For their current production, Nashville Children’s Theatre is presenting Peter Pan: Wendy’s Adventure to Neverland, an all-new story by NCT’s own Ernie Nolan with music and lyrics by David Weinstein making its World Premiere. Onstage now through March 27, this newly created escapade involving everyone’s favorite boy who’ll never grow up is, of course, based on the beloved works of J.M. Barrie.
While Barrie’s enchanting novel, Peter and Wendy was published in 1911, the character Peter Pan first appeared within the pages of Barrie’s 1902 novel, The Little White Bird. Within that work, geared towards an adult audience, by the way, Barrie devoted half a dozen chapters to newborn Peter, who mysteriously leaves his London nursery for an unexpected adventure in Kensington Gardens where fairies and feathered friends teach him to fly. Two short years after the book’s publications, Barrie expanded on the character of Peter Pan for a Christmastime-debut stage play, Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up. The play proved so successful that Barrie’s publisher got the idea to take the chapters of The Little White Bird that featured Peter Pan, and release them as their own book titled Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. Fully realizing there was more magical life in the character, Barrie expanded the tales of Peter and friends for the aforementioned 1911 novel.
As the audience enters the theatre the ghost light is seen giving just enough light to the stage. For those not familiar, the ghost light is a single bulb on a stand, centerstage left illuminated to light the way for crew and others who might be in the theatre between performances. During the last two years, the ghost light has taken on an more symbolic meaning to the theatre family worldwide as that time between performances lasted longer than anyone ever imagined. That makes what happens next with the ghost light even more poignant, as a member of the company approaches it mysteriously captures the light in their hand and, invoking the powers of pixie dust, enchantingly transfers the ghost light’s amber glow to the string of lights above the stage doubling as the night’s sky glittering with stars. Witnessing this, I remembered seeing a post from NCT’s Ernie Nolan. Posted on the show’s opening morning, it was a photo of a line of school buses parked outside the theatre as the company welcomed children back to the audience for the first time since the pandemic. In that moment, in my mind, the ghost light became Nashville Children’s Theatre and the celestial beings suspended high above the stage, represented the hundreds of children whose first theatre experiences wait inside that theatre.
It’s interesting to note that within the pages of The Little White Bird, Peter is first described as a boy who is “betwixt and between a boy and a bird”. That said, it’s evident that NCT’s Nolan and Weinstein did their homework, because the opening number of Peter Pan: Wendy’s Adventure to Neverland’s opening number is indeed titled Betwixt and Between.
In that opening number, the audience gets a first glimpse of a troop of actors who are about to perform the timeless tale of Peter Pan and Wendy Darling. Literally and figuratively at the helm is Megan Murphy Chambers as The Actress. Costumed for her role in the show within the show as Captain Hook, Chambers is a fantastical vision, complete with a faceted silver lamé hook! Just imagine if Helena Bonham Carter were cast as Hook in a production directed by Tim Burton, and you’re there. If it’s possible to have a crush on Captain Hook, I confess, I indeed have, especially in the form of one of my longtime theatre crushes, the commanding presence that is Megan Murphy Chambers.
Gerold Oliver as Peter Pan, with his perfectly playful approach to the role invites the audience along for the journey. No sooner than the play begins, a young girl comes up from the audience interrupting the action as she expresses doubt that magic and fairies exist. As The Girl, Amanda Rodriguez finds the perfect balance between childlike innocence, wonder and questioning. Determined to waylay The Girl’s misgivings, Oliver’s Peter Pan and company, not only challenge The Girl to step into the role of Wendy, but also pose the challenge by way of the song If You Believe, knowing full well, even the simple magical effect of being on stage itself is likely enough to make her…and us believe.
As for the rest of the company, Nolan has gathered a truly enchanting ensemble. Joining Oliver, Rodriguez and Chambers are Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva as Smee, Sarah Zanotti as Tinkerbell, Piper Jones as The Never Bird, Jonah Jackson as Tootles and Alex Pineiro as Slightly with Erika Johnson as Backstage Crew and Jack Tanzi as Assistant Stage Manager.
Whitcomb-Oliva’s Smee, like every role this uber-talented performer takes on, is blissfully fun. As adept at comedy as she is at possessing and beautifully sharing one of the richest voices the Nashville stage has ever seen, Whitcomb-Oliva, especially when volleying scenes with Chambers, is indeed perfection. The camaraderie between these two gifted performers is especially fabulous during Right Hand Man, a hilariously fun ditty full of double meaning of the funniest kind as Captain Hook may or may not be alternating the title meaning between Smee, his right hand man, and/or the aforementioned shimmering wrist accoutrement.
