Peter Pan returns in ‘Neverland’
After a hundred years and hundreds of reinterpretations, J.M. Barrie’s “Peter Pan” hasn’t aged a day. The tale of the boy who won’t grow up is as familiar and comforting as a lullaby — but it didn’t start out that way.
When Barrie’s play (the book came later) premiered on Dec. 27, 1904, at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London, “It was considered an avant-garde, radical risk,” said Broadway director Diane Paulus, by phone from New York City. A legit play about pirates, fairies and flying children? It was preposterous, Paulus explained, and “that’s hard for us to imagine, because it’s so embedded in who we are.”
Paulus, a 2013 Tony winner for “Pippin” and the artistic director of American Repertory Theater at Harvard University, Paulus explores that origin story in the musical “Finding Neverland,” opening at San Francisco’s Orpheum Theatre on Wednesday, Jan. 18.
Based on the Allan Knee play “The Man Who Was Peter Pan” and on the 2004 Miramax film “Finding Neverland,” starring Johnny Depp as Barrie and Kate Winslet as Sylvia Llewelyn Davies, mother of the real-life boys who inspired the fictional Darling children, “Neverland” layers the emotional history of “Peter Pan” with the unique relationship of Barrie and American impresario Charles Frohman.
The show’s pop sensibility extends from whimsical visual effects to a new score by charttopping British songwriters Gary Barlow and Eliot Kennedy, and contemporary choreography by “So You Think You Can Dance” veteran Mia Michaels. Whiz-bang production values aside, Paulus says “Neverland” comes from the heart. “It’s this love letter to the theater,” she says. “It’s about family, and about how resilient we are in our life.”
Robin Williams notwithstanding, Peter is traditionally played by a woman: In the 1900s, British labor laws prevented children under age 14 from appearing onstage after 9 p.m., so teens got the children’s roles and women played the older Peter. (“So You Think You Can Dance” winner Melanie Moore created the role in “Neverland.”) Here’s a look at some of history’s more notable, and notorious, portrayals. Nina Boucicault: As the world’s first Peter Pan, 37-year-old Boucicault was also the first to ask an audience to clap if they believe in fairies, so that Tinkerbell could be saved. The opening-night applause was so overwhelming that she wept onstage. Maude Adams: This fin-de-siecle star — not to be confused with Maud Adams of “Octopussy” — was a smash as Peter on Broadway in 1905. Mark Twain wrote to her, “It is my belief that ‘Peter Pan’ is a great and refining and uplifting benefaction to this sordid and money-mad age; and that the next best play on the boards is a long way behind it as long as you play Peter.” Betty Bronson: Seventeen-year-old Bronson beat out Mary Pickford and Gloria Swanson for the coveted lead in the first big-screen “Peter Pan,” a 1924 silent feature with Anna May Wong as Tiger Lily and vaudeville animal impersonator George Ali as Nana and the tick-tocking croc. Cinematographer James Wong Howe went on to shoot “The Thin Man” and “Sweet Smell of Success,” and win two Academy Awards.
To see the film: www.youtube.com/ watch?v=4bNLJG_Kkug Jean Arthur: The squeaky-voiced screen legend was 49 when she led the 1950 Broadway premiere of Leonard Bernstein’s musical adaptation, opposite Boris Karloff as Mr. Darling and Captain Hook. Neither actor could sing well — one of the reasons this version had only five songs — but the show was a hit nevertheless, running for 321 performances.
To hear Arthur and Karloff on the original cast reading: www. youtube.com/watch? v=hv6HaLqi7T4 Veronica Lake: Broke,
alcoholic and weary of her sexpot image, Lake left Hollywood, her husband and her three children behind in June 1951 and started over in New York. Later that year, she sheared her signature tresses and played Peter in the unsuccessful national tour of Bernstein’s musical. (The young Jerry Stiller got stage time as the pirate Cecco.) Mary Martin: Jerome Robbins’ full-length musical premiered at San Francisco’s Curran Theatre on July 19, 1954, and it was an instant flop, even with Martin in the lead. After Jule Styne, Betty Comden and Adolph Green revamped Mark “Moose” Charlap and Carolyn Leigh’s songs, the show conquered Broadway. Martin won the 1955 Tony Award for lead actress, while Cyril Ritchard won the supporting actor Tony for his Captain Hook. Mia Farrow: Between “The Great Gatsby” and “The Haunting of Julia,” Farrow donned the cap and tights and warbled her way through the Hallmark Hall of Fame’s TV version, aired on NBC in 1976. Neither Danny Kaye’s Hook nor Sir John Gielgud’s narration could rescue the otherwise forgettable production, which featured new songs by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse ( Julie Andrews sang the title tune). Sandy Duncan: Duncan earned a third Tony nomination for her sprightly Peter in the 1979 Broadway revival at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre; 37 years later, she returned to play Mrs. du Maurier in “Finding Neverland.”
To see a montage from the “Finding Neverland” tour: www.you tube.com/watch?v=Adp1 hYECStk Cathy Rigby: The pixieish Olympic gymnast was such a winning Peter Pan that she starred in several Broadway productions, national tours and special engagements, including a 15-day run in Vancouver in 2015 — at age 62. Allison Williams: Not all Peters take flight, and Williams was widely panned for her rendition on NBC’s 2014 “Peter Pan Live” telecast, based on the beloved Broadway show. Mary Martin showed how it’s done on the network’s original live broadcasts in 1955 and 1960, which made her the definitive Peter Pan for generations of believers.