Peter Pan Live! - ugh!

MadHops21 · December 2014

sophhabobopha Most musical shows of Peter Pan are played by a slim woman who can reach the notes. They would have to get a talented 11 year old, prepubescent boy to play Peter. Always weirds me out to see a woman play that role.

EDIT Spelling is fun

sophhabobopha · December 2014

MadHops21 said:

sophhabobopha Most musical shows of Peter Pan are played by a slim woman who can reach the notes. They would have to get a talented 11 year old, prepubescent boy to play Peter. Always weirds me out to see a woman play that role.

EDIT Spelling is fun

Ahhhh okay. I get it, but still.

STARMOON44 · December 2014

I thought it was pretty fun actually. I'm sure as a kid I would have loved it.

Aray82 · December 2014

cosenti7 said:

Aray82 said:

cosenti7 said:

I would have to disagree. I personally thought it was enjoyable. I'm a theatre fanatic and I can be super critical but it was cute. It's difficult to perform live and I think the dancing was amazing. I'm not a huge fan of Walken but I was pleasantly surprised. It was way better than Sound of Music Live. Kelli O'Hara, who played Mrs. Darling, is a goddess. And IMO I thought Alison Williams was cute! If these live performances spread the love of the arts, it is doing its purpose.

I did think Alison Williams was better than Carrie Underwood and Kelli O'Hara is always great. They've just done these performances the last two seasons trying to replace icons like Mary Martin so it's hard when you're comparing them. I'd be interested to see Peter Pan played by an older woman as the role typically has been, but I don't know who they'd get now...

I agree. It's hard to be open-minded and compare when you already love the original icons. I just think of the younger generations and how exciting it would have been to watch this version for the first time. Generally, I am thrilled that musical theatre is becoming more mainstream. I literally can not wait for Into the Woods and The Last 5 Years to come out in movie theaters. Don't get me wrong, I love to snark on it too. I just think people should think about the difficulty of performing live and find some joy in it. At least give the performers some credit, all of them have been working their butts off for months.

I'm excited for Into the Woods, too! I saw it in the revival with Vanessa Williams and my parents saw the original cast for their 10th anniversary. We also have the PBS original cast on tape and watched it to death. At the same time, I kinda miss the times when Into the Woods was just my own special dorky thing, that no one else knew about except some kids at theater camp. Guess I know how DH feels about LOTR?

Aray82 · December 2014

sophhabobopha said:

Can somebody explain to me why Peter is played by an adult woman? I think it's creepy.

It's always been that way, and the other adult women were much older (Mary Martin and Cathy Rigby). I don't know why, but I think the vocals would be a bit much for an actual teenage boy to take on, and also I think the show was originally written as a vehicle for showcasing Mary Martin's particular voice...and she's, well, an adult woman. That's about all I got.

Maggie0829 · December 2014

Why is Peter Pan played by a woman? Read this...

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/01/23/peter_pan_played_by_a_woman_why_a_history_of_casting_the_j_m_barrie_character.html

Aray82 · December 2014

Maggie0829 said:

I watched about half of it. It was just SO. SLOW. Like 3 hours? Really? I understand that there are commercials but it so could have been 2 hours, 2.5 hours tops. Hell NBC could have gotten so high paying advertisers to sponsor a commercial free show with breaks just for the separate acts.

And why add new songs? Why? It just doesn't make sense and it really ruins the flow. The entire time Wendy was singing in the boat I was just wondering what the hell song that was.

And Christopher Walken was beyond bad. He had to have been high or drunk or both. Half the time he looked like he didn't even want to be there and at moments it seemed like he was kind of chuckling about how ridiculous it was.

SIB: When the boat song came on, I thought, ok, they're getting rid of the racist and offensive UggaWugg song and need something to replace it--fair enough! But instead they took out this hilarious song (starts at about 1:30): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKl4emMsFHk ...and STILL did the Uggawugg song, just changed the sounds. Let's hope NBC consulted actual Native American language speakers for the sounds, but I doubt it. They could have had the Smee actor do the Mysterious Lady song if Walken wasn't up for it.

Clearly, I could go on about this....and clearly I don't want to work on my dissertation right now :P

cosenti7 · December 2014

Aray82 said:

cosenti7 said:

Aray82 said:

cosenti7 said:

I would have to disagree. I personally thought it was enjoyable. I'm a theatre fanatic and I can be super critical but it was cute. It's difficult to perform live and I think the dancing was amazing. I'm not a huge fan of Walken but I was pleasantly surprised. It was way better than Sound of Music Live. Kelli O'Hara, who played Mrs. Darling, is a goddess. And IMO I thought Alison Williams was cute! If these live performances spread the love of the arts, it is doing its purpose.

