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Play Review: Peter Pan
'Peter Pan' lacks silliness
| Source: |
Jam! Theatre |
| Date: |
December 1, 2007 |
| Author: |
John Coulbourn |
TORONTO -- In the world of Peter Pan, all it takes to take flight is a
sprinkling of fairy dust and a few positive thoughts.
To get Ross Petty's annual "fractured fairy-tale musical" of the same
name off the ground, however, they're going to have to jettison a fair
bit of cargo and then hose things down with some high-test silly
syrup.
Peter Pan: The Family Musical That's Silly, Very Silly opened at the
Elgin Theatre Thursday, and title notwithstanding, what's missing in
the 21/2-hour panto is that sense of silliness -- of barely controlled
anarchy on the edge of running amok -- that producer Petty has taught
us all to love over the past dozen years.
Other than that, it's a pretty impressive show.
It certainly starts on a promising note, thanks to an often smart and
sassy script from Chris Earle.
With panto regular Eddie Glen in the doghouse, masquerading as the
Darling family pet, we get an upbeat intro to the Darling children --
Meghan Hoople as pouty, post-pubescent Wendy, Matthew Del Bel Belluz
as gameboy John and Brandon Banks as the bookish and asthmatic
Michael.
That these are not the Darlings of J.M. Barrie's imagination is
quickly underlined by the introduction of a dear-old-dad (Petty
himself) in the throes of a mid-life crisis, with Diana Coatsworth
cast as that crisis' catalyst.
Into this post-nuclear family flies Peter Pan (affable skater Kurt
Browning), in search of his shadow and some children to teach his lost
boys some new games.
A sprinkling of the aforementioned fairy dust, and the little Darlings
are suddenly and magically on the wing.
Problem is, they're headed to a less-than-magical land so heavily
influenced by reality TV that calling it Neverland seems more threat
than promise as one starts to wonder if this treacly evening is ever
going to end.
Once there, the Darling brood hooks up with all the usual suspects,
including Tinkerbell (Jennifer Waiser) and the Lost Boys (Steven
Gallagher, Larry Mannell and Geoffrey Tyle, perhaps more aptly
described as Misplaced Middle-aged Men).
Then, finally, after a wait that borders on interminable for all his
fans, Petty -- the man youngsters have grown to love to hate --
finally makes his appearance as the villainous Captain Hook, only to
disappear for long segments thereafter.
Now, to Earle and director Susan H. Schulman, schooled as they are in
more orthodox theatrical fare, Petty's unique thespian style probably
seems like overcooked ham, best buried under heaps of mashed potatoes
and brussels sprouts.
For those of us who have become repeat guests at Petty's festive
groaning board, however, that self-same ham is the centre piece of the
banquet and holding it back so long is akin to trying to fill us up on
cheap hors d'oeuvres to save on the main course.
Which is not to say that there is anything cheap about this
big-hearted evening of pirated pop songs, slick production numbers and
corny, very corny, jokes and product placements.
In fact, music director Steve Hunter, choreographer Tracey Flye and
costume designer Erika Connor all more than earn their keep while
Earle and Schulman even conspire to give us some delicious stuff, not
the least of which is Donnie MacPhee's crowd-pleasing
crocodile.
But while it all adds up to a relatively satisfying family evening of
musical theatre, thanks to Browning and a talented cast, it stops far
short of an evening of panto.
And the only way to save it, one suspects, is a whole lot less musical
theatre and a whole lot more Petty.
And while they're at it, reviving the singalong wouldn't hurt,
either.
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