When you meet Peter Pan in Children’s Theatre Company’s Peter Pan the Musical, it’s after all have gone to bed and Nana is chained up. Peter’s charm captures Wendy’s heart immediately as does it yours.
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As a special Mommy/Son date, my 6 year old, Dash, and I filed into our seats at Children’s Theatre Company ready to watch a good show.
I didn’t expect to be transplanted into another world.
Where is Neverland?*
I have come to expect nothing but awesomeness from Children’s Theatre Company, and I knew that their telling of the traditional story of Peter Pan would be incredible.
I wasn’t disappointed.
Here we go!*
Classic Story
As per the classic story, the Darling parents go out for the evening, leaving Nana–their Nursery Nanny Dog–tied up and Wendy, John and Michael by themselves in their room. While Mother and Father are away, a strange boy flies into the nursery searching for his shadow, can’t find it and starts crying awakening Wendy.
Wendy gets caught up in his magic and carries John and Michael along with her. Before they know it, they find themselves flying through the clouds with Peter Pan and Tinker Bell into Never Never Land.
Competition brings everyone together–The Lost Boys and Pounce*
There they meet the Lost Boys, Tiger Lily and her tribe of girls called Pounce (the only deviation from the orginal story), and Captain Hook and his pirates.
The adventures begin. They have a marvelous time playing make believe and hiding from pirates. However, it doesn’t take that long and the Darling children realize they want to be with their real mother. The Lost Boys decide they want a real mother, too. They are about to leave when Captain Hook’s pirates capture them.
Will they make it home?
Children’s Theatre Company’s Magical Peter Pan
I find it so incredible what CTC can do to take us to another world. The fairy dust itself was breathtaking, but so were all the effects. To make the children and Peter fly, Children’s Theatre Company used ZFX, Inc. and their flying techniques. I was expecting everyone to be swinging out of control in the air, but other than one instance when Michael and Wendy kept missing each other’s hands, everyone was completely under control.
I was impressed.
What tempo, Captain?*
What I loved
- The set–The nursery was beautiful. I loved that you could tell it was upstairs because Mr. and Mrs. Darling exited into the orchestra pit to suggest different levels.
- The characters–Especially Smee. The Darlings are a very convincing family. Peter Pan was incredible. Tiger Lily was a tough cookie and the Pounce were fun to watch battle. The Lost Boys were enduring. The pirates were entertaining. Captain Hook was delightful. But Smee? Smee was hysterical. He had me rolling in my seat, tickled pink.
- The music–I loved that it was a live pit orchestra. It always makes me happy to know the music is not canned. My favorite song was “I Won’t Grow Up.” Dash’s favorite song was the hand-clapping, crowing competition between the Pounce and the Lost Boys.
Do you hear that, Smee?*
What I didn’t understand
- (spoiler alert) Why did Captain Hook surrender himself to the Crocodile? He was so scared of him and then he just gave up and jumped into the sea? This part of the play was not written well. Captain Hook, played by Reed Sigmund, was extremely convincing, and he played up the character perfectly. I just didn’t get the the part of the suicidal Captain Hook. And I’m sure that was just me and I missed a pinnacle point in the dialogue.
- Why wasn’t Smee in more of the play? He seriously was my favorite character. Smee was played by CTC acting company member, Dean Holt who also has played the Cat in the Hat and the mouse in the When You Give a Mouse a Cookie. His physical comedy is hilarious even in Smee who doesn’t seem to be a physically funny character.
Peter Pan the Musical is 2 hours which can get kind of long. Before I went, Joy mentioned to me that she had purchased tickets for her whole family but to let her know if I thought it was too long.
In the Clouds, on the way to Never Never Land*
It’s not.
The action keeps your attention for the entire two hours–at least once you get out of the Darlings’ nursery. The moment Peter, Wendy, John and Michael start to fly around stage, they’ve got you–hook, line and sinker.
Make it a priority to see Peter Pan with your family. If price is an issue, ask them about their $10 tickets. If sensory processing is a concern, on May 29th, you can take your family to a sensory-friendly performance.
Peter Pan the Musical is a magical journey on which you will want to take your entire family.
*Photos by Dan Norman
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