The power of love
On the surface, "Charlotte's Web" is a classic tale about a creative gray spider and her barnyard neighbors rallying around a pig named Wilbur.
But at its heart it's a story of love and loyalty, of life and death. And that's the story the cast of Magical Starlight Theatre's version aims to tell as it performs the show this weekend and next.
"Charlotte's Web" takes audiences through a range of feelings, said Nick Ciliak, the 13-year-old actor who plays Wilbur.
"It's a little bit of everything," Nick said. "There are funny parts, some really sad parts. There's a lot of emotion."
Nick is an eighth-grader at Lincoln Junior High School in Naperville, where he's appeared in school productions of "Guys and Dolls" and "Oklahoma!" He's also a veteran of Magical Starlight, having played both a citizen of Oz and a munchkin in a recent production of "The Wizard of Oz."
But the part of Wilbur is a bit more involved.
"I'm in pretty much every scene. There are lots of lines," Nick said.
The show, a nonmusical version based on E.B. White's children's novel, tells how Charlotte, a gray spider, and her fellow farm animals try to convince farm owners to spare Wilbur's life by distinguishing him as a special pig, or, as the first message Charlotte weaves into her web states, "some pig."
"He changes so much throughout the show," Nick said of Wilbur. At first, he said, "he's a newborn pig, new to the farm, new to the world. (Later), he gets new friends, he gets bigger and he shows he's not the runt anymore."
Ginger Stephens Terlep plays Charlotte. One of her three sons, Mickey, a 13-year-old eighth-grader at Crone Middle School in Naperville, plays a human character named Lurvy.
Charlotte's "the one that discovers that there's something in this world that connects us to others and lifts us up," said Terlep, who has appeared in several Magical Starlight and Summer Place Theatre shows over the past two decades. "It's really a wonderful, uplifting story."
Though full of fun and fantasy, the story does confront the realities of life.
"It does go through the process of life and death. Charlotte dies before the story ends," Terlep said.
Though sad, tragedy is avoided because Charlotte's life doesn't end until she's made a difference in Wilbur's. Wilbur, in turn, cares for her offspring.
"It's a lovely, classic story," director Cynthia Katz said. "It's really a story about the power of love and friendship."
Katz said the show's 19 cast members wear costumes that represent the animals they play, but there's no attempt to make them look realistic.
"I could have done it in full animal costumes," Katz said. "But the animals have such wonderful personalities and characteristics. I chose to have them play it like people with animal characteristics."
Running about 90 minutes with a brief intermission between the two acts, the show is appropriate for young audience members, she said.
"It's a reasonable length for children to sit through. It's very family oriented," Katz said. "It's got humor, it's got a great message and it's very entertaining."
If you go
What: "Charlotte's Web" presented by Naperville Park District's Magical Starlight Theatre
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday, and Sept. 28 and 29; 2 p.m. Sunday, and Sept. 29 and 30
Where: Naperville Central High School's Little Theatre, 440 W. Aurora Ave., Naperville
Tickets: $8
Info: (630) 848-5000 or magicalstarlighttheatre.com
Cast list
From Naperville
Nick Ciliak: Wilbur
Katelyn Haas: Lamb
Shannon Hayden: Goose
James Hruska: Avery Arable
Jay Hruska: Templeton
Claire Leitzen: Chorus
John Ludlam: Gander/Uncle
Krissy Ludlam: Chorus
Carol Madalin: Edith Zuckerman
Alex Oechsel: Fern Arable
Ginger Stephens Terlep: Charlotte
Mickey Terlep: Lurvy
Stuart Vance: Homer Zuckerman
From Lisle
Ryan Cap: Photographer/Fairgoer
Cathy Geers: Martha Arable
From Schaumburg
George McArdle: Announcer/Reporter
Jamey McDunn: John Arable
Additional cast
Kaitlyn McMahon of Hinsdale: Chorus
Victoria Jozef (no town provided): Sheep