Circus of your mind
Broadway’s ‘Finding Neverland’ brings a magical world to Popejoy Hall
Conor McGiffin is always up for a challenge.
The actor is pulling double duty in the traveling production of “Finding Neverland,” which ran on Broadway for 17 months.
McGiffin plays Charles Frohman and Captain James Hook.
“It’s interesting, because Charles cares for the people in his life,” McGiffin says. “He has a lot of bluster, and it’s all in good faith, and he wants everybody to succeed, whereas Captain Hook thinks everybody is his plaything. Everyone must be subservient to him. He’s just so bad. It’s good to be bad.”
“Finding Neverland” is based on the Academy Award-winning Miramax motion picture by David Magee and the play “The Man Who Was Peter Pan” by Allan Knee.
The musical begins its four-night stint at Popejoy Hall on Thursday, Dec. 13.
It follows the relationship between playwright J.M. Barrie and the family that inspired “Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up” — one of the most beloved stories of all time.
In “Finding Neverland,” playwright J.M. Barrie struggles to find inspiration until he meets four young brothers and their beautiful widowed mother.
Spellbound by the boys’ enchanting makebelieve adventures, he sets out to write a play that will astound London theatergoers. With a little bit of pixie dust and a lot of faith, Barrie takes this monumental leap, leaving his old world behind for Neverland, where nothing is impossible and the wonder of childhood lasts forever.
James Barrie never had his own children (one of the reasons his marriage to actress Mary Ansell ended in divorce) but spent a great deal of time playing with the children of his friends Sylvia and Arthur Llewelyn Davies.
He loved to create skits for the children’s entertainment.
It was while writing and acting out skits with the Davies children that Barrie developed the characters and plot he would use in the writing of the full-length play version of “Peter Pan.”
Diane Paulus’ “Finding Neverland,” with direction re-created by tour director Mia Walker and associate choreographer Camden Loeser, book by Olivier Award-nominee James Graham, music and lyrics by Gary Barlow (“Take That”) and Grammy Award winner Eliot Kennedy, and original choreography by Emmy Award winner Mia Michaels.
Ruby Gibbs plays Sylvia Llewelyn Davies, the mother of the four children taken on the adventure.
“It’s gorgeous, and I’ve never felt so powerful and strong, yet gentle and patient,” Gibbs says of the character. “The first scene happens with my four boys, and it’s an amazing journey we’re taken on.”
Gibbs says the story of Peter Pan is one that resonates with a lot of people because of the world it transports you to.
In playing Sylvia, she delved deep and took some pointers from her own mom.
“I wanted Sylvia to be strong,” Gibbs says. “When Sylvia lost her husband, she had a choice. She made the choice to become a mother who helps cultivate her child’s imagination. She wants to give them the life they deserve.”