Robert Bianco, USA TODAY Peter Pan, we have lift-off.
True, Thursday's live musical on NBC didn't always soar, but it did generally manage to stay off the ground — or at least it did when it stuck closely to the original musical. But when it wandered into new, less-enchanted territory,the production threatened to become, well, earthbound.
For those moments when Peter took flight, much of the credit goes to a game performance by Allison Williams as Peter. She's not as skilled a musical-theater performer as Mary Martin, the icon who created the role in the Broadway original and recreated it on TV in two live productions, and a third that remains available on video. Nor is she as strong a singer as Carrie Underwood, the star of last year's The Sound of Music, also from NBC and Pan producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron.
But unlike Martin, she's available. And unlike Underwood, she can act — which is a major improvement, and one that allows Peter Pan to be counted as a success. If her voice was a bit slight, it wasn't unsuited to the part she was playing with quiet conviction: that of a young boy. And if the performance could have used more musical-theater energy, it was never less than charming and generous.
Any hero, of course, is only as interesting as his or her nemesis. And if by "interesting" you mean "idiosyncratic," no Peter could do much better than Christopher Walken's Captain Hook.
That's not the same as saying he was good in the role, however. He was often oddly lethargic (though he did rally for his big Captain Hook's Waltz number near the broadcast's end), and there were times when you got the feeling he might change his mind and disappear during a commercial break. Even so, when he was on screen, how could you look at anything else?
In a sense, this was Peter and TV going back to their shared, live roots — but with a much more elaborate production. Gone were the primitive soundstage flats of the 1960 version, replaced by grand sets, dancing shadows, computer-generated effects and a Never Never Land that actually looked like a place children might create in their imagination. Live TV is a difficult technical trick to pull off, and there were some times when the sound seemed detached from the performers, but it was a huge improvement on that distracting, hollow Sound of Music. Considering the degree of difficulty, it would be unfair not to be at least a little impressed by the achievement.
If only there had been less of it trying to impress us. Every addition in Irene Mecchi's new book was a drag on the proceedings, from Wendy's jealous nagging (though Taylor Louderman did a lovely job with her interpolated song) to Tiger Lily's new incarnation as a bomb-hunting Island Princess. And whatever you think of the original's riff on fantasy Native Americans, it's hard to see how changing the Ugg-a-Wugg refrain to something that sounded vaguely like "Oy Vey" is much of an advance for ethnic sensitivity.
And there's the problem with flights of fantasy: It's hard to keep them aloft over three hours of primetime. Presumably the only way NBC could, or was willing to, afford Pan was to make it provide a full night of commercial breaks, but this is not a story that benefits from expansion.
Still, you had Williams bouncing through I'm Flying and I Won't Grow Up, and Kelli O'Hara lending her gorgeous voice to Tender Shepherd. And you had the pleasure of watching a classic story brought to life, before your eyes, strings and all.
Surely you could get a little lift from that.
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