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Peter Pan Live (NBC)

TravisNelson76

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SomeTameGazelle

SomeTameGazelle

I thought Alison Williams was OK in the singing and dancing numbers, but the flying looked too precarious and tentative and her portrayal of Peter was completely counter to the text. Peter should be all id and anarchy and conceit. Where was the director? And did I miss something or did she not actually crow at any point to set up the number "I've Gotta Crow"? I heard her crowing later in the fight with Hook but in the nursery scene the song seemed to come out of nowhere.

 

Taylor Louderman by contrast did a much more convincing job of creating a character in Wendy. The lullaby duet with Kelli O'Hara sounded beautiful.

 

The chorus and dancers were fantastic and the speaking Lost Boys really sold it to me. (Who was the lead Lost Boy -- the one who tried to take the blame for shooting Wendy before the real culprit quickly admitted it?) The second-string Pirates were also very fun. I especially enjoyed the part where Hook confirmed that Cecco and Cookie (?) had died horribly in the cabin, and then they reappear to take part in the big swordfight with the Lost Boys. And I spent probably ten minutes this morning convulsed in laughter while reading the Go Fug Yourself "I split my infinitives FAME FAME" recap.

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Misslindsey
Misslindsey

I think these pirates need more cowbell.

WendyCR72
WendyCR72

"Let's keep Brian Williams happy!"?

Fabricationary
Fabricationary

To look on the bright side, at least they didn't cast Lena Dunham in the role.

bmoore4026

bmoore4026

I believe they're doing the Music Man next.  One review I saw today, said oh give the lead to Christian Borle.  He sure commits to every role.  Another suggested Eric McCormack who did play the role on Broadway.  Suggestions for Marian were Laura Osnes or Laura Benati, but I bet we see more stunt casting for the leads. The thing is, Marian's songs require a trained singer (soprano) to done properly, so please no Taylor Swift.  Lovely girl, but I don't think she has the vocal range for it.

 

I said it on the AV Club, I might as well say it here:  We're probably going to get Nick Jonas and Nicki Minaj.

DollEyes

DollEyes

(edited)

My verdict: for the most part, this version of Peter Pan did what was previously impossible-it managed to be worse than Hook. At least that had Steven Spielberg, Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman and Maggie Smith going for it. It was pleasant enough in spots, but it wasn't even close to perfect, for several reasons. First, the lasting. Allison Williams is pretty and can sing, but she's too feminine for play an immortal young boy. My picks would have been either Kristin Bell, Anna Kendrick or-here's a radical thought-they could have cast a guy, like, say Daniel Radcliffe, who can act, sing, who's the right size, looks the right age and seeing the man who played one of the most iconic figures in Brit lit history, aka "Harry Potter" playing another would have sent ratings through the roof. As for Christopher Walken, I think he's great most of the time, but not here. His Captain Hook seemed more intoxicated than intimidating. If ever there was a role that needed an actor to go over the top it's Captain Hook and that's what Walken should have done. His performance had its moments, but they were too few and too far between.  Walken seemed tired in some scenes, stoned in other and confused all along. Too bad that Hugh Jackman, Ewan McGregor, John Barrowman, Kevin Spacey, Christoph Waltz or Ralph Fiennes didn't play Hook instead because I believe they would have done it with the right amounts of menace, cheese and crazy.

 

  Re Wendy, she bugged, no matter who played her. Taylor Louderman's version tried to capture Wendy's naivete, but she just came off as annoying. Only when Wendy made Smee walk the plank she was interesting, but of course, that didn't last. Wendy and Peter had no spark whatsoever. Peter had more chemistry with Captain Hook than he did with Wendy. As for Minnie Driver's version of Wendy, she was even more annoying. Wendy's letting her own daughter go with peter without consulting her husband (if she had one) aka the father and encouraging her daughter to let her kids do the same made me roll my eyes to the point of blindness. Wendy may know Peter but chances are her husband doesn't and even if he did know Peter, Wendy shouldn't have made that kind of decision without his permission. If Wendy was a s grown-up as she thinks she is, she wouldn't have taken her husband for granted. About Peter's friends, "lost" they were, but "boys" they weren't, at least not anymore. Wendy's inviting a bunch of grown-ass men to move in with her family without caring about inconveniencing her parents was another strike against her.

