Based on the Miramax motion picture by David Magee and the play The Man Who Was Peter Pan by Allan Knee, Finding Neverland follows the relationship between playwright J. M. Barrie and the family that inspired Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, one of the most beloved stories of all time.
Final Broadway performance August 21.
Finding Neverland purports to be historical: the true tale of how Barrie, inspired by his dealings with the family of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies, created the boy who wouldn't grow up. It also purports to be a singing-dancing family entertainment. It winds up being neither...What's accurate -- perhaps the only thing -- is that Barrie acknowledged the Davies brood as his muses for Peter Pan...On this slender foundation Finding Neverland...builds an enormous superstructure of trite psychology...Finding Neverland demonstrates about as much insight into creativity borne of loss as a Facebook memorial candle. Even if everything in it were profound and true, it would still be a mess, suffering as it does from confusion (or willfulness) about what makes a musical a musical. In good ones, songs are not decorations applied interchangeably to the exterior of a story, like gift-wrap. They are the gift. Here, they seem to be recycled from a different package entirely...More attention has been lavished on the show's tricks than its logic.
Surprisingly, there's no riff on singing at regionals, even though this new musical also stars Matthew Morrison, a?k?a Mr. Will Schuester of 'Glee.' That's pretty much the only sign of restraint in this overstuffed production...Holding it all together is Morrison. Sporting a beard and Scottish burr, he's tireless, if not especially charismatic, as J.M. Barrie...Barlow and Kennedy dutifully deliver the obligatory power ballads...but their heart is in the faster, livelier ensemble songs...Too bad Michaels' choreography has all the zest of vintage MTV. What's most striking is how a show about the power of whimsy and imagination is so lacking in both. Paulus and Company don't trust intimacy and charm, so everything is overplayed -- despite the advice to an actor rehearsing Barrie's 'Peter Pan' to go 'smaller.' Peter Pan taught others to free themselves and fly. For most of its running time, 'Finding Neverland' remains stuck to the ground.
2015 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
2016 | US Tour |
First US National Tour US Tour |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2015 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Leading Actor in a Musical | Matthew Morrison |
2015 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Lighting Design | Kenneth Posner |
2015 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Orchestrations | Simon Hale |
2015 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Scenic Design | Scott Pask |
2015 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Score | Gary Barlow |
2015 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Sound Design of a Musical | Jonathan Deans |
2015 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Matthew Morrison |
2015 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | Carolee Carmello |
2015 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Kelsey Grammer |
2015 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Matthew Morrison |
2015 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical | Finding Neverland |
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