Peter Pan LIVE!
‘Peter Pan Live!’ With Allison Williams and Christopher Walken on NBC
Allison Williams ruined hate-watching.
It turns out this little-known, 26-year-old star of “Girls” has a lovely singing voice — as smooth as double-churn caramel ice cream. Ms. Williams convincingly pulled off a British accent and was, all in all, a confident, lively and suitably impudent Peter Pan.
Those who watched the musical “Peter Pan Live!” on NBC on Thursday in hopes of lighting up the Twittersphere with catty commentary were doomed to disappointment. Whatever was wrong with this performance, and there’s always something a bit off in a three-hour live television show, it wasn’t Ms. Williams.
peter pan live, peter pan live review, peter pan nbc, peter pan allison williams, peter pan christopher walken, peter pan special
allison williams, peter pan, christopher walken, brian william On Thursday NBC presented “Peter Pan Live!,” with Allison Williams, top right, in the title role.‘Peter Pan Live!’: The Best TweetsDEC. 5, 2014
‘Peter Pan Live!,’ With Allison Williams and Christopher Walken, Comes to NBCDEC. 2, 2014
Alanna Saunders will star as Tiger Lily in NBC’s “Peter Pan Live!” on Thursday night.Ugg-A-Wha? Updating Stereotypes in ‘Peter Pan’DEC. 4, 2014
It wasn’t Christopher Walken as Captain Hook, either, even though his voice was faint and he seemed at times to be rummaging for the next line. Mr. Walken was no Cyril Ritchard, the actor who played Hook opposite Mary Martin in the original Broadway production. Mr. Walken didn’t chew the scenery, and he didn’t enunciate the classic lines (“That’s where the canker gah-NAWS”) with much brio. But the actor brought his own sinewy charisma, stop-start diction and hoofer muscle memory to the part. Plus, in his flowing black wig and pirate costume, he looked like the fashion designer John Galliano dressed as Johnny Depp for Halloween.
Photo
Christopher Walken (with Christian Borle) as Captain Hook in “Peter Pan Live!” Credit Virginia Sherwood/NBC
The gaudy, brightly colored Neverland sets gave the show a pleasantly amateurish look, but technically this live staging of “Peter Pan” — overseen by the executive producers Neil Meron and Craig Zadan and the director Rob Ashford — was a lot more ambitious and difficult to stage than “Sound of Music Live!,” which they put on NBC last year. Nobody fell or got tangled in their wires while flying. There was no glitch with the computer-generated Tinkerbell. Even the real dog who played Nana didn’t miss a mark.
This revival, however, was in other ways a lot easier to pull off. There is really only one Maria — Julie Andrews — and no theater revival or television special, however popular, can rival the enduring popularity of the 1965 movie. Taking on Maria last year, Carrie Underwood sang beautifully, but she still seemed like an impostor.
There are so many Peter Pans. There’s the one J. M. Barrie described as “oddly cocky,” of course. Mary Martin played Peter onstage and in several legendary live productions on NBC. Sandy Duncan and Cathy Rigby starred in revivals. There was the animated Disney movie of “Peter Pan,” and Robin Williams was Peter in the 1991 movie “Hook.” A Broadway show, “Finding Neverland,” and another movie, “Pan,” are due next year. There is also a bus company, a peanut butter and a syndrome that all go by that name.
Ms. Williams didn’t have to step out of anyone’s shadow (besides Peter Pan’s), but she did have to overcome her own, since she has had little public exposure besides Lena Dunham’s HBO comedy, “Girls,” where she plays Marnie, a loathsome millennial whose main claim to singing talent is a hilariously awful music video.
Most of all, Ms. Williams had to surmount the hype and overselling of NBC, a helicopter network that smothered this production with fulsome ads and in-house synergy boosts, including a promo for the NBC News anchor Brian Williams, who is the actress’s father. Mr. Williams skipped anchoring the evening news on Thursday to watch his daughter’s premiere, which is understandable. The newscast’s sizable segment about Ms. Williams and her lifelong fascination with Peter Pan was less so.