 

  Tiger Lily was a stereotype and a useless one, at that. Her tribe, the Chippendale Indians, were the best thing about her. Likewise, the pirates were the best things about Hook. They weren't Black Sails material, but they, especially Smee, were amusing. Speaking of Smee, kudos to Christian Borle. As Smee and Mr. Darling, CB, along with Kelli O'Hara. Michael Park, the crocodile and Nana the dog, were among the show's few bright spots. When the supporting players outshine the stars, that's when a show sucks. The next time NBC does a live show, they had better get the key to the Comcast vaults, load up the Brinks trucks and back them up to some A-list doors.

Edited by DollEyes
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Milburn Stone

Milburn Stone

...here's a radical thought-they could have cast a guy, like, say Daniel Radcliffe, who can act, sing, who's the right size, looks the right age and seeing the man who played one of the most iconic figures in Brit lit history, aka "Harry Potter" playing another would have sent ratings through the roof.

 

Not to mention that we wouldn't have had to endure a painfully fake British accent.

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aradia22

aradia22

 

WRT to Walken and why he would take this role, I recall reading an interview with him in Script (?) in which he indicated that he's up for different roles. He'd love to be offered a job playing a nice suburban father (or something along those lines) because it would be fun to play against type. He's also happy to take roles for lesser pay in indie projects, again if it looks fun for him.

Hear that, writers? Get started on your scripts with Christopher Walken as a kindly grandfather. Less Little Miss Sunshine Alan Arkin and more Santa Claus in Miracle on 34th St. Mwahahahahaha.

 

It's adorable that people still think they wouldn't feel free to edit the hell out of what they put on screen whether it was Grease or something else. And while TSOM went with the stage version as long as they secure the rights, Grease could go with the movie version. Isn't it on another network anyway?

 

I'm sure they would have thought of Annie if not for the recent revival and the movie. And also all those kids.

aradia22

aradia22

 

Mamma Mia! (Kids love Abba, right?).

LOL. I would watch it. Especially if they redeemed the show after that terrible movie which people inexplicably loved.

 

Suggestions I haven't really thought through: Cinderella, Shrek, The Wizard of Oz, Annie Get Your Gun, Once Upon a Mattress, Hairspray, Wicked, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Bye Bye Birdie, My Fair Lady, The King and I, South Pacific, The Drowsy Chaperone, Spamalot

 

The problem is it's difficult to really find an all ages musical with no objectionable content. I mean, if you really wanted to you could object to Disney movies for chrissakes and a lot of good musicals aren't strictly targeted to kids and families. I personally think you should introduce kids to theatre young while maybe saving stuff like Sweeney Todd and Hair for when they're older. I think Kiss Me Kate, Gypsy, West Side Story, and Little Shop of Horrors could be fun choices but they're not family friendly. I haven't seen Seussical or You're a Good Man Charlie Brown but maybe those could work as well.

ancslove

ancslove

Honestly, I think their best bet is to pick a musical that hasn't been filmed before.  But if they do that, they risk bad ratings.  Maybe Beauty and the Beast would work - family friendly, cool special effects, beautiful costumes, but a live-action version isn't set in people's minds yet as the fan favorite and standard to exceed.  And they can continue the trend of picking a Broadway vet for a strong secondary role, with Mrs. Potts.  Because let's face it, her song is the big vocal showstopper.  Belle's vocal part is more manageable for a non-theater singer.

shoregirl

shoregirl

(edited)

But it's a Disney production and I don't see Disney releasing the rights to a rival network. Not when that's kind of a trump card for them let NBC be test for ratings then putting up their own live production of different Disney musicals.

I want them to keep doing things like this because even if I haven't either of the productions were very good, I still appreciate what they are doing. I just think they need to find musicals that are more well known .

What about Anything Goes?

