Peter Pan National Tour Review at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre

Matthew Murphy

Anyone in this day and age over the age of five is familiar with the character Peter Pan. First appearing in a quite different form in J.M. Barrie’s novel The Little White Bird (Peter was just a week old in that story, flying around with fairies), in the middle chapters that were later released separately as Peter Pan in Kensington Garden, the more grown character we’ve become familiar with took to the stage for the first time in the West End in 1904, then on Broadway in 1905. The 1954 Broadway production became a hit 1955 live TV special broadcast in color (with another live production for NBC in 2014), and there have been a number of revivals, regional productions, and movies directly reproducing the stage production or putting various spins on the characters, like in the classic Hook. And we can’t forget the classic Disney animated film from 1953, a personal favorite.

Over the years, some have pointed to what have become ‘problematic’ characters and themes so a new production of the musical aims to right some wrongs and bring Peter Pan to the masses for everyone to enjoy. The new production has launched its tour in Baltimore at the Hippodrome Theatre, and follows the same storyline we all know and love. The Darling children — Wendy, John and Michael — are visited by a mysterious boy who flies through their bedroom window one night, and excited by his stories of an exotic island where it’s every season at once, as well as the promise that in joining him they will never grow old, Peter teaches the children to fly and off they go to Never Never Land. There, they encounter Peter’s ‘family’ of Lost Boys, as well as Tiger Lily and her ‘tribe’ and Captain Hook and his pirates. Peter and the boys convince Wendy to be their ‘mother’, since none of them remember their own mothers, and she quickly has to get Peter to settle his feud with Tiger Lily, while they all have to battle Hook and his crew before he makes them walk the plank. But thoughts of her own mother begin to worry Wendy and she has to make a choice — stay with Peter or return home.

I surprised myself when I realized I’ve never seen a live stage production of Peter Pan. I’ve seen movies and the musicals Finding Neverland and Peter and the Starcatcher, but never a proper production of the classic story. And now that I have seen it … I have some mixed feelings about it but I’m not going to be too harsh or picky as this show is just hitting the road, and after a few preview performances in December of last year this was just the second night of the beginning of the tour. Looking at the production itself, the show is visually spectacular. There are basically three sets (which apparently represent the original production’s three acts) — the Darling children’s bedroom, Neverland, and Captain Hook’s pirate ship. In addition to the physical sets there is a backdrop that on first glance appears to just be a painted canvas. It’s not. It’s a video wall and it is used quite well as backdrops for the various scenery, but it becomes an amazing visual effect when Peter and the kids fly away from London to Neverland. That was totally the highlight of the show for me and I wished there had been more of that but it certainly was the production’s wow factor. While all of the scenes of Peter and the kids flying are fun and done very well, they are also let down by the very obvious wires. You’d think in this day and age when Disney can make a carpet fly with no visible means of support, someone somewhere could have designed wires that would be virtually invisible. I do have to tip my hand to cast and crew for being able to attach and detach the wires with the greatest of ease, making the transition almost unnoticeable. Technically, everything works together spectacularly so I tip my hat to Anna Louizos (Scenic Design), Amith Chandrashaker (Lighting Design), Kai Harada (Sound Design) and David Bengali (Projection Design) for their outstanding work, and for director Lonny Price for making everything run so smoothly. The show also has some nice choreography by Lorin Latarro, but I was less impressed with the fight scenes which just felt like a careful rehearsal rather than a full on choreographed fight scene. This production also eliminates some songs from the original production and adds several new ones, but they all work together wonderfully with nothing sounding out of place.

Matthew Murphy

As for the acting … again I am going to not be too hard on anyone because I’m sure they are still working the kinks out and nerves are still at play (particularly on this press night as there were also many Broadway bigwigs in the house to check out the show for a potential Broadway run). Starting with the Darling boys, Michael and John. The roles are alternated as is typical with children so our performance featured Reed Epley as Michael, the youngest child, and William Foon as John, the middle Darling child. Both turn in some wonderful performances but Epley (in his national tour debut) easily steals any scene in which he has dialogue.

