PETER PAN. To 14 January.
London.
PETER PAN
by James M Barrie adapted by Stephanie Sinclaire music & lyrics by Leonard Bernstein.
King’s Head 115 Upper Street N1 1QN To 14 January 2007.
19-24 December: Tue-Wed 5pm Thu-Sat 1.30pm & 5pm Sun 12pm & 3pm.
26 Dec-14 Jan: Tue-Fri; Sun 5pm (Thu; Sun also 1.30pm) Sat 11am & 3.30pm.
Runs 2hr One interval.
TICKETS: 020 7226 1916.
www.kingsheadtheatre.org
Review: Timothy Ramsden 15 December.
When the West Side Story man turned his attention to Pan.
This abridged version of J M Barrie’s famous story cleverly deploys its large cast over the tiny King’s Head stage, while often also making the aisles full of noises. There have been more detailed and deep-probing productions, but this has one selling-point. Musical supervisor Mike Dixon has unearthed Leonard Bernstein’s score, premiered in America in 1951 and 1952. Dixon’s combined music from those early productions, so the complete score’s now heard for the first time.
There are several songs (though this isn’t a musical) and many instrumental pieces, some very short, for entrances, flights and dances. As a whole, the music is tremendously effective though not terribly memorable; neither Candide nor West Side Story need fear for their places in the Bernstein pantheon.
Yet even the shortest piece has a distinctive melodic character, which Dixon manages to convey in his 3-part arrangement of the orchestral score; so, Captain Hook has a sexy screeching clarinet before breaking into an operatic-tenor styled lament. It’s only at Peter’s final “Dream With Me” that a big tune seems in prospect, and while there are good things to Katherine Kastin’s performance, projecting a song isn’t among them. The vocal line’s secure but the volume’s restrained to the point of near-privacy.
In other ways, Kastin is a strong Peter; forthright, energetic, naïve; seeing everything in uncomplicated terms, never stopping to compare one thing with another. In contrast, Lisa Holliman’s Wendy has a reflective maturity disturbed only by the sense of half-unreality when she returns to her Darling home; which life, she seems to wonder, is a dream.
Many Neverland characters are given little space here, but there’s some fine work among the Lost Boys, while Peter Land, far too fussy as Mr Darling, is comically right in every twitch and snarl as Hook. Not the most fearful Hook in history, maybe, but enjoyable as the villain you love to hate.
Director Stephanie Sinclaire’s marshalled everything with high efficiency, ingeniously including a sense of flying (on the fork-lift principle). But it’s Bernstein’s score that’s the draw. The rest, to its credit, does not let the music down.
Peter Pan: Katherine Kastin.
Tinkerbell: Meg Dixon/Sheriz Mehmet/Talia Mehmet.
Nana: John Fricker.
Mrs Darling/Mermaid: Emma Munro-Wilson.
Michael Darling: Samuel Atkinson/Christopher Beadle/Daniel Gallichan/Oscar Redif.
John Darling: Ian McFarlane.
Wendy Darling: Lisa Holliman.
Mr Darling/Captain James Hook: Peter Land.
Tootles: Charlie Wild.
Slightly: Liam McDonnell.
Nibs: Ben Boorman.
Curly: Luke Shoefield.
Smee: John Fricker.
Gentleman Starkey: Nick Meadows.
Cecco: Melissa Stanton.
Bill Jukes: Jeremy Graves.
Tiger Lily: Chira Rochia.
Panther: Bhavini Doshi.
Cabbie: Laura Ann McAlpine.
Little White Mouse: Rohini Drury.
Mermaids: Emily Dobie, Segilola Scott, Caroline Fox.
Director: Stephanie Sinclaire.
Designer: Dave Hermon.
Musical supervision/Arranger:Mike Dixon.
Musical Director: Alexander Bermange.
Choreographer: Marc Urquhart.
Costume: Gary Page.
Hair/Make-up: Darren Evans.
Fight director: Bret Yount.
Assistant director: Sherrill Gow.
2006-12-17 23:31:12