Mention author J. M. Barrie, and the immediate thought is Peter Pan, the tale of a boy who refused to grow up, which has become a cottage industry. Dolls, movies, a musical play, coloring books, cartoons, Halloween costumes, a non-musical play, and books are all available. There is even a psychological condition “The Peter Pan Syndrome,” which puts the spotlight on men who refuse to assume responsibility for their boyish actions.
Did you know that there was a prequel written about Peter and the boys? Yes, a subsidiary of Disney published, Peter and the Starcatcher, a 2004 book by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, which provides a back story, their explanation of what happened before the J. M. Barrie popular tale Peter Pan. The initial Starcatcher book was so well received that it spawned a series of novels.
A play with music, Peter and the Starcatcher (no “s”), with book by Rick Elice and music by Wayne Barker, was adapted from the prequel book. It debuted in 2009 at La Jolla Playhouse. It was restaged in 2011 as an Off-Broadway production, and opened on Broadway in 2012. It is now on stage at Great Lakes Theater.
Sara Bruner, the producing artistic director and Brian Barasch, the theater’s executive director, state in their program notes, “Peter and the Starcatcher invites us to reimagine the familiar, exploring the origins of beloved characters while discovering how their stories began. It’s a tale of adventure, friendship and boundless possibilities of imagination.”
Act 1 takes place at sea. We sail on ships which evolve before our eyes. Act Two finds us on an island. The tale allows finding out how an orphan called “Boy” evolves into a lad named “Peter” and then “Peter Pan.”
The story reveals how he and two friends meet Molly, confront a band of pirates led by Black Stache, and how a crocodile got a taste for the pirate leader. We share with the cast how Peter protects a trunk of “star stuff,” and the mischievous Tinker Belle comes to be. The action ends as Molly and her father return to the real world, while Peter and the Lost Boys remain on the island of Neverland, with a promise by Peter to visit Molly sometime in the future.
Those in the know realize that Peter will use the “star stuff” to fly to a home in England, where Molly (Darling) now lives with her children Wendy, John and Michael. And, of course, Peter will take the trio on a flight to Neverland where Wendy will become, at least for a short time, the “mother” of the Lost Boys and have an adventure which includes a croc, Captain Hook (Black Stache), a band of pirates, some Indians, Tiger Lilly and, well…you get the idea!
The farce is performed with imaginative staging that enhances the fantasy nature of the work. The production elements are creative, filled with ropes and fabric which become waves of water, sides of boxes which move all over the stage, Peter’s near drowning and Mermaids swimming through the sea, and showing Hook lost his hand.
The effects work well. All that has to be supplied is a little imagination from the viewer and a little effort not to be overwhelmed by the creative staging of director Jaclyn Miller.
Benjamin Michael Hall is delightful as Boy (Peter), the orphan who doesn’t want to grow up. Angela Utrera’s Molly, with enough lady-like characteristics to imagine her as a future “proper” mother, perfectly develops the role. Nic Scott Hermick (Ted) and Evan Stevens (Prentiss) take on the roles of Peter’s orphan friends with boyish hellion qualities. They both have mobile faces and do their shticks well.
Joe Wegner has wonderful farce timing and creates a “fearsome” Black Stache, a pussy cat of a pirate who tries to put on a bad-guy veneer. is “oh, My God” scene, when he cuts off his hand, is hysterically funny, milking the scene for multi-laughs. Theo Allyn almost steals the show as they morph into Smee, Black Stache’s bumbling henchman, with a fine farcical tone.
To put the slow moving first act into perspective, you have to realize that it was the writer’s intention to have the tale be “deliriously foolish,” with the exposition setting up the second, fast-paced, dynamic second act.
Scenic designer Courtney O’Neill has created an impressive series of ramps and platforms that fills the theater’s proscenium stage and thrust areas with a dock, decks, ocean and land. Even the stage apron blossoms into a garden of flowers in the second act.
Rick Martin’s lighting and Josh Brinkman’s sound designs enhance the production, as do Esther M. Haberlen’s costumes.
Capsule judgement: After a tepid first act, Peter and the Starcatcher explodes into a farcical, creative and enjoyable production in the second act under the direction of Jaclyn Miller. Observation: Though there were lots of kids at the Sunday afternoon staging, the show seems a little too sophisticated for anyone less than tweens as the younger children seated near me were generally very restless.
Peter and the Starcatcher, part of the Kulas Musical Theater Series at Great Lakes Theater, runs through March 2. For tickets go to greatlakestheater.org/ or call 216-241-6000
[Written by Roy Berko, member, Cleveland Critics Circle and American Theatre Critics Association]