Peter Pan

I feel like a curmudgeon saying anything bad about Peter Pan.  But this summer's production at the Westchester Broadway Theater is not particularly good.  It often plods along, compared to the production I saw recently at Paper Mill Playhouse. If you have small kids, they very well might enjoy it anyway.  Author James M. Barrie created a wonderful character in Peter Pan—the boy who refused to grow up.

The score (by Mark Charlap and Carolyn Leigh, and Jule Styne and Comden & Green) boasts an array of infectious songs.  At one point, pirates chase kids off the stage and through the house—a nice touch—which is exciting. The costumes are quite colorful.  And, of course, Peter can fly. That may be enough.

But this particular production, directed by George Puello and choreographed by David Arzberger,  proceeds by fits and starts.  The first act, which should build enough momentum to make us eager to see the second act, simply peters out; the energy just seems to fade.  At the intermission, I saw a girl of about three or four ask her mother if they were going home now.  The mother replied, "No, not yet; the actors are going to do some more."  The little girl then asked her mother, "Why?" It seemed a perfectly valid question.

Christine Ditota is certainly a likeable Peter and Jeff Schlotman brings some panache to the role of Captain Hook. I'm glad I saw them, but many of the other performances have a perfunctory, by-the-numbers feel.  And the rich emotions that can be part of this show are too often missed.

The show has been mounted almost carelessly.  I wish they had done more in terms of sets; I'm not sure a small child would have understood that the nearly bare stage was, for one key scene, supposed to be a pirate's ship.  Almost anything would have helped—a mast with sails, or a painted flat, or even just a gangplank.

The nursery of the Darling home was realistic.  But having very light-colored walls is unwise; darker walls help render invisible the wires that are used to make actors fly above the stage.  The light walls make the dark wires needlessly obvious, spoiling an illusion.  In another scene, the pirates are supposed to be locking the children up in a makeshift prison.  But it was staged poorly, and we could see—all too clearly—actors standing up and walking out the backside of the lockup, into the wings. This carelessness marred the effect.  The crocodile in this production is played by a tap-dancing man in tails (David Suber), who tapped well.  It's a clever idea, but if you want small children to understand that the man in tails is  supposed to be a crocodile, give him a large crocodile mask with a long snout; the tiny partial mask worn by the actor did not read meaningfully from up where I sat. He just looked like an actor, cheerfully tap-dancing.

I'm glad theaters continue to mount Peter Pan. Every child should have the pleasure of seeing this musical "live."  But this is such a classic show, I just wish that the director and the producers (John and Nanette Fanelli/The Family Theatre Company) had taken more care.  Peter Pan—and the kids coming to see him—deserve better.

(Pictured: Christine Di Tota (Peter Pan) and The Lost Boys. Photo by Gene Moore.)

Chip Deffaa
Cabaret Scenes
July 9, 2010
www.cabaretscenes.org