With a core audience ranging in ages from the very young, to the young at heart, Nolan and Winstein prove they are masters at their craft by keeping the action going at all times. To that end, come Jackson and Pineiro as Lost Boys Tootles and Slightly, respectively. For this production, Jackson and Pineiro’s Tootles and Slightly are firmly planted somewhere between the old school slapstick humor of Oliver and Hardy and the mildness antics of Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels as Lloyd and Harry in the Dumb and Dumber film franchise. The show’s next tune, Don’t Blame Me proves this point as these two actors, alongside Oliver’s Peter Pan and Zanotti’s Tinkerbell, attempt to weasel their way out of a bit of blame.
Adding to the spellbinding feel of the play, Tinkerbell appears in the form of a rod and arm puppet, beautifully constructed by MoonBull Studios, and brought to glorious pixie-dusted life by Zanotti. On the subject of puppetry featured throughout, MoonBull Studios also provides stick puppets, controlled by the actors playing Peter and Wendy as the beloved duo take to the skies. Mixing stick puppets with shadow puppetry, while flying, the actors and their puppets moved behind a fabric wall and the puppets take to the sky by way of their shadows. During this particular scene at the performance I attended, a enthusiastic young audience member seated just behind me to my left, audibly pointed out that he could see the actors legs and feet below scrim while there stick puppet selves hovered high above. At first I wondered why the scrim hadn’t been constructed as to fully conceal the actors’, then it dawned on me…If the actors had indeed been completely concealed during this moment, younger audience members’ minds might not have been challenged to realize just what all it takes to create such a fanciful moment. As it is presented, the audience is in on the magic of the performance, the magic that just might encourage them to one pursue taking to the stage themselves. Another type of puppet is utilized during the show as well, a fully articulated large-scale joined puppet, scarily appearing as Tick-Tock, the alligator.
While the show’s next number, Lagoon Toon—featuring Oliver’s Peter Pan, Whitcomb-Oliva and Jones as a couple of shell-wearing Mermaids, and ensemble members as various sea creatures—is cute, it might be a tad too reminiscent of a certain Under the Sea calypso tune from a particularly popular fish tale…or is that tail? Nonetheless, it offers yet another chance for the audience to marvel at the wonder of a full-scale (see what I did there?) musical number as presented by a near-perfect ensemble.
Another mostly all-in tune, If I Had a Mother, features Hook, Smee and various ensemble as The Pirates as they lament their lack of love, centering is squarely on the absence of a caring maternal figure. This number also moves the familiar plot along as they scheme to force Wendy into being that mother figure.
Speaking of that certain mermaid, and I was earlier, Piper Jones, who starred as Ursula in NCT’s The Little Mermaid in 2018, gets her moment to shine as The Never Bird during Never Say Never. Showcasing her marvelous voice, Jones is never better than when she’s front and center belting out a showstopper like this hummable tune.
The turning point in the thinking of the young addition to the company within the show comes when Rodriguez’s Wendy takes the lead on Do You Believe in Fairies. This is also the point in the show where the audience gets involved in a bit of call and response, and the answer is a resounding YES, of course we do indeed believe in fairies. I mean, you’d have to be a motherless, vile, lonely pirate not to, right?
With showtunes whose titles reveal the simple but enthralling plot of the rest of the show, Rodriguez then joins the Lost Boys and Tink for We Have a Mother. Then, for Peter Pan: Wendy’s Adventure to Neverland’s finale, the entire company wraps up the story and the show with With All of My Heart, and I’m here to tell you, I loved every second of this show…with all of mine.
This retelling contains all the expected elements of not only the beloved source material, but the equally beguiling animated Disney adaptation and even the more recent live action adaptations, but thanks to the creative imaginations of Nolan, Weinstein, and their entire creative team, including Scenic Designer, Scott Boyd, Lighting Designer, Scott Leathers, Costumer, Tommy Macon and others, it contains the perfect balance of familiarity peppered…no, Pixie Dusted…with a freshness that is bewitching indeed.
Peter Pan: Wendy’s Adventure to Neverland continues its engaging engagement with performances for school children during the week and public performances each Saturday and Sunday through Sunday, March 27. Click Here for tickets. Educators are encouraged to Click Here to book a field trip to see upcoming performances at Nashville Children’s Theatre.
Speaking of upcoming performances, next up for NCT, it’s another World Premiere from Ernie Nolan as the musical earworm Baby Shark comes to life on the stage April 2-June 19. Then, from June 25-July 17, Nashville Children’s Theatre presents the Nashville regional company premiere of The SpongeBob Musical to close out the current season.
For all the latest from Nashville Children’s Theatre, Check out their Official Site, or follow them on socials. You can find NCT on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
As always, if you wanna follow JHPEntertainment to find out who I’m chatting with for my next Rapid Fire Q&A, or for my take on the latest local and national theatre, music and movie offerings, find us at JHPEntertainment on Facebook, JHPEntertainment on Instagram and JHPEntertainment on Twitter.
Got an event or show we should know about, drop us a line at the Contact tab. Till then, #GoSeeTheShow!