Too good to pan
But ‘Finding Neverland’ could use a little tinkering.
If you throw enough pixie dust and pirates at it, almost any show will fly, if not soar.
That is certainly the case with “Finding Neverland,” the Broadway touring production nowat the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale for a twoweek run.
Based on the 2004 movie with Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet, the stage musical had a notoriously wonky transition to the Great White Way. The show premiered in Leicester, England, in 2012. It was reworked for a run at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Mass., in 2014 before getting additional polish for the Broadway debut in 2015. Therewas additional tinkering done for the road tour, which began last year.
It’s still not completely there. But it’s tantalizingly close— close enough to be an effective and affecting work of theater.
“Finding Neverland” is the story of howthe classic play “Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Never Grew Up” was incubated by writer J.M. Barrie. In the narrative, Barrie (played opening night by Will Ray) is looking for inspiration after his latest production flops in London’s West End. He finds it in a platonic relationship with the recent widow Sylvia Llewelyn Davies (Christine Dwyer) and her four rambunctious sons, including Peter, a role played by Palm Beach Gardens’ Ben Krieger.
Set in the very proper Edwardian era, tongues are soon set to wagging as Barrie’s social-climbing wife, Mary Barrie (Lael Van Keuren), and Sylvia’s grande dame mother, Mrs. Du Maurier (Karen Murphy), try to tamper and put a damper on Barrie’s obsessive playdates with the children. Time and time again we are given effusive dialogue and song lyrics about imagination, playing, adventure and, um, more imagination.
For the adults in the audience— and you should know this is not, strictly speaking, a kiddie musical— theremay be a subconscious “Amber Alert” moment when Barrie climbs through the window of the children’s nursery. Barrie has some mom issues, and the children, particularly Peter, have some dad issues— and all of them are circling dark and deathly matters. There’s enough id stuff going on to make a therapist’s eyes glint (unlike the movie, Barrie falls in love with Davies in the show).
Along theway, there are “Easter eggs” embedded in James Graham’s book that will delight Peter Pan fans. The tick-tock of the clock is a motif throughout. Peter plays with reflected light off his silverware and Barrie jumps up fromthe dinner table claiming it is a fairy. It’s all great, clever fun.
“Finding Neverland” runs through June 25 at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201SW Fifth Ave. For ticket information, call 954-462-0222 or go to BrowardCenter.org.