Edited by shoregirl
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HighQueenEB

HighQueenEB

(edited)

I have a tough time imagining that Disney would give NBC the rights to produce any of their properties, whether they've been turned into Broadway musicals yet or not, so that likely rules out Beauty & the Beast, The Lion King and The Little Mermaid.  And I doubt Hairspray would be considered since it was turned into a huge movie hit just a few years ago.

 

Other suggestions...  Brigadoon, Camelot, or The Secret Garden?

Edited by HighQueenEB
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aradia22

aradia22

 

Honestly, I think their best bet is to pick a musical that hasn't been filmed before.  But if they do that, they risk bad ratings.

I agree with your analysis. You want to go with something that hasn't been filmed so there are lower expectations but most of the good musicals (other than the ones whose subject matter really isn't family friendly) have already been put to film whether it's a movie or a filmed version of a stage production or one of those partially staged concerts. I don't mind them doing something that has been mounted relatively recently as long as it isn't too overexposed (we really don't need another Annie) as it's a different thing doing it for TV and you are bringing it to an audience that might not be able to see a Broadway show. Anything Goes doesn't have anything too objectionable as it's mainly Cole Porter being cheeky at times but I think it would bore the kids. Brigadoon and Camelot would really bore the kids.

Rickster

Rickster

The other thing NBC has to keep in mind is to pick a musical that the vast majority of non musical theater oriented Americans are already aware of, in order to get them to tune in (unless they engage in some huge stunt casting a la Carrie Underwood). Unfortunately most of the recent well known family friendly ones are Disney properties, which are not going to NBC. A lot of the older ones are either not family friendly, dated or boring to most people. Which I guess is how we ended up with Peter Pan.

The owners of the rights to some of the properties have to also weigh the trade off between the big NBC payday vs the longer term impact on the royalties from licensing live productions.

aradia22

aradia22

Cinderella: Very family friendly, no more dated than any other "historically accurate" Cinderella, not boring

Keep the original book (not the rewrite I refuse to see) and the score and you've got a good show. They can also sell it on it's TV musical history and the 90's version with Brandy and Whitney Houston means it's familiar to more people than you might think. However, it is still running (though soon to close) on Broadway and I think there are two movies (though not musicals) of Cinderella coming out.

 

Shrek: Family friendly unless you're super conservative, not dated, not boring

I've only listened to the soundtrack and seen a few clips but I like the music. It's lively and pretty clever. It was just recently on Broadway though and there is a filmed version on Netflix.

 

The Wizard of Oz: Family friendly, not too dated, not boring

The movie is still available and it holds up. Also, it's filmed in technicolor so it's not like you'd have to force the kids to watch a black and white movie. The ones who are interested will see it. This isn't a necessary adaptation but it would give them the spectacle they seem to be looking for and it's family friendly and familiar.

 

Annie Get Your Gun: Relatively family friendly, a bit dated, not boring

Other than the racism and sexism there's nothing too objectionable for the kids. Sure it has a romance but so do a lot of the animated movies targeted to kids. It is a little dated but the score is still pretty good. It fits with their (bad) model of picking a show that requires a strong leading lady to carry it. The Bernadette revival was a while ago and the Betty Hutton movie isn't great. She's hamming it up a lot. 

 

Once Upon a Mattress: Relatively family friendly, no more dated than any other fairytale, not boring

It's been a while since I've seen it but I don't remember anything too objectionable. It hasn't been revived in a while and the movie is from 2005. And that movie doesn't feature anyone young people are clamoring to see (even Zooey Deschanel and Matthew Morrison are stretching it).

Misslindsey

Misslindsey

 

Peter Pan's ratings were abysmal compared with The Sound of Music. There may not be a next time.

These live productions get NBC a lot of press, but who knows. I wonder how Peter Pan will do with DVD/BluRay sales/Soundtrack sales. I think that more people know the songs to The Sound of Music as opposed to Peter Pan. Though I would say that people know the Peter Pan story about as well as TSOM. I would think NBC would try to pick something that the public is already familiar with, not just theater goers, especially with the songs. I was going to throw Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat or Matilda into the mix, but even I know they are not popular enough with the general public.

