Off to Neverland with a flashy “Pan”
“I’m Flying” from the national touring production of Peter Pan featuring (from left) Micah Turner Lee as John, Reed Epley as Michael, Hawa Kamara as Wendy and Nolan Almeida as Peter Pan. Photo by Matthew Murphy
The team behind the sparkling new tour of the musical Peter Pan have certainly located an ample supply of pixie dust – both literally and metaphorically.
The stuff is released in glittering clouds each time Peter thrillingly swoops into the nursery of the Darling children’s home. But in the bigger picture, there’s a real sense of enchantment, energy and fun to the entirety of director Lonny Price’s production now at the Golden Gate Theatre for a brief run as part of the BroadwaySF season.
The musical Pan first launched to Neverland in 1954 with a bulky team of creators headed by Jerome Robbins. When the show tried out in Los Angeles and San Francisco, the score by Morris (Moose) Charlap (music) and Carolyn Leigh (lyrics) was deemed not quite worthy, so Robbins brought in some pinch hitters: lyricists Betty Comden and Adolph Green and composer Jule Styne. So by the time the show opened on Broadway with Mary Martin as Peter, it was a sturdy and charming musical comedy. Incidentally, because she was the legendary Mary Martin, the 40ish performer won a Tony Award for playing a flying teenage boy.
Nolan Almedia is Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up. Photo by Matthew Murphy
With subsequent television versions and revivals of the musical (hello, Sandy Duncan and Cathy Rigby!), the musical, just like the Pan story itself, has never left the pop culture consciousness. The big news about this revival, which launched last February, is that there are yet more collaborators being added to the mix to bring the musical into the 21st century.
Larissa FastHorse, who holds the distinction of being the first Native American woman playwright to have a show (The Thanksgiving Play) on Broadway, has revised the book (originally credited to Peter Pan creator J.M. Barrie based on his play and novel). Her aim was to give more power and depth to the female characters of Wendy and Tiger Lily and to address the troublesome depiction of Indigenous peoples that has plagued the show for nearly 70 years.
FastHorse’s work here is deft and powerful. She changes the dynamic of Never Land in ways that expand the lore of the mythical place and create a more sensible and, frankly, more interesting story about its inhabitants. The Indigenous characters now represent native cultures from around the world that have died out. But before the culture disappears completely, one person arrives in Never Land to be a custodian of that culture until the time is right to bring it back.
Also, the Indigenous group, led by an empowered Tiger Lily (Raye Zaragoza), aren’t simply the bad-guy “Indians” to the good-guy Lost Boys “cowboys.” There’s a real relationship between the groups that evolves from antagonism to understanding to cooperation against the resident pirates.
It’s all handled beautifully and just makes the show feel richer and less stuck in the past, which is a good thing because the story is now neither Victorian nor British. We’ve got a diverse group of modern young people, some of whom know their way around a TikTok dance craze, populating a story that starts in suburban America.
Swash yer buckle! (from left) Nolan Almeida as Peter Pan, Cody Garcia as Captain Hook, Hawa Kamara as Wendy and the cast of Peter Pan. Photo byMatthew Murphy
With the new changes comes the happy excision of the song “Ugg-a-Wugg,” replaced by a tune from the Comden-Green-Styne musical Subways Are for Sleeping (1961) with new lyrics by Comden and Green’s daughter, Amanda Green. The song uses the melody for the super-catchy “Comes Once in a Lifetime” and serves as the rousing Act 1 closer, “Friends Forver.”
Another change is that Peter Pan is no longer played by a woman of a certain age. For this tour, he is played by 17-year-old dynamo Nolan Almeida, whose boyishly petulant manner is just about perfect, as are his gymnastic aerial stunts.
The flying is, of course, a thrill that Peter Pan offers that any other show would be hard pressed to match. And the flying here is, in a word, spectacular. Choreographed by Paul Rubin, the flying sequences quite literally lift the show to another level. When Peter teaches the Darling children – Hawa Kamara as Wendy, William Foon as John and Camden Kwok as Michael – and whisks them through the skies to Neverland, the audience gasps with delight. Assisted by Amith Chandrashaker’s lights and especially by David Bengali’s projection design, the journey to Never Land has never been so glorious or made the audience feel such a part of the magic.
Director Price’s pacing is swift, although it never feels too rushed, and the spiffy sets by Anna Louizos allow Price to give the show a cinematic sweep and speed. The choreography by Lorin Latarro is especially fun with the Lost Boys get involved, but the general vibe is big, youthful energy, and it’s marvelous.
Because we’re so saturated with Pan adaptations – songs, video games, TV series, movies, novels, plays – the story may feel like it has run out of the spark and pathos that has always been its draw. But this vibrant take on it feels fresh and reinvigorated. In every performance, Tinkerbell gets applauded back to life, and in a way, so has the Peter Pan story itself.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Peter Pan continues through Nov. 3 at the Golden Gate Theatre, 1 Taylor St., San Francisco, as part of the BroadwaySF season. Running time: 2 hours and 10 minutes (including intermission). Tickets are $36-$159 (subject to change). Call 888-746-1799 or visit broadwaysf.com.
