{"id":180233,"date":"2023-01-19T00:01:53","date_gmt":"2023-01-19T08:01:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eugeneweekly.com\/?p=188777"},"modified":"2023-01-19T00:01:53","modified_gmt":"2023-01-19T08:01:53","slug":"pegasus-playhouse-takes-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/19\/pegasus-playhouse-takes-flight\/","title":{"rendered":"Pegasus Playhouse Takes Flight"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI can\u2019t help but want to create something,\u201d says Scott Frazier-Maskiell, founder and artistic director of Pegasus Playhouse. \u201cI\u2019m addicted to it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Pegasus Playhouse, a nonprofit theater company dedicated to creating shows with and for young people in the Eugene-Springfield area, has a new location in downtown Springfield. <\/span>The site used to be part of the Springfield Academy of Arts and Academics (aka A3), and now has a colorful mural on the outside. There\u2019s a small lobby as one walks in, that opens up into a large, cavernous space with room to seat 118 people in the audience. Behind the simple black stage and velvet curtains lies the lived-in green room, complete with costumes left over from a recent performance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Pegasus was founded four years ago by Frazier-Maskiell, who came up with the idea to start writing his own youth musicals during his time as a theater teacher.\u00a0 \u201cI didn\u2019t love the content that was available for younger people back then,\u201d he says, \u201cso I decided to write.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Frazier-Maskiell says he\u2019s always been a folk singer-songwriter, so in that sense writing musicals seemed like a natural progression. \u201cOnce you start writing songs, the next one is easier,\u201d he says. \u201cNot that they’re perfect, but that you\u2019re brazen and unapologetic.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The artistic director explains that the original musicals are what makes Pegasus different from other theater companies. But Frazier-Maskiell still holds a deep appreciation for traditional musicals. \u201cNow that we have our own theater, we\u2019re going to have to do a lot more of the classics,\u201d he says. \u201cJust because they\u2019re fantastic and they should be done.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, Frazier-Maskiell remains dissatisfied with current youth theater offerings. \u201cI feel like the junior musical stuff that is out there right now, although terrific, is a lot of the Disney stuff \u2014 which I adore,\u201d he says. \u201cBut I don\u2019t think that\u2019s all that should be offered.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead, Pegasus Playhouse is proud to expand the possibilities of youth theater, Frazier-Maskiell says. \u201cThe first show we did was a show called <\/span>Too Many Princesses<\/span><\/i>,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was a completely new musical about a land where every girl was born a princess but then wants to bust out of that mold.\u201d The artistic director then teases an original musical about fairies that will take place this year. \u201cA young girl opens up a book and it’s a family history, but it hasn’t been opened in forever and fairies come out,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd not cute Disney fairies, but fairies who cast curses.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Having written many adaptations, Frazier-Maskiell enjoys drawing inspiration from pre-existing source material. \u201cI\u2019m orchestrating Winnie<\/em> right now,\u201d he says. The new version of <\/span>Winnie the Pooh<\/span><\/i> premieres Jan. 21.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are doing a youth production of <\/span>Snow White<\/span><\/i>, a version that takes place in jazz-era New York in the 1930s,\u201d Frazier-Maskiell says. He strives to play homage to classic musicals, while at times subverting them. \u201cFor example, the <\/span>Snow White<\/span><\/i> show we\u2019re doing has queer themes in it,\u201d Frazier-Maskiell says. \u201cSnow White happens to fall for a songwriter of the same sex.\u201d But he is aware that he faces a degree of scrutiny with this fresh adaptation. \u201cThere are probably going to be some discussions on how that is portrayed, and I will listen and we\u2019ll figure it out,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Pegasus Playhouse has faced its challenges. \u201cWe were one of the few companies that kept going during the pandemic,\u201d Frazier-Maskiell says. \u201cWe did Zoom theater. Four different age groups did a Halloween show where I would send costumes to their house.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Up until recently Pegasus was a \u201cfloating theater company,\u201d meaning the young actors didn\u2019t have a physical theater, but instead performed and practiced at other local theaters.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The artistic director is excited for this new chapter and the ability to put on more shows than ever before. The care that went into the new location is evident, from the seats, bought secondhand from the Very Little Theatre, to the charming green room complete with costumes left over from a recent performance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Pegasus Playhouse, though a creative outlet for Frazier-Maskiell, serves first and foremost as a community for young actors. \u201cTo be able to be an artist around other people your age, to have a safe space to be yourself and even play,\u201d he says. \u201cIt’s immeasurable what that does to your life.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Winnie the Pooh Children\u2019s Show<\/span> runs Jan. 21 through Feb. 11 at Pegasus Playhouse, 402 Main Street, Springfield. Tickets and more info at PegasusPlayhouse.com<\/a>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI can\u2019t help but want to create something,\u201d says Scott Frazier-Maskiell, founder and artistic director of Pegasus Playhouse. \u201cI\u2019m addicted to it.\u201d Pegasus Playhouse, a \u2026 Continue reading\u00a0\u2192<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[89,3,101,2],"tags":[180,181],"class_list":["post-180233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts","category-blog","category-ew-extra","category-news","tag-theater","tag-very-little-theatre"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180233\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}