s still a lot to master.

“It keeps wanting to spin me,” Lewis said. “It’s hard to make a million jerking leg motions in midair without looking like a crazy person … and to still be focused with everything you have to say and do.

“But it’s worth it to be floating around.”

During a break, Schumacher offered Lewis a few more words of wisdom: “You just gotta sell it. If you’re flying backwards, you’re flying backwards. You’re Pan. Pan can fly backwards.”

The cast and crew spent the rest of the weekend incorporating their new skills into scenes, like Peter’s arrival in the Darling home, their first trip to Neverland and a climactic battle scene with Captain Hook.

Despite the challenges and the occasional pain the harness caused, Lewis was still flying high in more way than one.

“It was just so cool,” she said. “I get to go side to side and swing around. I’m really glad I’m one of the ones who gets to fly.”