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Thursday’s show couldn’t entirely live up to NBC’s puffed-up expectations, and the energy sagged halfway through. The performance was too long — it ended at 11 p.m., past the bedtime of its target audience of children and their grandparents, and it was possibly too ploddingly respectful. There were chances to tighten and speed up the narrative that weren’t taken. Instead, “When I Went Home,” a song that was cut from the original Broadway version, was restored. The television show did drop “Oh My Mysterious Lady,” but songs from other musicals were added. Too many commercial interruptions helped deaden the pace.
Continue reading the main story
RECENT COMMENTS
John S 14 minutes ago
Did not watch it, I guess because I never was much a fan of Peter Pan. Sound of Music last year was done well. But again I think much is...
Kelly Hamilton 16 minutes ago
I'm surprised at all the generous reviews. For me, the absolute highlight of this show was the very first bedroom scene, where lovely...
Julie S. 16 minutes ago
"There is really only one Maria — Julie Andrews."Hardly! Mary Martin originated the role (and in the opinion of many was much better).
SEE ALL COMMENTS WRITE A COMMENT
The producers, worried about offending Native Americans, took one obvious liberty by rewriting the lyrics of Tiger Lily’s song, “Ugg-a-Wugg,” calling it “True Blood Brothers.” They cast an unknown actress of Cherokee descent, Alanna Saunders, 22, as Tiger Lily and surrounded her with a tribe of dancers dressed, or undressed really, in less stereotypical storybook costumes — though these near-naked men gyrating like Chippendales dancers weren’t necessarily any more culturally sensitive. The Lost Boys, meanwhile, looked like Etonian football hooligans.
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COMMENTS
None of that matters. It’s hard to imagine that many viewers expected strict authenticity in Neverland, a place where dreams are born, fairies flicker and pirates think to the tempo of a tarantella, but the show didn’t want to take any chances.
“Peter Pan Live!” was a loving, lavish tribute to a beloved musical that offered a new generation of children a chance to use their smartphones to keep Tinkerbell alive. (Peter asked children to clap, but an NBC crawl urged them to also tweet.)
It was a cautious, please-all production, but it took guts to do it.
‘Peter Pan Live!’ With Allison Williams and Christopher Walken on NBC
Allison Williams ruined hate-watching.
It turns out this little-known, 26-year-old star of “Girls” has a lovely singing voice — as smooth as double-churn caramel ice cream. Ms. Williams convincingly pulled off a British accent and was, all in all, a confident, lively and suitably impudent Peter Pan.
Those who watched the musical “Peter Pan Live!” on NBC on Thursday in hopes of lighting up the Twittersphere with catty commentary were doomed to disappointment. Whatever was wrong with this performance, and there’s always something a bit off in a three-hour live television show, it wasn’t Ms. Williams.
peter pan live, peter pan live review, peter pan nbc, peter pan allison williams, peter pan christopher walken, peter pan special
allison williams, peter pan, christopher walken, brian william On Thursday NBC presented “Peter Pan Live!,” with Allison Williams, top right, in the title role.‘Peter Pan Live!’: The Best TweetsDEC. 5, 2014
‘Peter Pan Live!,’ With Allison Williams and Christopher Walken, Comes to NBCDEC. 2, 2014
Alanna Saunders will star as Tiger Lily in NBC’s “Peter Pan Live!” on Thursday night.Ugg-A-Wha? Updating Stereotypes in ‘Peter Pan’DEC. 4, 2014
It wasn’t Christopher Walken as Captain Hook, either, even though his voice was faint and he seemed at times to be rummaging for the next line. Mr. Walken was no Cyril Ritchard, the actor who played Hook opposite Mary Martin in the original Broadway production. Mr. Walken didn’t chew the scenery, and he didn’t enunciate the classic lines (“That’s where the canker gah-NAWS”) with much brio. But the actor brought his own sinewy charisma, stop-start diction and hoofer muscle memory to the part. Plus, in his flowing black wig and pirate costume, he looked like the fashion designer John Galliano dressed as Johnny Depp for Halloween.
