Magical fairy dust — and odd revisions
The Broadway musical PETER PAN opened in 1954 — yes, 70 years ago. But its basis is much older: J. M. Barrie’s 1904 play — 120 years ago. His 1911 novelization is required reading in collegiate children’s lit courses.
The score is enchanting, and the enchantment is furthered by the direction and choreography by legendary director Jerome Robbins, who turned PAN into a wondrous flight of fantasy.
However, the phenomena of this musical, which earned Tony awards for Mary Martin and Cyril Ritchard, is that the stage show was taped for NBC broadcast in 1955, fresh from its smash Broadway run. There were also taped broadcasts of studio stagings in 1956 and 1960. (Remarkable that Mary’s daughter Heller played Jane in an early filmed version.) There were multiple airings of the 1960 revival, a tour de force that betters HAMILTON for its small-screen presence.
Before I launch my review of this modified staging, developed by NETworks Presentations, I issue a disclaimer: I have loved PETER PAN since I was a spry youngster. A bootleg kinescope was a well-worn, cherished entry into my videotape library, but years before the 1990 VHS, LaserDisc and Betamax release.
Lonny Price, with a long list of hits he has directed, has created a vibrant, throughly entrancing interpretation of a timeless story. He draws engaging performances from his cast, notably a spectacular Nolan Almeida as the titular character.
Wholly evident is Almeida’s joy for new adventures. He has the precise amount of defiant boyishness and a fierce determination. While a 17-year-old high school senior, he is destined for a healthy musical theater career.
As Mr. Darling/Captain Hook, Cody Garcia is also impressive. He is everything you could ask for in a foppish antagonist. Speaking with a quizzical Scottish brogue (improbable for a proper English sea pirate), he flails about with gangly limbs. “Hook’s Tango’ is a delight. Winning is also Kurt Perry as Smee, with a fun running gag with Garcia.
The set extraordinary, but too often overpowering the performances. The special effects superb. Peter dancing with his shadow: magnificent.
Where this PETER PAN stumbles is the thoroughly misguided revisions here and there to contemporize and “update” the script. For this blasphemous intrusion we blame Larissa Fasthorse, playwright of last season’s irreverent THE THANKSVIGING PLAY.
Yes, eliminate “Indians!” song, necessary when the other Neverland residents are now Native Americans. They are no longer stereotypical from a white perspective of what a Native person would be. (Barrie offensively referenced them as “Redskins” or of the Piccaninny tribe.) Tiger Lilly (an expressive Raye Zaragoza) and her cohorts are given a specific First Nations tribal identity names.
But other script changes are odd. Like a god-awful talking moon. The nursery scene is oddly set in the present with Tik Tok videos. Wendy (a capable Hawa Kamara) wants to become a surgeon and sutures Peter’s shadow, leaving us to wonder what John and Michael have selected for their future careers (maybe nuclear physicists — or florists?). A too-mature and unnecessary change for a girl living in a nursery.
A handful of changes remove us from the wonderment, but PETER PAN remains a wonderful musical.
► Brought by Broadway at the Eccles, Delta Hall at the Eccles Theater, Nov. 5–10. Tickets here.
