On Theater: A joyous journey to ‘Neverland’
The adventures of Peter Pan have delighted young (and old) audiences for well over a century in all creative forms and storyline angles. My personal faves are the 1953 Disney animated version and Steven Spielberg’s underrated 1991 movie “Hook.”
Hollywood took another crack at the genre four years ago with “Finding Neverland,” the story of Pan’s origins, starring Johnny Depp as his creator, James M. Barrie. It was only a matter of time before someone (James Graham) decided to set that story to music and adapt it for the stage.
Now the Tony award-winning production is on tour and currently mesmerizing audiences at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, under the direction of Diane Paulus, who helmed the Broadway version. It’s a tasty dessert for the eyes and ears with a healthy slice left over for the mind.
When we first meet Barrie — wonderfully played by the ebullient Billy Harrigan Tighe — he’s already a fully formed playwright in the London of 1903, searching for the inspiration to create a new project. He discovers it in the form of four young boys who frolic in the park with their widowed mother.
Barrie’s married, but it’s a shaky union, and soon he and the widow (the delightful Christine Dwyer) are a couple despite the dissenting presence of her scowling, hatchet-faced mother (Karen Murphy). As the kids play at being pirates, the Peter Pan story forms and flourishes in Barrie’s mind.
Tighe charms all while making the case for a Peter Pan production to his producer, the imposing Tom Hewitt, who doubles as a lusty Captain Hook. He also turns Dwyer’s oldest lad, Peter, from sullen to sparkling and names his young creation after the boy.
The youngsters alternate in the production. At Tuesday’s opening, Ben Kreiger played the sensitive Peter, abetted by Finn Faulconer, Mitchell Wray and Jordan Cole. Their performance of a play written by Peter will tug at the heart strings.
Comedy works its way deftly into the script. The biggest laugh of the show comes when one of the boys asks the huge Dwelvan David if he believes in fairies. “My boy,” David replies, “I’ve spent my entire life in the theater.”
And yes, the audience, at one point, will clap Tinkerbell back to life.
Musically, the show is a total delight, with Mia Michaels’ choreography highlighting the Gary Barlow-Eliot Kennedy score and producing memorable sequences like the dinner party, when the kids run wild as (most of) the adults sit stonily at attention.
The ensemble-rich first act curtain-closer, reminiscent of the transformative scene in the movie “Rocky,” is a whopper of a moment, comparable to those in “Les Miserables,” “Wicked” or “Evita.” It’s titled “Stronger” and bonds Barrie beautifully with members of his acting company.
“Finding Neverland” showcases familiar figures in unfamiliar circumstances, hitting the line between historical and hysterical. It’s a treat for the eyes, ears, mind and heart at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts.
*
IF YOU GO
What: “Finding Neverland”
Where: Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa
When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 2 and 7 p.m. Saturdays, and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sundays until April 2
Cost: Start at $29
Information: (714) 556-2787
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TOM TITUS reviews local theater.
