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.
British playwright James Graham's story is part Edwardian melodrama, part love story, part origin story, part valentine to invention and part send-up of the theater itself. There's nothing wrong with that, it's just that each has its own tone. Sometimes Graham is deadly earnest, sometimes he's sly and often he's just trying too hard at both. 'Finding Neverland' awkwardly juggles parental death and divorce and puts them in a Disney show that Disney long ago stopped making...When the show is working on all cylinders, it's absolutely thrilling...The music and lyrics...lean on soaring pop melodies and lilting Irish folk. Some hit -- 'When Your Feet Don't Touch the Ground' -- and some don't -- 'All That Matters'...A decision seems to have been made to paper over any gaps in the show's coherence by backing up a truckload of pixie dust and pumping it into the theater. It also desperately wants you to cry with a series of false endings that will have you exhausted. 'Finding Neverland' has some great performances but never finds its groove.
[Morrison's] Barrie is cool, distant and strangely invulnerable; neutrality is one of the more unusual aspects of this performance. And in a show with a cacophony of different styles and ideas in play at once, it stands in stark contrast with the work of Kelsey Grammer...But the real-life story of 'Finding Neverland' is rich in complexity...In a deeper and gutsier musical, we'd better understand all that people felt about these matters -- indeed, we'd also probe the downside of not growing up and Barrie's interest therein. But 'Finding Neverland'...does not want any piece of that...Time and again, it resorts to papering over any crack that opens up...Director Diane Paulus' staging, Scott Pask's set and Mia Michaels' choreography all play with the language of the circus, or at least of the musical hall. These approaches tend to work against the trajectory of the show...the score, which often has a rootsy, 'Big River' feel and, despite some sticky melodies, remains far removed from the show's milieu. The show lacks a journey.
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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