Photo
Christopher Walken (with Christian Borle) as Captain Hook in “Peter Pan Live!” Credit Virginia Sherwood/NBC
The gaudy, brightly colored Neverland sets gave the show a pleasantly amateurish look, but technically this live staging of “Peter Pan” — overseen by the executive producers Neil Meron and Craig Zadan and the director Rob Ashford — was a lot more ambitious and difficult to stage than “Sound of Music Live!,” which they put on NBC last year. Nobody fell or got tangled in their wires while flying. There was no glitch with the computer-generated Tinkerbell. Even the real dog who played Nana didn’t miss a mark.
This revival, however, was in other ways a lot easier to pull off. There is really only one Maria — Julie Andrews — and no theater revival or television special, however popular, can rival the enduring popularity of the 1965 movie. Taking on Maria last year, Carrie Underwood sang beautifully, but she still seemed like an impostor.
There are so many Peter Pans. There’s the one J. M. Barrie described as “oddly cocky,” of course. Mary Martin played Peter onstage and in several legendary live productions on NBC. Sandy Duncan and Cathy Rigby starred in revivals. There was the animated Disney movie of “Peter Pan,” and Robin Williams was Peter in the 1991 movie “Hook.” A Broadway show, “Finding Neverland,” and another movie, “Pan,” are due next year. There is also a bus company, a peanut butter and a syndrome that all go by that name.
Ms. Williams didn’t have to step out of anyone’s shadow (besides Peter Pan’s), but she did have to overcome her own, since she has had little public exposure besides Lena Dunham’s HBO comedy, “Girls,” where she plays Marnie, a loathsome millennial whose main claim to singing talent is a hilariously awful music video.
Most of all, Ms. Williams had to surmount the hype and overselling of NBC, a helicopter network that smothered this production with fulsome ads and in-house synergy boosts, including a promo for the NBC News anchor Brian Williams, who is the actress’s father. Mr. Williams skipped anchoring the evening news on Thursday to watch his daughter’s premiere, which is understandable. The newscast’s sizable segment about Ms. Williams and her lifelong fascination with Peter Pan was less so.
Continue reading the main storyContinue reading the main story
Thursday’s show couldn’t entirely live up to NBC’s puffed-up expectations, and the energy sagged halfway through. The performance was too long — it ended at 11 p.m., past the bedtime of its target audience of children and their grandparents, and it was possibly too ploddingly respectful. There were chances to tighten and speed up the narrative that weren’t taken. Instead, “When I Went Home,” a song that was cut from the original Broadway version, was restored. The television show did drop “Oh My Mysterious Lady,” but songs from other musicals were added. Too many commercial interruptions helped deaden the pace.
Continue reading the main story
RECENT COMMENTS
John S 14 minutes ago
Did not watch it, I guess because I never was much a fan of Peter Pan. Sound of Music last year was done well. But again I think much is...
Kelly Hamilton 16 minutes ago
I'm surprised at all the generous reviews. For me, the absolute highlight of this show was the very first bedroom scene, where lovely...
Julie S. 16 minutes ago
"There is really only one Maria — Julie Andrews."Hardly! Mary Martin originated the role (and in the opinion of many was much better).
SEE ALL COMMENTS WRITE A COMMENT
The producers, worried about offending Native Americans, took one obvious liberty by rewriting the lyrics of Tiger Lily’s song, “Ugg-a-Wugg,” calling it “True Blood Brothers.” They cast an unknown actress of Cherokee descent, Alanna Saunders, 22, as Tiger Lily and surrounded her with a tribe of dancers dressed, or undressed really, in less stereotypical storybook costumes — though these near-naked men gyrating like Chippendales dancers weren’t necessarily any more culturally sensitive. The Lost Boys, meanwhile, looked like Etonian football hooligans.
CONTINUE READING THE MAIN STORY
177
COMMENTS
None of that matters. It’s hard to imagine that many viewers expected strict authenticity in Neverland, a place where dreams are born, fairies flicker and pirates think to the tempo of a tarantella, but the show didn’t want to take any chances.
“Peter Pan Live!” was a loving, lavish tribute to a beloved musical that offered a new generation of children a chance to use their smartphones to keep Tinkerbell alive. (Peter asked children to clap, but an NBC crawl urged them to also tweet.)
It was a cautious, please-all production, but it took guts to do it.
