Tamia Grant doesn’t mind flying through the air for Berkeley Institute’s production of Peter Pan but she’s a little nervous about the singing.

The 17-year-old will play the title role in the senior school’s musical next week.

“I have to sing a couple of songs because it’s a musical, but I’m not the best singer in the world,” she said. “That’s been the biggest challenge. Some of the notes are high, but I’ve practised as much as I can and on the night I’ll just have to wing it. No matter what, I’m going to try and put my best foot forward.”

She’s been passionate about acting since she signed up for her first role, four years ago.

“When I was in M2 at TN Tatem Middle School is when I started discovering my creative side,” she said. “That’s when I knew I wanted to do something involving the arts when I got older.

“We had something called Decemberfest at my school where students would do dancing, singing and acting. I never thought I’d be able to.

“But after seeing one of the plays I told myself, ‘I have to be on stage’. The people up there looked like they were having so much fun and I wanted to be in that same position. When I finally got a part in M3 it felt great. It came naturally to me. I felt free.”

She especially loves transferring her energy and raw emotions on to the crowd.

“There’s such a variety of things you can do and emotions you can explore, even if you don’t explore them in reality,” she said.

“With this production I really feel like I’ve become Peter Pan on stage. It’s a cool character to be. I can relate to him because he’s very free-spirited and fun.

“The part I’m most excited about is being up in the air because I’ve never done anything like that before. It’s something new. Berkeley has really taken it to the next level with this production in terms of the flying and effects.”

The logistics of getting students to soar kept play director Shalane Dill up at night.

“I’ve been stressing a lot over that,” the teacher said. “Flying isn’t something I’ve ever done in one of my productions before.

“I have worked with rigging systems overseas, but this will be the first time we are attempting to fly students. The children are excited about it though.”

Ms Dill chose the play for its “magical and whimsical elements”.

Last year’s rendition of the Italian opera Aida, was well received but not as child-friendly as she’d hoped.

“We were looking for something that would bring out a different audience this year,” she said.

“We figured it’s Christmas time and wanted something fun and magical for the children. We have a new bunch of students this year who are interested in musical theatre so it’s been hard work, but it’s fun to watch the children learn and explore the characters.

“Being in high school there’s a tendency for children to act a certain way, but through Peter Pan they have to really challenge themselves to start acting like six- or seven-year-old children again.”

Head student technician Jonari Smith is in charge of everything that takes place behind the scenes.

The 17-year-old spent hours watching the Disney film for inspiration.

“I want it to be the best yet and be able to draw the crowd in with my creativity,” he said.

“There are a lot of colours involved in it and everything I’m doing with special effects will hopefully grab the crowd’s attention.”

He said hearing “oohhs” and “aahhs” from the audience was something he took great pride in but the job is far from easy.

“We have to make sure the mics have batteries in them and, for instance, if someone has a mic and the battery turns low I have to figure out how to fix or replace it and not throw off the whole show,” he said. “The same thing if there’s a problem with the lighting.

“I wouldn’t say it’s nerve-racking, because we rehearse it so many times and as a technician I go over my cues more than once, I feel comfortable on the night of the show.”

• Peter Pan runs Thursday through Saturday at the Berkeley Institute at 7.30pm. Tickets, $15 for general admission and $50 for patrons, are available from the school office and bdatix.bm