Finding Neverland: Last night, I went to see Finding Neverland at the National Theatre. For those who are unfamiliar with it, this is a musical about how J. M. Barrie came to write Peter Pan. I have to admit that I don’t really know enough about him to know how accurate it is, but I gathered that the basics are there. It wasn’t a terrible show, but it wasn’t brilliant either. Most of the music is pretty forgettable and many of the jokes are corny and trite. I like the concept that we all need to play and growing up doesn’t eliminate that. I don’t like being hit over the head with it. Also, I hated much of the choreography. It was redeemed with "We Own the Night," but I wasn’t surprised to learn that the choreographer, Mia Michaels, is best known for working on So You Think You Can Dance. I don’t want generic showy moves in theatre choreography. I want dance that tells a story.
The single thing that annoyed me the most is that I know that J. M. Barrie was a Scot. I assume this is the director’s fault and not the actor’s, but I found it really grating that Jeff Sullivan played him with an English accent. No. Just no.
I didn’t completely hate this – and, by the way, I do completely hate Peter Pan and take some pleasure in refusing to clap for Tinkerbell – but it could have been tightened up quite a bit. If you want to see a show based on Peter Pan, I suggest Peter and the Starcatcher instead. That had some real imagination behind it.
This entry was originally posted at https://fauxklore.dreamwidth.org/447647.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
