Fly Away with Peter and the Starcatcher at CoSA’s Winter Play

The Coronado School of the Arts (CoSA) Musical Theatre and Drama Conservatory brings its winter play, Peter and the Starcatcher, to the stage next month. The whimsical and imaginative play provides a backstory for the beloved characters of Peter Pan, Mrs. Darling, Tinker Bell and Captain Hook. The play runs February 7-9 and February 14-15 at the Coronado Performing Arts Center at 650 D Avenue.

Peter and the Starcatcher features a creative script, innovative storytelling and is appropriate for the entire family, according to play director Kim Strassburger. In addition, it’s packed full of thrilling surprises and sensational scenes.

“The play pushes our cast and company to its limits in creating a world that needs imagination,” said Strassburger. “There’s the music, stage combat, magical levitation, flying cats…all of these are things that our cast is creating on stage to share this story with our audiences!”

The production is unique in that it includes students from Coronado High School and Coronado Middle School, in addition to CoSA, according to Strassburger. Ellis Quesada from CMS plays Molly, CoSA freshman Kleber Toala plays Peter, CHS student Luca Morocco plays Slank, and CoSA senior Jess Nelson plays Captain Hook.

“Just wait until you see our students play Victorian era British sailors, mermaids and pirates,” she said.

Peter and the Starcatcher was first performed at the La Jolla Playhouse in 2009 and went on to become a Broadway hit, winning a Tony Award in 2012. The play is based on the 2004 novel Peter and the Starcatcher by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, and relies more on J.M. Barrie’s original story of Peter Pan as opposed to the Disney version, explained Strassburger.

The best part? A portion of the royalties that CoSA paid to produce this production of Peter and the Starcatcher will go to the Great Ormond Street Hospital, a leading children’s hospital in London, per Barrie’s wishes. Tickets are on sale at this link or visit CoSASandiego.com.

The CoSA Musical Theatre and Drama Conservatory, along with the others, are currently accepting applications for the 2025-2026 school year. Any rising 9th grade (currently in 8th grade) or high school student in San Diego County is invited to apply to CoSA; about one-half of CoSA students are from various school districts throughout San Diego County. Interested students and their families are invited to attend the CoSA Preview Night on February 25 at 6pm at the Coronado Performing Arts Center. See this link to start the admission process and learn about deadlines.

About CoSA

Coronado School of the Arts (CoSA) is San Diego County’s premier public school arts conservatory, home to 200 scholar artists grades 9 through 12, who attend the nationally ranked Coronado High School. CoSA provides an intense, pre-professional arts education to students from Coronado and from all over San Diego, who are admitted after a competitive application/audition process.

Each school day CoSA offers three or more hours of instruction, pairing young artists with educators who are also industry specialists. With a curriculum designed by professional artist/educators, students are immersed in their chosen specialty in one of six conservatories: Classical and Contemporary Dance, Digital Arts (Animation, Filmmaking, Game Design, and Graphic Design), Instrumental Music, Musical Theatre & Drama, Theatre Production, Design & Management and Visual Art. CoSA is a State of California-approved Career Technical Education program.

Our award-winning student artists perform and exhibit at the Coronado Performing Arts Center on the Coronado High School campus, in either the 570 seat Main Stage or 80 seat Black Box theatre. Coronado Performing Arts Center is also available for rent to local organizations. About twenty five percent of the CoSA budget is raised each year by the CoSA Foundation. If you would like to see the arts continue to thrive in education, please consider making a donation at www.cosafoundation.org.