BWW INTERVIEW: CATHY RIGBY TAKES FINAL FLIGHT AS PETER PAN

[jmnpublications]

Posted: 4/23/13 at 9:56pm

She's high-flying and adorable! She'll take her last flight as Peter Pan in Boston this week.
BWW INTERVIEW: CATHY RIGBY

[CapnHook]

Posted: 4/23/13 at 10:01pm

When have we heard that before?

[JohnyBroadway]

Posted: 4/23/13 at 10:05pm

She said the same thing the last time she closed her farewell tour back in 2006, back in Portland, OR. I attended the final performance, which we thought was her final.

[jesseryan98]

Posted: 4/23/13 at 10:08pm

Shes done it over 3000 times, she needs a break. She was my childhood hero for doing this part and I got to see her March 1st in Nashville, truly an inspiration. Thank you Cathy Rigby! You'll always be my favorite Peter Pan!(:

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 4/24/13 at 3:48am

I'd be surprised if this isn't her last. She can barely sing the score anymore. I love her, but it's time to give it up.

[Ambercrandall]

Posted: 4/25/13 at 11:14am

I think Cathy totally deserves a break. My son and I saw the show in St. Louis a few weeks ago and it was AMAZING. my son is 3 and really does believe in Peter Pan and goes to bed every night with his window cracked just praying Peter takes him to never land! It's the cutest yet saddest thing I've encountered as a mother of 4. He LOVED the show, however he did ask if Peter was a girl at some point furring the show. I told him no, and it was never brought up again. Ha! My one and ONLY complaint is that he now goes around telling EVERYONE he meets that tinker bell says they are "a silly ass"! It is very sad that Cathy is taking her last flight... But I do approximate that I have memories of seeing her as a child and now share the memory with my son. INCREDIBLE!!! Thank you CATHY!!! For yet another wonderful memory to cherish for a lifetime! Defiantly a performance(s) that will never be forgotten.. NO NEVER! Especially considering the DVD of the show runs on a loop in my sons room!

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/25/13 at 11:32am

I love Cathy Rigby but she's had more farewell tours than Cher.

Hmmm...

Cher as Peter Pan?

[beautywickedlover]

Posted: 4/26/13 at 12:58am

I saw her in the summer of 2012 and I thought she handled the role very well. She still had the same energy and voice was still very good. I'm glad she did this tour because I was sad when I missed her previous one from 2005-2006. However, it seems like this really might be it for her judging by this interview because she feels that she has done all she can with this role and there's nothing new left to discover in it. She said she wants to focus on her family now and running the her theater back in California. She also really wants to do 'Dancing with the Stars' next season.







Updated On: 4/26/13 at 12:58 AM

[SNAFU]

Posted: 4/26/13 at 1:01am

She will still be doing it in years to come with a specially wired Jazzy. Mark My Words!

[JohnyBroadway]

Posted: 4/26/13 at 1:05am

During the last farewell tour during '06 it was very special seeing her share the stage one last time in the role with Elisa what's her name and her daughter Theresa. Cathy really did turn Pan into a family business.

[beautywickedlover]

Posted: 4/26/13 at 1:08am

"with Elisa what's her name"

Elisa Sagardia. She played the role on Wendy in the recorded version and the most recent Broadway revival. That actually was not her last performance ever as Wendy. She played the role with Cathy in the Pittsburgh CLO production in 2008 even though she apparently was over 30.

Updated On: 4/26/13 at 01:08 AM

[JohnyBroadway]

Posted: 4/26/13 at 1:17am

I just remember a big speech after the curtain call, the entire cast and crew came out with flowers. Including a special speech by Elisa and the actor who played Hook. Cathy really thought she was done with the role, but she proved herself wrong. Has the key for the songs been lowered recently?

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 4/26/13 at 2:06am

^I'm not sure if they lowered the keys, of if Cathy's voice just sits a little lower now, but they changed it so that Wendy sings the end of "Neverland" with Peter. It seemed to me like Cathy had difficulty hitting the note. (And it's not even that high, is it?)

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 4/26/13 at 2:17am

I caught the tour back in January. I thought everything about it was dreadful. Especially Cathy Rigby. I loved her in Seussical, but she did not work as Peter Pan for me. This tour NEEDS to stop. It's been going on way too long. It's time.

[mikey2573]

Posted: 4/26/13 at 9:05am

My favorite Peter will always be Sandy Duncan who I saw when I was a child. I remember seeing Cathy in the role in Boston in the early 90s. TO think that she is still playing the role more than 20 years later. As I recall her production was very similar to Duncan's but Duncan as Peter was much more believable and effortless --Rigby really does seem to be working very hard. I heard that the score has been changed drastically for this current tour, including the omission of most of the overture.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/26/13 at 10:45am

the actor who played Hook

Brent Barrett?

[JohnyBroadway]

Posted: 4/26/13 at 5:37pm

Yup. From watching clips of the current tour, it doesn't seemed to have the same pizazz as the one in '06. The overture has always been shortened for Rigby's production.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 4/26/13 at 5:43pm

^I like the changes they made to the scenery and costumes for this tour though. And I loved that they finally made it work as two acts instead of three.

[JohnyBroadway]

Posted: 4/26/13 at 5:51pm

When I saw the show, and maybe it was because it was the last performance, the second intermission was cut.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 4/26/13 at 5:59pm

^From what I understand, this tour has only had one intermission placed after the Marooner's Rock scene since at least the stop at Madison Square Garden. Some stops prior to New York had the old three act format, but it was finally abandoned by the time they played Madison Square Garden in December 2011, and possibly a few stops before New York. When this tour opened it was still the old three act format from the previous tours and productions.

Updated On: 4/26/13 at 05:59 PM

[JohnyBroadway]

Posted: 4/26/13 at 7:05pm

OO I've always thought that would be an appropriate place for an Intermission.

[DEClarke]

Posted: 4/29/13 at 7:24am

In Houston it was one intermission, right after Marooner's Rock (as stated).

The show was great in Houston, btw.

[bdboston]

Posted: 4/29/13 at 7:46am

Yep, PalJoey, that's Brent Barrett. Having just seen "Peter Pan" in Boston yesterday, I can honestly say he was the best thing about the show.