My journey with Finding Neverland started when the Original Broadway Cast Recording came out last year, and I loved every song on the cast recording so I knew I had to try my hardest to see the show. I’ve always loved all things Peter Pan, and I’ve always kind of been curious about how the story came about and I may have seen the movie once. I wanted to start of this review by telling you this, so you know where I was coming from when I saw the show. The music was the first thing that I loved about this show, as I knowing only the music and the basic plot of the show I felt like I was taken on the journey of the show. Seeing the show as a whole made me love the show even more, and I didn’t even think that I could but seeing the show live made me love it more because I had a new appreciation for the show, and the cast in the show. I feel that everyone both young and old should see this show before it closes on August 21st. Thoughts from my dad that he wanted me to put into this review” my dad said it was cool not once, but four times and when my dad says it’s cool four times it means see it.”
Tony Yazbeck as J.M. Barrie gave a performance that was the perfect mix of the adult, and the child that didn’t want to grow up. His J.M was one that had the maturity of the adult that J.M Barrie was when he met the boys and Sylvia, but he also had this childlike quality about his performance especially in the scenes with the boys. Tony Yazbeck was able to turn off and on the childlike and adult qualities, when he was in the scenes with other adults such as in theatre he was an adult, and he took on these responsibilities that an adult needs to take on. My favorite thing about his performance was exactly this, his ability to be an adult and childlike in the same show, sometimes even in the same scene such as the dinner party scene. His voice also suited the role as much as acting did sure, but the stand out for me was his acting. My favorite scene with him was the finale because you feel all of his emotions as someone that he loved is dying.
Laura Michelle Kelly as Sylvia Llewelyn Davies was an absolute delight to watch on stage, all aspects of her performance were absolutely delightful and I loved every second of watching her. Much like Tony Yazbeck Laura Michelle Kelly was a combination of an adult with maturity, and childlike as most of her scenes as with the boys in the cast. When she was with other adults in the few moments she was, she was an adult with other adults such as in the dinner party scene she interacts with other adults, and something that her character didn’t have much of because she was the mother of five boys. I really enjoyed Laura’s acting in this scene, because it was one of the moments in the show that she had to be both an adult and childlike at the same time, such as in the song We Own The Night. As a character Sylvia is still broken over the loss of husband a year ago, and the fact she has cancer she could be a very dark and depressing character. Laura took all of these things, and she has these moments when she a little dark but they are few and far between most of the show it is like nothing is going on, and especially when she is in scenes with the boys.
Paul Slade Smith as Charles Frohman/Captain Hook was another one who was a delight to watch, as he got really into his character. I see him as someone who angry because J M Barrie will not give him a show to put on, and he needs to get paid for his job. He was a business who was maybe a little quick to anger, and I think that Paul captured this perfect as Charles and he was also funny when he was welcoming everyone to Peter Pan. As Captain Hook he was very truly the villain, and he did a great job at really getting into the mind of Captain Hook. Everything about him was Captain Hook to his voice, his mannerisms, and his stance that he does as Captain Hook. My favorite scene with him was the one in the pub and the song Play, as it shows you a lighter side of his character.
Dana Costello as Mary Barrie was another one who was a delight to watch every second that she was on stage. Mary’s character is one that cares a lot about her appearance, and one that just wants JM back maybe to the time when they met. Dana’s acting as Mary is more an acting role than a singing one her acting was so strong, and she made Mary real for me. Mary is one that could be seen as very fake, but Dana made her real and she gave her some dimension and Dana helped the audience see what was going on, and how Mary as feeling about what was going on. My favorite scene of Mary’s was the dinner party scene because of the superb acting that Dana was giving in this scene.
Jackson Demont Hill, Eli Tokash, Christopher Paul Richards, and Christian Michael Camporin were adorable as George, Peter, Jack, and Michael Llewelyn Davies. Eli as Peter the one that Peter Pan is named after was one that I would like to highlight here as he was adorable, and his performance as Peter made me cry. I really loved the journey that his Peter goes on from the shy child you meet in the beginning of the show, to the more outgoing writer that you see at the end of the show and Eli I feel very much understood his character. It is hard to pick a favorite scene that the boys are in, but
I have to say that the most fun to watch with them in it was the scene where they perform Peter’s play. All of these boys had terrific acting and singing, and they were both the comic relief of the show and the side of JM Barrie that never grew up.
The last person that I would like to highlight in this is Sally Ann Triplett as Madam Du Maurier Sylvia’s mother in the show. Her performance was one that was strict with the boys, but she really cared about the safety of her daughter, and her grandsons. This was a role that was more of a feature, but I wanted to highlight it because Sally was the perfect combination of strict and loving. My favorite scenes with her was the dinner party scene as it was her introduction and you find out who she is as a person, and you find out how much she cares about Sylvia and the boys. The other favorite scene with her was the last one, after Sylvia dies of Cancer and she is telling the boys that their mother will always be there if they believe she is.