Aarin Hoygaard, left, and Pepper Weldon appear in the Peninsula Players’ production of “A Bag Full of Miracles,” which continues for two more weekends at the River City Playhouse in Ilwaco.

ILWACO — Two of the Long Beach Peninsula’s multi-talented young people are putting on a show in Ilwaco.

One is Pepper Weldon, who has a role in the Peninsula Players’ spring musical “A Bag Full of Miracles.”

If You Go

“A Bag Full of Miracles”

A 3-act musical comedy by Peninsula Players

7 p.m. April 1-2, 8-9; 2 p.m. April 3 and 10.

River City Playhouse, 127 Lake Street S.E., Ilwaco

Tickets: $15 from Okie’s Thriftway in Ocean Park, Stormin’ Norman in Long Beach, the Olde Towne Café in Ilwaco, and at the door if available.

Pepper is nine and homeschooled with a fourth-grade curriculum by her mother, Laura Weldon of Ocean Park.

Her involvement in the show started small and mushroomed, according to Robert Scherrer, assistant director.

The troupe planned the show for March 2020, but cancelled when covid restrictions began just days before opening night.

Aarin Hoygaard, now a freshman at Ilwaco High School, had been cast with another boy as two kids whose mischief forms part of the plot.

When Players leaders resumed rehearsals they reached out to their original cast and discovered they would have to make some changes. While Hoygaard was raring to go, the other boy had moved with his family to Vancouver.

Scherrer and the director, Rita Smith, determined to modify the script so there was only one child.

Then Hoygaard looked at his calendar. For a Christmas present, he had received a ticket to attend a professional comedy show. But it was on one of the performance nights.

The directors decided to recruit a substitute for that one night.

Enter Pepper.

Scherrer recounted what happened next with a broad grin. The directors had her try out. Once they saw how good she was, they went back to the original version and added her to the cast for all the shows, he said.

Parents Laura and John Weldon were delighted. “She just loves it,” said Laura Weldon. “She’s quiet and shy, but when she gets on stage …”

Their daughter’s artistic endeavors include tap and ballet dancing with enthusiastic Beach Ballet teacher Cheryl Cochrane. Pepper spends summers at dance camp at the Interlochen arts center in Michigan.

Her father, John, smiled, and added with deadpan timing, “She started playing the violin this year, too!”

Meanwhile, Hoygaard continues to broaden his theater experience. Last fall, he played the conductor in Rachel Lake’s IHS production of the murder mystery “Orient Express.” He had featured as a sailor in the Players’ production of “H.M.S. Pinafore” some while ago.

Smith, the director, is rewarding his enthusiasm with responsibility.

“Aarin is such a help,” said Smith. “He is in charge of the prop table and fills in when someone is missing and we need to get a set changed. He is just so much fun. He helps out — he has always been right there for me. And he’s a good listener, if I need to talk to him about something.”