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When the shutters opened in the Darling
London house I half-expected Mary Martin to come sailing
through singing “I’ve Got to Crow,” one of the hit songs
from the1954 Broadway musical Peter Pan starring the late
Miss Martin. But as tuneful and joyful as the songs were in
this musical they pale to “When Your Feet Don’t Touch The
Ground,” “Neverland” and “We’re All Made of Stars,” with
music and lyrics by Gary Barlow and Elliot Kennedy.
Finding Neverland just
may be the best musical I’ve seen in years: best acted, best
sung and best danced. Little wonder that Barlow has 15
number 1 UK singles to his credit and Kennedy has has
written hits for Aretha Franklin, Celine Dion and the Spice
Girls. Finding
Neverland is
also directed to perfection by Diane Paulus, Artistic
Director of the American Repertory Theater at Harvard
University.
Matthew
Morrison is
brilliant as playwright J. M. Barrie whose character is
cross between shy and self-effacing poet and daring
man-of-letters. Kelsey
Grammer, in the duel role of
Captain Hook and producer Charles Frohman strikes just the
right balance between the kind of comic genius we’ve seen in
Cheers and straight-laced, budget-minded producer Frohman.
In 1906, Frohman risked money and reputation to bring Peter
Pan to Broadway.
Laura Michelle Kelly, as
Barrie’s muse Sylvia Llewelyn Davies and Carolee
Carmello as
Mrs. Du Maurier are both highly-effective and sincerely
heartfelt. Teal
Wicks, as Mary Barrie,
dreamer J.M. Barrie’s unsympathetic wife, brilliantly
succeeds in being appealing despite her carping. And she has
a knockout singing voice. And everyone of the children in
Neverland bring incredible zest and talent to their roles. Melanie
Moore as
the character Peter Pan is both fun and knows how to fly
quite well indeed! The cast also features Alex
Dreier, Aidan Gemme, Jackson DeMott Hill, Noah Hinsdale,
Sawyer Nunes, Chris Richards, Hayden Signoretti with
Courtney Balan, Dana Costello, Colin Cunliffe, Rory Donovan,
Chris Dwan, Kevin Kern, Josh Lamon, Mary Page Nance, Fred
Odgaard, Emma Pfaeffle, Jonathan Ritter, Tyley Ross, Julius
Anthony Rubio, Paul Slade Smith, Ron Todorowski, Jaime
Verazin and Jessica
Vosk.
It was 110 years ago that Charles Frohman
produced of Peter of the (treetops) and Never-Never Land at
Broadway’s old Empire Theater starring the great Maude
Adams. And playgoers from 6 to 60 “came swarming into the
theater,” my late father, Ward Morehouse, writes in his book
Matinee Tomorrow a one-volume history of the American
theater. Adams herself was a large part of the play’s
allure. She “had something of a spiritual quality that made
her appeal universal,” my father continued in the book. “The
rippling laugh, the lilting voice, the odd toss of her head
– these were attributes that endeared her to playgoers.” It
was also her generosity that endeared her, especially to
children. When a little girl who had saved her pennies for
what she thought was the 50 cent ticket price found out it
was $1 Miss Adams not only paid the difference for her but
ordered that all tickets for that performance be sold for 50
cents.
As a very young boy, I saw Mary Martin
playing Peter in the 1954 Jule Stein-Betty Comden-Adolph
Green musical adaptation of the play and my father and I
visited Miss Martin in her dressing room after the show. She
gave me some “fairy dust,” and for many minutes I tried
using it to fly off my family’s living room couch. It failed
to do the trick.
Based on the Academy
Award-winning Miramax motion picture by David
Magee, and the play The
Man Who Was Peter Pan by Allan
Knee, Finding
Neverland follows
the relationship between playwright J.
M. Barrie and
the family that inspired Peter Pan. Directed by Tony®-winner Diane
Paulus (Pippin,
Hair)with book by Olivier Award®-nominee James
Graham, music and lyrics by Gary
Barlow (Take
That) and Grammy Award®-winner Eliot
Kennedy, choreography by Emmy
Award®-winner Mia
Michaels (“So
You Think You Can Dance,” Cirque du Soleil’s Delirium).
Scenic design is by Tony Award®-winner Scott
Pask(Pippin, Book of Mormon),
lighting design by Tony Award®-winner Kenneth
Posner (The
Coast of Utopia, Pippin), costume design by Suttirat
Larlarb (Of
Mice and Men), and sound design by Tony Award®-nominee Jonathan
Deans (Pippin,
La Cage aux Folles).
Finding Neverland is
produced by Harvey
Weinstein and Weinstein Live Entertainment,The
Madison Square Garden Company, Len Blavatnik, Ron Burkle,
Radenko Milakovic and Bryan
Cranston in
association with Jason
Blum, Broadway Across America, Stephen Bronfman, Rodgin
Cohen, Michael Cohl, Jean Doumanian, Chad Dubea, Rick Gerson,
Jeremiah J. Harris, Sh. Mohammed Y. El Khereiji, Terry Allen
Kramer, Howard Milstein, Dalip Pathak, Steve Rattner, Jimmy
Sommers, Peter Stavola, Marvin Peart,
and The
American Repertory Theater.
The production is Executive Produced by Alecia
Parker, Barry Weissler and Victoria
Parker.
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