Andy Tullis / The BulletinCaptain Hook, played by John Kish, left, and Peter Pan, played by Erin Felder, both of Bend, duel against each other during a rehearsal for the Thoroughly Modern Productions version of ìPeter Panî at Summit High School theater in Bend.

You could call Erin Felder’s flying performance in Thoroughly Modern Productions’ “Peter Pan” the ultimate trust exercise.

Felder, 41, stars in the titular role originated by Mary Martin in the 1950s Broadway musical, which will be staged by TMP at the Summit High School theater from Aug. 22-30 with a preview performance tonight. Her husband, Jesse, operates her flying rig, which was brought in from Las Vegas by international flying effects company Flying by Foy (the same company behind the flight effects in the original Broadway production).

“It helps with the confidence issue that I know my husband has my strings, because if anything happens, home life is not gonna be very fun,” Felder said, laughing while taking a break during a recent rehearsal at Terpsichorean Dance Studio. “He flew me into the wardrobe the other day.”

In fact, Felder’s whole family is in on the act. Her teenage daughter Virginia plays Peter’s pesky shadow during the memorable cat-and-mouse chase scene in the Darlings’ home early on in the musical. Teenage son Kurt works with the stage crew.

That’s nothing unusual for a TMP production. This will be the theater company’s third show to be staged independently, following last summer’s “The Wizard of Oz” and February’s “Beauty and the Beast.”

Prior to “Oz,” TMP Founder and Director David DaCosta co-produced shows with Stage Right Productions at 2nd Street Theater, including 2013’s “Spamalot” at the Tower Theatre.

According to DaCosta, who directs “Peter Pan” with help from musical director Scott Michaelson and choreography director Dakota Weeda, at least six full families are involved in “Peter Pan,” along with partial families.

“My whole family’s involved, as the owner of the company — my wife’s the costumer, my little girl’s in the show,” DaCosta said. “… All our shows are like that. ‘Oz’ was like that; ‘Beast’ was like that as well. That’s the concept behind this whole operation: It’s a family affair.”

“Peter Pan,” the musical, based on characters created by Scottish author James M. Barrie and popularized by Disney and the original Broadway production, seemed to DaCosta to be the natural next step for TMP. In particular, DaCosta wanted to stage the flying scenes in the show.

Flying by Foy, which brought in more than 1,000 pounds of flying rigging, helped set it up at Summit High School and trained the cast and crew on it for three days. The contraption — a system of rails and harnesses attached to the lighting pipes already in the theater — can lift the actors playing Peter Pan, Wendy (Cloie Glenn), Michael (Luke Wulf) and John Darling (Jared Charney Cohen) 20 feet above the stage. According to DaCosta, it takes seven people to fly the four actors.

“Peter Pan is 20 feet up in the air and all over the stage. It’s crazy,” DaCosta said.

For Felder, a figure skater and athlete who trained with harnesses, trapezes and flying systems in Lake Arrowhead, California, the flying portion of the show was the most fun. She was more nervous about taking on the role of Peter, her first leading role in a show. She’s been a backup dancer or company member in the past.

“Don’t let myself get nervous, don’t let myself be self-conscious onstage; really be Peter Pan, because he is so uber-confident — there is no doubt in his mind,” she said. “And that’s the only thing that I come back to when I prepare for it, or I’m awake at 3 o’clock in the morning because that’s when the anxiety hits. Well, Peter Pan doesn’t have anxiety, so I don’t get to have that.”

The flying system isn’t cheap. DaCosta wouldn’t reveal exactly how much it cost to rent it, but said the company was able to pay for it through ticket sales, sponsorships and youth workshop tuition.

TMP functions as a performing arts academy for area youth, and its youth workshop has continued to grow with each production, DaCosta said. Thirty kids were involved with “Oz,” 40 with “Beast” and now at least 50 kids star in “Peter Pan” alongside the 30 adult cast members, according to DaCosta.

“The kids come in and they learn performing arts, all three disciplines: acting, singing and dance,” he said. “Just beyond what they are learning to perform in the show. … (The kids) all have ample opportunity to audition along with the adults, so we don’t have a preset notion of where the kids are gonna go and where their part in the show is gonna be.”

Mr. Smee, first-mate to the dastardly pirate villain Captain Hook, is a prime example. Eleven-year-old acting veteran Craig Chisholm, who starred in roles in local productions of “Music Man,” “The Princess and the Frog” and “Aladdin,” tackles the role usually reserved for an older actor. He relishes playing villains — he starred as parrot henchman Iago in “Aladdin.”

“I just really like evil characters,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to be a villain in my life, but not to affect people, but just to be a villain in my free time. … I kind of like those comedic villains, not like the “I’m gonna kill you right away” kind of villains, the comedic villains.”

Chisholm’s hyperactive Smee plays against John Kish’s “bipolar-esque” Captain Hook.

Though Kish, 26, just arrived in Bend from New York City in December, he’s already started his own local theater company, Topsoil Theatrics, which stages cocktail cabarets downtown. He was also seen in Cascades Theatrical Company’s “Glass Menagrie” as Tom Wingfield.

Kish, who’s used to playing comedic roles and heroes, is looking forward to tackling a villain, especially Captain Hook, who he cites as one of his favorites from when he was a kid.

“I’ve always, always dreamed of being Captain Hook — people even say that I look like the Hook (Killian Jones) from (ABC TV show) ‘Once Upon a Time,’” Kish said. “I was obsessed with ‘Hook,’ the movie as a kid; I was raised on that. (Dustin Hoffman), oh, amazing, phenomenal. You never realize as a kid how short he is in the movie — puny, but brilliant.”

Beyond the challenges of flight and directing 80 kids and adults, the show’s young-at-heart theme drew DaCosta to “Peter Pan.”

“We don’t wanna grow up, right?” DaCosta said. “That’s why we do what we do here. Theater is a playground; it allows us to retain our youth.”

— Reporter: 541-617-7814, |bmcelhiney@bendbulletin.com