"Peter Pan Live" — Page 21

I thought it was fine. It was a live broadcast of a musical with lots of technical elements. I liked getting acquainted with Allison Williams because I don't watch anything to do with that horrid Lena Dumass. I just don't see the point of picking it apart. It's a once a year thing that has happened twice. I sat down knowing I was about to watch Peter Pan, which isn't my thing at all, but you know, that's what they were performing.

Next year, Pacific Overtures.

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^^^^
Like I said, it could have been worse.

I'm not so much of a critic, so I gotta say that I really enjoyed it. The only thing that I was very critical about was Christopher Walken. He seemed very off. I feel like NBC only put him in the role of Captain Hook because he's a big name, and big names draw in an audience. He was just terrible. I like Allison Williams a lot. I love her in Girls so to see her do this role was enjoyable.

My full review of the show:
Now that everything's said and done, I have to say that this was the best production of Peter Pan that I've seen EVER (including the original Mary Martin production).

Allison Williams was a revelation in the titular role, completely disappearing into it and making you believe in Peter as a pre-pubescent boy (something that the original Broadway Pan, Mary Martin couldn't achieve, at least vocally [and yes, I've seen the Martin production and listened to the original Cast Recording of the show, so I'm not just saying this to say it]).

Walken's performance was delightfully great, imbuing Hook with the perfect mix of intimidating scariness and over-the-top hilarity. I was particularly delighted by his performances in the Tarantella and Hook's Waltz. He also, as noted, played off of the rest of the pirates perfectly, especially Christian Borle as Smee.

Speaking of, Borle imbued Smee with a mixture of lovable goofiness and genuine menace that probably would've stolen the show if it weren't for the fact that he was working alongside Walken. The way Borle played Smee was a perfect compliment to Walken's performance as Hook, and he deserves major kudos for that.

The technical aspects of the show were another strength (in spite of Williams accidentally hitting the wall of the Darling Nursery set), and I loved that they went with the theater trope of the crocodile being played by a man in a suit. It added to the whimsy and charm of the show, and was a nice touch.

I'm not familiar with Taylor Louderman, but she was a phenomenal Wendy. Her added solo, "Only Pretend", was superbly sung, and I also really enjoyed the way that she and Williams played off of one another throughout the show, but particularly in that scene and the scene where Williams sings "When I Went Home" (which, incidentally, just narrowly beats out "Only Pretend" as the best of the new songs).

Speaking of "Only Pretend", Kelli O'Hara's reprise of it was heartbreakingly sung, and really helped enrich the character of Mrs. Darling. It also led perfectly into the reprise of "Tender Shepherd", a song that has always been one of my favorites from the production.

I also really enjoyed the 'reworking' of "Ugg-a-Wugg" as "Blood Brothers"; it kept all of the beats of the original version of the song intact, but updated the sequence for modern audience standards. The "Hickory Dickory Dock" bits that they added to the song in place of the 'Ugg-a-Wugg' lyrics were a rather inspired choice, and John Lucas and Jake Allen (as John and Michael, respectively)'s performances really helped sell them and added to the overall whimsy and charm of the production.

I also enjoyed the way they broke "I Won't Grow Up" into sections and used it to help tell more of the story.

Everyone involved in the show in any capacity deserves to be congratulated, because it was definitely worth the wait and didn't disappoint at all.

I'm giving it an enthusiastic 10 out of 10.

Updated On: 12/5/14 at 12:43 AM

^ I genuinely enjoyed every minute of the show, so there wasn't much to criticize. I'm sorry if the fact that I thoroughly enjoyed this production and had no complaints about it offends you.

Updated On: 12/5/14 at 12:47 AM

I loved how racially diverse the Indians were. Tiger Lily looked like a black woman and I spotted several asian and black indians. Kewl!!

"You must work for NBC..."

So somebody who genuinely found nothing bad to say about the show is automatically a 'paid shill for the network'? Really? Really? Really?

"or you haven't seen anything other than community theater, which isn't a bad thing. I love community theater, but my god. Seriously?"

Not that it's really any of your business, but I've seen PROFESSIONAL world-class productions of the following:
Les Miserables
Beauty and the Beast
The Lion King
My Fair Lady
Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella
Jekyll & Hyde
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Updated On: 12/5/14 at 12:57 AM

don't bother defending yourself DigificWriter. There are some on here who simply look rip people and their opinions

Who cares? It was a TV production on one night. It's not like it's U2 or something constantly demanding your attention and being irritating 24/7. It was fine. It was what it was, as it were.

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I prefer a Peter who has already gone through menopause, myself.

The Peoples Couch crew are having a ball tweeting tonight!! I hope they do a special.