TJC Theatre launches its 2025-26 season with a vibrant production of “James and the Giant Peach,” a musical adaptation or Roald Dahl’s classic children’s novel. The show opens Wednesday, Oct. 8, at the Rogers Palmer Performing Arts Center and runs through Saturday, Oct. 11. Performances are scheduled nightly at 7:30 p.m., with a Saturday matinee at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are available through the TJC Cultural Arts Box Office.
Directed by the TJC Theatre faculty, the production features music and lyrics by Benji Pasek and Justin Paul, with a book by Timothy Allen McDonald. The musical follows young James, an orphan who escapes his troubled life by entering a magical peach inhabited by anthropomorphic insects. Together, they embark on a transatlantic journey filled with adventure and unexpected friendship.
The performance showcases elaborate costume work that visually integrates each character with their insect counterpart. Actors are transformed into ladybugs, grasshoppers, a spider, a centipede and an earthworm — each rendered with detailed textures and color palettes that reflect the bugs’ personalities and roles in the story.
Set design by Denise Weatherly-Green and Ryan Stewart plays a central part in immersing the audience in Dahl’s whimsical world. The stage features a stylized peach centerpiece complemented by dynamic lighting and moveable elements that transition between scenes on land and sea.