MyAimIsTrue

MyAimIsTrue

My dream is that there would be a live version of 'Fiddler On the Roof,' my all time favorite movie that is essentially the story of my family, plus it was the first musical I ever appeared in (way back in summer camp.)  The songs, music, and dance numbers are great but I fear it would considered too "ethnic" to garner an audience.

glowlights

glowlights

It's adorable that people still think they wouldn't feel free to edit the hell out of what they put on screen whether it was Grease or something else.

 

You mean my wish for a subversive holiday programming debacle - bringing naughty Grease joy to children everywhere - wouldn't come true? Editing, you say? Gosh, this changes everything...

 

Fine, let's have The Threepenny Opera. Light fun for all ages.

 

(it's a shame the new production of Hansel and Gretel is disqualified; and I'm sure everyone is tired of Oliver)

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SilverShadow

SilverShadow

Cinderella: Very family friendly, no more dated than any other "historically accurate" Cinderella, not boring

Keep the original book (not the rewrite I refuse to see) and the score and you've got a good show. They can also sell it on it's TV musical history and the 90's version with Brandy and Whitney Houston means it's familiar to more people than you might think. However, it is still running (though soon to close) on Broadway and I think there are two movies (though not musicals) of Cinderella coming out.

 

I've seen all three tv versions and the recent Broadway version, and all have strengths and weaknesses. I did end up liking the Broadway version much more than I expected to. I was really nervous about the political subplot, but it's tongue in cheek and doesn't take up a ton of time.

 

Going back to Peter Pan I know the reason for changing "Ugawugg" was to make it less racist, but those skimpy costumes and the animalistic 'creeping' choreography that popped up a lot kind of negated any good will the change might have made for me. Like really, you hire a Native American consultant, the whole nine yards, and then you do that.

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Rickster

Rickster

I'd like to see Wicked on TV some day. It was one of the few musicals I saw in person and I liked it a lot. It might be boring for kids though, I don't know. 

 

I had the impression that the core audience for Wicked was tween girls. I think it would get great ratings.

 

But this is the example of a show that is probably such a cash cow in its various live productions they might be reluctant to give the rights to NBC.

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captain1

captain1

Finally got around to sitting through all of this so here's my thoughts whether y'all want to hear them or not!  First a disclaimer - Peter Pan is one of my least favorite musicals of all time.  Just don't care for the story or the songs.  I thought Allison Williams did a perfectly serviceable job.  Like others, I am kinda worried about Christopher Walken.  He didn't look well.  The thing I took the biggest issue with was the damn flying apparatus.  In the later scenes on Hook's ship, it looked like they took absolutely no steps to try to camouflage it.  In addition to the wires, which didn't bother me too much, you could actually see the clips and the rigging on Peter.  I know it would be difficult, but it seems to me they could have designed it to blend in better with the costume, or something.

 

I wish they would do "Camelot" - my all time fav (I am showing my age, I know!)

St. Claire

St. Claire

I think some shows are out because they are likely to be running on Broadway at the same time or will have recently closed- there is a "The King and I" revival coming in early 2015, "Wicked" and "Cinderella" are still running, "Mary Poppins" is currently on tour... I'd love to see "Pajama Game" or "Damned Yankees" or "Guys and Dolls," but I don't know if they have enough pop culture/non-theater-geek interest.

legaleagle53

legaleagle53

I finally got around to watching this on Hulu last night, and I didn't think that Allison Williams was so bad, although granted, her inconsistent accent could have been better.  Either Peter is English or he isn't -- pick one, please.   However, I do agree that Christopher Walken really seemed to be sleepwalking his portrayal of Hook.  Hook is the type of villain who is supposed to be larger than life; if you're not chewing the scenery just a bit (as Mr. Walken most definitely wasn't), you're just not doing it right.

 

I absolutely loved the lullaby duet between Wendy and her mother.  Both actresses have lovely voices, and they blended together in beautiful harmony.  It was my favorite number in the entire show.

 

Here's hoping that The Music Man does better next year!

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