Kurt Perry is also a scene stealer as the pirate Smee, and he gets some big laughs every time he reacts to the Captain waving his hook in Smee’s face as a threat. Raye Zaragoza (sister of Ghosts star Román Zaragoza) brings a new toughness to Tiger Lily, not one to take any guff from Peter or the Lost Boys, ready to take on Hook, and finding a kindred spirit in Wendy. She brings a nice energy to TL (as Hook refers to her), and has a great voice to boot. If you’re wondering about Tiger Lily’s ‘tribe’, traditionally depicted as ‘Indians’, this new all-inclusive version feels almost like the cast of Hair got lost on the way to the theatre and ended up in Peter Pan. I assumed since the pre-show announcement made mention of the land the theatre sits on and honoring Indigenous people past and present, there would be a more authentic representation among TL’s group. I honestly wasn’t sure what they were going for with this particular group but I’m all for inclusion and representation.

For the main three roles, it was a mixed bag. The standout is Cody Garcia as Captain Hook. They perfectly embody the character that actually seems to be based on the Disney animated Hook. Garcia employs a Scottish accent for the Captain (I’m guessing to reference J.M. Barrie’s heritage), and slinks around the stage to menace the others but never too scary for the kids in the audience. They also have a fantastic singing voice and was definitely the highlight of the show. The performance as Hook is so good that I didn’t even think until the curtain call that Garcia was also Mr. Darling at the beginning and end of the show (as is tradition). Amazing transformation and an amazing performance.

Matthew Murphy

Hawa Kamara is making her professional debut as Wendy and she is also quite good as far as her performance. I think the writing lets her down a little — the way she falls for Peter the second she sets eyes on him is a little … odd but when she becomes ‘mother’ to the lost boys and befriends Tiger Lily, she really gets more into the character. She does have one line about the location of the new ‘house’ the Boys built for her that made me laugh out loud. But overall, she makes a stellar debut here and has a lovely voice as well. One thing I wish for her as the show progresses is that since the writing goes to great pains to let us know this particular version of the story is set in our present, please give Wendy some sleepwear that doesn’t look like it came from the Little House on the Prairie Collection.

As for Peter Pan himself … Nolan Almeida has a lot riding on his shoulders. It should be noted that this is the first time an actual male actor has played Peter Pan on stage (in the traditional production of the show, that is). His performance could really make or break the show. I think Nolan has great potential and I believe that as the tour progresses he will become more comfortable in the role of Peter. Right now, the delivery of his lines feels a bit forced, over-acted a bit while at the same time too childlike. Perhaps since Peter escaped his life without an education or parents, maybe the idea was to make him speak less eloquently and more in a monotone but none of the other Lost Boys speak like this. He did seem to be more comfortable as the night progressed, and he was obviously having great fun in the flying scenes, but he and the director need to work a little more on Peter’s emoting. As far as the singing — Wow! Almeida has a spectacular voice, delivering all of Peter’s songs with power and emotion. Meld that brilliant singing with a more nuanced acting performance, and Almeida will have audiences eating out of his hands. I hope that when the show arrives in DC in April I will be able to attend again and see how he’s grown in the role.

Overall, Peter Pan is a delightful show made for children and adults alike. It may lean a bit more in the direction of a show for kids, but maybe with more performance time on the road all of the pieces will gel making this version of Peter Pan one for the ages.

Peter Pan runs about 2 hours with one intermission. Recommended for ages 5 and up.

Peter Pan runs through February 25 at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre. Other cities on the schedule include Durham NC, Cincinnati, Chicago, Washington DC, Tampa, Miami, Orlando, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, Atlanta and more. Visit the official website for more information. Use our Ticketmaster link to purchase tickets.

Peter Pan – National Tour (2024)

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