Cathy Rigby Takes a Nonstop Flight With Peter Pan | LA STAGE ...

Cade Canon Ball, Julia Massey and Krista Buccellato fly with Cathy Rigby in "Peter Pan"

The 5 Freeway may not exactly be the second star to the right and straight on ?til morning, but there is plenty of pixie dust being sprinkled around the city of La Mirada this week as its performing arts center prepares to open the final production of its season, Peter Pan. What makes this production a particularly auspicious occasion is the homecoming of co???executive producer and leading lady Cathy Rigby, whose name has become intrinsically linked with the title role and the venue.

Following a spectacular career in gymnastics, the Olympic medalist first donned the signature green tights in the 1991 Broadway revival of the musical?s 1954 version. Since then, Rigby has continued to play Peter, including in this most recent national tour currently scheduled to run through April.

Cathy Rigby

In the midst of flying?by plane and by wire?across the country, Rigby is grateful and excited to return home to La Mirada for a brief respite. The La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts serves as a base of operations for McCoy Rigby Entertainment, which Rigby founded with her husband and co-executive producer, Tom McCoy.

?It?s always nice to be on familiar ground and in front of an audience that you know,? Rigby says, sighing with relief. ?Obviously my husband is the producer there, and it?s such a great theater in and of itself. Plus it?s just a few miles from my home, whereas when I go out on tour, I?m away from home and away from my own bed. It?s just perfect.?

Never Smile at a Crocodile

Perfect is a word not often heard in this economic climate, particularly in Los Angeles when it comes to large regional theater houses. Yet McCoy Rigby continues to thrive and has often even set the bar for major theatrical productions from its perch on the cusp of Los Angeles and Orange counties. For Rigby and McCoy, putting down roots close to home has been instrumental in their success. ?Our reasons for living here are very simple,? Rigby says. ?My husband is one of 11 and I?m one of five children, and we were born and raised here. But really, if you were to try and mount Peter Pan in New York and then take it out on the road, it?s going to cost probably five times as much, at the very least. We have great talent out here, and we just feel that we can do the quality work, the variety, and it?s not going to cost millions of dollars. It?s hard to recoup your cost on the road if you?ve paid so much money initially to mount it.?

Cathy Rigby

She credits her husband for his ability to make the best of what they?ve been given. In particular, she says, ?He really does try to stay on budget.? Rigby says he pays whatever he can to the actors and designers, but that he also knows the financial stretching point of the production. And, she notes, some productions can be ?overcreated,? so ?the heart of the story gets lost, and then you can?t recoup your money as well.? According to Rigby, the city of La Mirada helps finance the shows, and profits are returned to the city. ?It?s certainly not an infinite amount of money that we have to make these shows, so it makes us work really hard at the casting and the design to tell the story in the best way possible,? she says.

Grown Up but Forever Young

Speaking of keeping things close to home, when it comes to sewing on Peter?s old shadow again, Rigby says her role is not so much the boy that never grows up but a joy that does not grow old. According to her, the familiarity allows her to feel more at home in the role than she ever has. ?When you?ve done a show for so many years, you really learn what to expect,? she says. ?That doesn?t mean that the show is static by any means, but you know how to breathe and relax. In preparation to fly through the window, you immediately become the character. You don?t have to work at trying to understand the character or try and remember your lines or choreography. It?s very organic at this point and effortless, and that makes it really fun because anything is possible and you?re able to be more alive onstage. I?ve found that now it?s much easier on my body and emotionally accessible. It?s a part of your body and mind.?

Cathy Rigby with the Lost Boys

Though it may seem perhaps a bit counterintuitive, her opportunities to grow and mature with the role helped her overcome the gender and age differences between herself and Peter. ?Children, in their daily life, they don?t really edit themselves,? she says. ?They?re much more spontaneous and less self-conscious. I feel now, with Peter, I don?t have to play at being a child. It just happens. Coming from a background of gymnastics, where you have to work so hard at every moment, the freedom and spontaneity of this show makes me giggle because I have to think to myself, ?Wait a minute, am I working hard enough?? But that?s what makes the show and this part so wonderful. Plus my body and my voice aren?t as tired. I feel a little bit guilty but also happy that it?s easier now than it used to be.?

Her backstage preparation is instinctual at this point. Crouching down below the window is all the emotional preparation she needs. ?The music soars, and suddenly you?re there in the bedroom,? she says. ?There?s a very mischievous feeling to that moment.?

Audiences have certainly seen more impressive things these days on film and even on stage, she points out, but seeing someone flying onstage is thrilling. Maybe, she says, it?s because we all dream of flying, but the audience?s reactions to the flying are palpable, perhaps because we want to be a part of it.

Brent Barrett and Cathy Rigby

At the end of a day filled flying and swashbuckling pirates, that youthful sense of wonder and inhibition makes Rigby feel the most fresh and exhilarated. But, she notes, the best part of the day is talking to the kids after the show. ?You never know what they?re going to say,? she shares. ?They just say very blunt, direct, sometimes politically incorrect things that are totally raw and emotionally unedited. It?s the way I wish everybody could be. So honest. Also, I love hearing from the people who have seen the show when they were younger and are now bringing their children and getting to relive it through their eyes and remember when they felt like when they first saw it.?

Rigby says she is nothing but humbled and honored to be a part of the continual resurgence of Peter Pan and her significant contribution to show?s legacy. ?The great thing about this show is that every six to eight years, you have a brand new audience for it, which is not like most other shows,? she says. ?I always liken it to Christmas morning. Maybe you?ve done the same old Christmas morning tradition for 30 years, but you will have new people in your life, and you are going to want to watch them open presents and experience that tradition and those memories with them. Peter Pan has definitely become sort of a tradition with many families to come see this show, and I?m so thrilled that I get to be a part of that. I get to be Santa Claus. I truly love that.?

Peter Pan, presented by La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts and McCoy Rigby Entertainment. Opens June 2. La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd. Wed-Thu 7:30 pm, Fri 8 pm, Sat 2 pm and 8 pm, Sun 2 pm, through June 24. Tickets: $35-$50. (562) 944-9801 or (714) 994-6310. www.lamiradatheatre.com.

***All Peter Pan production photos by Isaac James Creative

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