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Do you believe in fairies? I’ll admit I was not familiar with this version of Peter Pan prior to this performance, having grown up on the Disney version. Similarly, it’s a tale of Peter Pan, a lost boy from the fantasy world of Neverland, and his encounter with the three Darling children who are feeling unseen by their busy parents. Lured by the promise of adventure, and Wendy’s need to be seen as a nurturer, John, Michael, and Wendy Darling set off from their bedroom to fly second star to the right, and straight on until morning to the world of Neverland.
In Neverland, familiar tensions are rising as Peter Pan, Tiger Lily, and Captain Hook each feel they have the sole right to control the land. The Darling children provide some shallow perspective to the groups, allowing Peter Pan and Tiger Lily to forge an unlikely partnership to banish Captain Hook and the pirates from Neverland once and for all.
This production is updated in many ways from the 1954 version, modernizing for a newer audience. This is apparent before the performance begins as the show makes a point to acknowledge the original tribe that occupied the land on which the theater sits—In the case of the Hollywood Pantages, the Gabrieleños.
Wendy begins the show using an iPad to film what we assume is a TikTok dance and speaks of her aspirations to become a surgeon when she grows up. Tiger Lily and her tribe are portrayed as Indigenous people just wanting to maintain their sense of culture and heritage in Neverland.
There was no shortage of children in the audience, who were very eager to see this musical. The production offered the color and life to excite the imaginations of children and new theatergoers, but for those familiar with theater or the story of Peter Pan, there may be a struggle to connect with the production. For me, the beginning especially fell flat, feeling more like a community theater production than one that’s touring along with other Broadway productions. The most distracting thing for me was the nursery scene with Peter Pan trying to find his shadow.
The frontal spotlighting was such that Peter had a clear and obvious shadow throughout the search and the process of sewing his own back on him. Dialogue delivered early in the show felt a little forced. Some of the sense of adventure I hoped I would feel in the audience felt lost, as even Captain Hook did not feel at all like a menacing villain who was even capable of taking down Peter Pan or Tiger Lily.
Tinkerbell is represented as a light that flits across stage, whose dialogue is only understood by the characters, but not the audience. Her near-death experience fell emotionally flat, resulting in a very lackluster applause effort from the audience to bring her back to life—but ultimately, we did decide to believe in fairies.
That being said, the performances themselves were very good. Nolan Almeida (Peter Pan) has a great singing voice and energy, effortlessly balancing the naivety and faux confidence of his character. Vocally, Raye Zaragoza (Tiger Lily) was a standout, her first few notes made me raise my eyebrows because of how clear her tone is.
The comedic chemistry of Cody Garcia (Captain Hook) and Kurt Perry (Smee) was so organic and genuinely laugh-out-loud, especially in addition to the farcical antics of the rest of the pirate band. I also enjoyed the whimsy of the musical numbers, both in musical performance and choreography. Flying sequences were as expected, but Peter Pan’s arrival in the nursery is a very exciting moment in the show.
The practical set design was beautiful, and helped aid the suspension of disbelief needed to feel that numerous children were able to fight off pirates in a land where fairies exist, and humans can fly just by thinking of lovely thoughts. Most of the action sequences, however, relied heavily on projections which was contradictorily both visually stunning, but also lacked depth and imagination.
Conductor Jonathan Marro did absolutely right by Morris (Moose) Charlap and Jule Styne, ensuring a warmth and energy to the scoring and music that allowed for the musical numbers to shine.
The warm fuzzies come in Act II as Wendy suddenly realizes she misses home, and offers the lost boys to accompany her, John, and Michael back home so their parents can raise them too; an unrealistic but charming solution to the Lost Boys’ desperation to find a mother. It is here, after experiencing the temporary loss of his children, where Mr. Darling realizes that his family is more important than his work he’s been so devoted to until this point. Wendy waits her whole life to see Peter Pan again, and once he finally returns, it’s her daughter, Jane, who gets to experience the adventure this time.\
Overall, this is a fun performance to bring your children to, but for adults, it may lack the depth that you hope to feel in terms of loss, longing, and danger. The children in the audience were jumping excitedly on their way out of the theater discussing their favorite aspects of the production with their families.
Ultimately, the children still feeling a sense of awe and adventure while the adults felt somewhat disconnected is in line with Peter Pan’s message about the importance of never growing up—making this production, and the takeaways from it, a family night out that will not be regretted.
Peter Pan is performing at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood until July 28, 2024. Click here to purchase tickets now!
Peter Pan will also be premiering in Costa Mesa at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, August 6-18, 2024. Click here to buy your tickets now!
