National tour of ‘Finding Neverland’ soars with fun, emotion
OKC Broadway’s already strong season soars to a lovely new pinnacle with the national touring production of “Finding Neverland.”
Inspired by the touching true story of how writer J.M. Barrie conjured up one of the most beloved characters in Western literature — Peter Pan— out of playtime, pixie dust and pure imagination, the magical musical is playing through Sunday at the Civic Center Music Hall.
Adapted from the Academy Award-winning 2004 movie written by David Magee and starring Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet and Julie Christie, as well as the play “The Man Who Was Peter Pan” by Allan Knee, the show played on Broadway for 17 months between 2015 and 2016 and was named www. Broadway.com’s Audience Choice Award winner for best musical.
The show has been revamped since its Broadway run, with a vibrant new opening number called “Welcome to London” that transports the audience to Kensington Gardens at the turn of the 20th century, where Barrie (Will Ray), already a successful playwright whose latest production has nonetheless flopped, is trying to write a new play to appease his high-strung American producer, Charles Frohman (John Davidson).
His concentration is interrupted, but his imagination is stirred up when he encounters a spirited widow, Sylvia Llewelyn Davies (Lael Van Keuren) and three of her four young sons— Jack (Bergman Freedman), George (Colin Wheeler) and Michael (Tyler Patrick Hennessy)— rambunctiously playing pirates, while her fourth boy, Peter (Connor Jameson Casey), reads quietly, thinking himself too grown up for silly games since his father died.
Inspired by their playful antics, Barrie begins a friendship with the family, becoming their constant playmate and dreaming up stories of flying children, mythical mermaids and a fantastical realm called Neverland, which is rooted in his own childhood sorrows, to entertain the boys, especially Peter.
His newfound affinity for children and playtime, as well as his relationship with the lovely Mrs. Llewelyn Davies, puts new cracks in Barrie’s already brittle bond with his wife, Mary (Janine DiVita), a social-climbing former actress, and Sylvia’s socialite mother, Mrs. Du Maurier (Karen Murphy), who shares Mary’s obsessive focus on what is proper and what is not. Meanwhile, Barrie’s determination to turn his stories into a new show aimed at children alarms his producer, whose dramatic blustering inspires the creation of Peter Pan’s famous nemesis, Captain Hook.
In classic showbiz tradition, the story is a fictionalized account of Barrie’s relationship with the Llewelyn Davies clan, meaning that several key facts have been altered or excised. It’s fairly standard operating procedure for Hollywood or Broadway, but it can make some of the action a bit uncomfortable if you know the real-life version.
Directed by Marc Forester (“Quantum of Solace”), the cinematic version of “Finding Neverland” is remarkable for how it seamlessly merges the magic of Barrie’s Neverland with the reality of his burgeoning bond with the Llewelyn Davies clan, which was not all fun and games. Directed by Tony winner Diane Paulus (“Pippin,” “Hair”) with book by Olivier Award nominee James Graham,the stage version also applies that strategy but has the extra spark of live theater magic to make the spell even stronger.
Gorgeous projections and lighting designed by Jon Driscoll and Kenneth Posner, respectively, plus the clever scenic design by Scott Pask are created to let fantasy suddenly fuse with reality, especially during the grand Act I closer like “Stronger”/ “Hook,” when the stage is swiftly transformed into a pirate ship.
The production features music and lyrics by Gary Barlow (of the pop band Take That) and Grammy Award winner Eliot Kennedy, and it has some definite highlights with “Circus of Your Mind,” “Neverland” and “We Own the Night.” At 2 ½ hours, the show could stand to lose a musical number or two, especially some of the more cookiecutter tunes like “My Imagination,” but there are some really lovely, stripped-down moments as well, especially the boys’ ukulele, washboard and woodblock ditty “We’re All Made of Stars.”
The rest of the stellar cast brings its own enchantments to the proceedings when the story gets stretched thin, with Van Keuren sending Sylvia’s ode “All That Matters” into the rafters, Davidson providing delightful comic relief in his dual role as Capt. Hook and the producer who inspires the pirate villain, and new lead Ray creating such a warm and wonderful presence as Barrie.
When a little light becomes a fairy named Shiny Bottom, er, Tinker Bell, or a park bench becomes a rocket ship heading to Mars, “Finding Neverland” does just what has made “Peter Pan” so enduring: It entices everyone’s inner child out to play.