Every year, Brandeis actors, singers, dancers, directors, stage managers, costumers, set designers, music directors and all other tech-crew come to together to make something incredible—a full-fledged musical put together in just 24 hours. This year, Tympanium Euphorium and Hillel Theater Group chose to produce “Peter Pan: The Musical.” The 24 Hour Musical in the Shapiro Campus Center this past Sunday quickly sold out and even had another projection viewing area in the Shapiro Campus Center Atrium. Even with the inevitable mistakes and sleep deprivation that come from having to learn every aspect of a musical in so short of a time, the cast, and especially the star of the show, Katie Reinhold (Peter Pan ‘19), kept the enthusiasm high throughout the performance.

“Peter Pan: The Musical” (1956) is based on the play by Sir J.M Barrie and tells the story of Peter Pan, the boy who doesn’t want to grow up. Peter goes to the home of siblings Wendy (Emily Bisno ’19), John (Ryan Sands ‘19) and Michael Darling (Tres Fimmano ‘18) and convinces them to fly away with Peter to Neverland—after teaching them to fly, of course. In Neverland, Wendy becomes the “mother” of Peter’s gang of children, the Lost Boys, and we are introduced to the animals, the Indians and pirates of the Island. “Peter Pan: The Musical” ends with Peter facing his nemesis and the leader of the pirates, Captain Hook (Ray Trott ’16).

The sets were tastefully executed in a minimalist style. In the opening scene, in which we are introduced to the Darling family, the set incorporated only the key elements of the scene. There was a bed, which was vital for setting the scene of a children’s bedroom and near which much of the dreamlike elements of “Peter Pan: The Musical” take place. There was also the essential window through which Peter makes his grand entrance. A minimalist approach made sense with the time constraints and still was effective.

The show used interesting—and often comedic—methods to get key points across. In the famous scene where Wendy tells Peter that she will give him a kiss, to which Peter sticks out his hand to receive it, Wendy hands him a thimble. The thimble used in this production was a giant cardboard cutout that ensured the audience understood what was happening. The size alone was absurdly hilarious.

After Pan teaches the children how to fly, they “fly” by being physically carried around the stage, piggy-back style, by people in black morphsuits. These unorthodox methods continued in other modernizations of the original story. The ticking of the crocodile that gave Captain Hook his hook, for example, is created by an iPhone alarm. When Peter is teaching the children to fly and asks them to think happy thoughts, Michael repeatedly responds with “candy” but ultimately changes his answer to “Chanukkah.”

In keeping with 24 Hour Musical style, the ensemble casts of the animals, pirates, Lost Boys, and Indians were gigantic and when in a scene took up most of the stage. The ensembles particularly shined during the musical numbers of “I Won’t Grow Up” and “Captain Hook’s Waltz.”

This year the cast faced an extra challenge. Unlike last year’s 24 Hour musical “Grease,” for which it was likely that most of the cast knew the songs beforehand, “Peter Pan: The Musical”’s songs are more obscure.

The core cast probably had to spend much of their limited time learning unfamiliar songs and lyrics. While the musical had the typical 24 hour musical comedic element that arises from small mistakes brought on by simply not enough practice time, the smiles of those on-stage and the tremendous support of the audience served as reminders that the 24 hour musical is nothing if not a communal experience.