Touring ‘Peter Pan': Never Land for kids, ‘Never!’ Land for purists
A new adaptation of “Peter Pan” runs through Sunday at Belk Theater
This review by longtime Charlotte arts critic Lawrence Toppman was published by The Charlotte Ledger on March 6, 2024. You can find out more about The Charlotte Ledger’s commitment to smart local news and information and sign up for our newsletter for free here. And check out this link for Toppman’s archive of reviews in the Ledger.
Review: Updated, reimagined ‘Peter Pan’ strives to be a product of a more enlightened era
The updated touring version of “Peter Pan” at the Belk Theater through Sunday features Darling children who aren’t the same politely restrained British children as they are in the original production. From L: Micah Turner Lee as John, Reed Epley as Michael, Hawa Kamara as Wendy, Nolan Almeida as Peter Pan. (Photo by Matthew Murphy)
by Lawrence Toppman
The title character in “Peter Pan” wisely advises us “Just keep an open mind/And then suddenly you'll find/Never Never Land.” Anyone familiar with the 1954 musical who attends the updated version in the Blumenthal’s Bravo Series should heed that counsel. To do it, you’ll have to open your mind wider than the jaws of the crocodile who swallows Captain Hook whole.
The original musical had many cooks: Composers Mark Charlap and Jule Styne, lyricists Carolyn Leigh and the team of Betty Comden and Adolph Green, a book based on the play by James M. Barrie — who had created the character half a century earlier and died in 1937 — and input from director Jerome Robbins.
This version has an “additional” book by Larissa Fasthorse, additional lyrics by Amanda Green (Adolph’s daughter), new direction by Lonny Price, a few added songs, one musical excision nobody should miss (the stereotypic “Ugg-a-Wugg”) and another that might well have been retained (“Mysterious Lady").
The show strives at every moment to be a product of a more enlightened era. This results in extraordinarily diverse casting: The opening scene among the Darling family Tuesday gave us a Caucasian father, an Indian mother, two African-American children and one of Asian descent. (Note that I said American: The show has lost its British roots, except for Captain Hook’s inexplicable Scottish accent.)
So far, so good, but the play starts preaching at once. Little John Darling constructs a native American village in his playroom, lectures his father about the disappearance of its settlers, then shortly discovers they’ve moved to the Island of Lost Boys to prevent extinction of their tribe.
I happily accepted Tiger Lily as their leader, even as a co-equal heroine with Peter and the newly elevated Wendy, but this veiled reminder of colonial injustice seemed like someone trying too hard. (So did the now inevitable pre-show announcement thanking native Americans for being good stewards of the land on which Belk Theater sits. Didn’t white people steal most of that land from the original occupants? This seems as hypocritical to me as Nazis praising Jews for being custodians of property confiscated during World War II.)
So what do we gain by this updating? First, a Peter played by a young man, rather than the young woman we normally see. Nolan Almeida has such a winningly egocentric demeanor and attractively boyish singing style that he suits this revised casting perfectly.
Second, a Wendy (Hawa Kamara) on the brink of womanhood, who can be maternal with the Lost Boys but is destined to be a doctor, not a homemaker. Third, a Tiger Lily (Raye Zaragoza) with Tigger-like bounce and authority. Fourth, a lovely wistful song, “When I Went Home,” that was cut from the original and explains why Peter plans to remain on his island forever.
What do we lose? First, the contrast between the politely restrained Darlings and the brashly impudent Peter; in this Americanized version, he seems like a cheerful kid who could live next door to them. Second, the psychological implications: Barrie wanted the same actor to play Mr. Darling and Captain Hook, because the latter is the dark side of the former, but we get no sense of that duality. (Cody Garcia, buffoonishly funny, leads a fey group of pirates.)
Third, the idea that Peter’s island is an enchanted, distant place. How mundane it seems when Tiger Lily, lamenting a pirate raid, grumbles, “Your men aren’t taking our honey again. We had to eat unsweetened yogurt for weeks!” Why, was the Harris Teeter closed?
Fourth, and most crucially, deeper feelings. Somewhere amid the confetti cannons and flying somersaults, executed so handsomely here, we should pity Peter for never knowing the joys of a full adult life and shed a tear with Wendy, who realizes in the epilogue she’s too old to abandon herself to youthful fantasies. This unwaveringly cheerful, boisterous “Peter Pan” doesn’t supply either of these emotions and doesn’t expect us to miss them.
If You’re Going: “Peter Pan” runs through Sunday at Belk Theater, 130 N. Tryon St. Tickets cost $30-$174. Get them at carolinatix.org or call 704-372-1000.
Lawrence Toppman covered the arts for 40 years at The Charlotte Observer before retiring in 2020. Now, he’s back in the critic’s chair for the Charlotte Ledger — look for his reviews about two times each month in the Charlotte Ledger.
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