You can hardly be blamed for thinking that “Peter Pan: The Hit Broadway Musical” just may be some of the dustiest words in theater history.
Peter Pan? Today? Really?
But the Broadway national tour has been zhuzhed up just right from its 1954 origin, with sound judgment and even restraint … mostly … and the themes and pulse of the musical are still there, as resonant as when J.M. Barrie first mounted the play in 1904.
The “Peter Pan” that is playing at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach through Feb. 16 — and coming to Fort Lauderdale’s Kravis Center in May — is a sorta-kinda new adaptation (it’s been treading the boards since 2023) of the musical we all remember about the boy who refuses to grow up.
For this staging, American Indian playwright Larissa FastHorse has sprinkled her own brand of fairy dust on the show’s book, especially with the depiction of indigenous people. But the classic songs remain, such as “I’m Flying,” “I Gotta Crow,” “I Won’t Grow Up” and “Never Never Land.”
Matthew Murphy
From left, Nolan Almeida as Peter Pan, Kenny Ramos as Acoma, Raye Zaragoza as Tiger Lily with the cast of “Peter Pan.” (Matthew Murphy/Courtesy)
The cast, a pleasing panorama of nth-degree diversity, perform these standards dutifully. And from the Darling Family to the Lost Boys, they smoooooooothly slip in some references that everyone from Generation Alpha to Boomers will get: viral videos, iPads, E. coli, junk mail, unsweetened yogurt.
The special effects are handled just right — not an FX as much as a lowercase fx. That isn’t a “Peter” pan. It is as it should be. The magic flows along with the narrative, never upstaging it or derailing it for the sake of spectacle for spectacle’s sake. When the production flies, it really soars. The stagecraft is masterful.
It must be said, however, that the performance sensibility is somewhere between English pantomime and a Nickelodeon sitcom. While that doesn’t necessarily ground “Peter Pan,” it does make the 2 hours (with a 20-minute intermission) seem to overstay its welcome just a bit.
And the choreography comes off as clunky and sophomoric, with all the high school connotations therein. A sort of Peter Principle, if you will. No, we don’t need popping and locking, but what is there now is the only thing making “Peter Pan” just too “Peter” wan.
Still, if you surrender to the show, and dust off those memories you probably have, “Peter Pan” just might make you — even in these times — believe.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: “Peter Pan: The Hit Broadway Musical”
WHEN/WHERE:
- Through Sunday, Feb. 16, at Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, 701 Okeechobee Blvd. West Palm Beach
- May 6-18 at Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201 SW Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale
COST:
- Kravis Center: $50-$145
- Broward Center: $45-$176
INFORMATION:
Matthew Murphy
From left, Micah Turner Lee as John, Reed Epley as Michael, Hawa Kamara as Wendy and Nolan Almeida as Peter Pan. (Matthew Murphy/Courtesy)
Matthew Murphy
Nolan Almeida as Peter Pan with the cast of the musical. (Matthew Murphy/Courtesy)