I did think Alison Williams was better than Carrie Underwood and Kelli O'Hara is always great. They've just done these performances the last two seasons trying to replace icons like Mary Martin so it's hard when you're comparing them. I'd be interested to see Peter Pan played by an older woman as the role typically has been, but I don't know who they'd get now...

I agree. It's hard to be open-minded and compare when you already love the original icons. I just think of the younger generations and how exciting it would have been to watch this version for the first time. Generally, I am thrilled that musical theatre is becoming more mainstream. I literally can not wait for Into the Woods and The Last 5 Years to come out in movie theaters. Don't get me wrong, I love to snark on it too. I just think people should think about the difficulty of performing live and find some joy in it. At least give the performers some credit, all of them have been working their butts off for months.

I'm excited for Into the Woods, too! I saw it in the revival with Vanessa Williams and my parents saw the original cast for their 10th anniversary. We also have the PBS original cast on tape and watched it to death. At the same time, I kinda miss the times when Into the Woods was just my own special dorky thing, that no one else knew about except some kids at theater camp. Guess I know how DH feels about LOTR?

YAS! Act 2 of Into the Woods is pretty dark, so I'm curious to see what Disney does with it. Musicals are my passion so I'm liivvvving for this thread today, even if most posters didn't like it.

jdluvr06 · December 2014

cosenti7 said:

Aray82 said:

cosenti7 said:

Aray82 said:

cosenti7 said:

I would have to disagree. I personally thought it was enjoyable. I'm a theatre fanatic and I can be super critical but it was cute. It's difficult to perform live and I think the dancing was amazing. I'm not a huge fan of Walken but I was pleasantly surprised. It was way better than Sound of Music Live. Kelli O'Hara, who played Mrs. Darling, is a goddess. And IMO I thought Alison Williams was cute! If these live performances spread the love of the arts, it is doing its purpose.

I did think Alison Williams was better than Carrie Underwood and Kelli O'Hara is always great. They've just done these performances the last two seasons trying to replace icons like Mary Martin so it's hard when you're comparing them. I'd be interested to see Peter Pan played by an older woman as the role typically has been, but I don't know who they'd get now...

I agree. It's hard to be open-minded and compare when you already love the original icons. I just think of the younger generations and how exciting it would have been to watch this version for the first time. Generally, I am thrilled that musical theatre is becoming more mainstream. I literally can not wait for Into the Woods and The Last 5 Years to come out in movie theaters. Don't get me wrong, I love to snark on it too. I just think people should think about the difficulty of performing live and find some joy in it. At least give the performers some credit, all of them have been working their butts off for months.

I'm excited for Into the Woods, too! I saw it in the revival with Vanessa Williams and my parents saw the original cast for their 10th anniversary. We also have the PBS original cast on tape and watched it to death. At the same time, I kinda miss the times when Into the Woods was just my own special dorky thing, that no one else knew about except some kids at theater camp. Guess I know how DH feels about LOTR?

YAS! Act 2 of Into the Woods is pretty dark, so I'm curious to see what Disney does with it. Musicals are my passion so I'm liivvvving for this thread today, even if most posters didn't like it.

I both looking forward to and dreading Into the Woods. I'm worried about what Disney is going to do.

PrettyGirlLost · December 2014

cosenti7 said:

Aray82 said:

cosenti7 said:

Aray82 said:

cosenti7 said:

I would have to disagree. I personally thought it was enjoyable. I'm a theatre fanatic and I can be super critical but it was cute. It's difficult to perform live and I think the dancing was amazing. I'm not a huge fan of Walken but I was pleasantly surprised. It was way better than Sound of Music Live. Kelli O'Hara, who played Mrs. Darling, is a goddess. And IMO I thought Alison Williams was cute! If these live performances spread the love of the arts, it is doing its purpose.

I did think Alison Williams was better than Carrie Underwood and Kelli O'Hara is always great. They've just done these performances the last two seasons trying to replace icons like Mary Martin so it's hard when you're comparing them. I'd be interested to see Peter Pan played by an older woman as the role typically has been, but I don't know who they'd get now...

I agree. It's hard to be open-minded and compare when you already love the original icons. I just think of the younger generations and how exciting it would have been to watch this version for the first time. Generally, I am thrilled that musical theatre is becoming more mainstream. I literally can not wait for Into the Woods and The Last 5 Years to come out in movie theaters. Don't get me wrong, I love to snark on it too. I just think people should think about the difficulty of performing live and find some joy in it. At least give the performers some credit, all of them have been working their butts off for months.

I'm excited for Into the Woods, too! I saw it in the revival with Vanessa Williams and my parents saw the original cast for their 10th anniversary. We also have the PBS original cast on tape and watched it to death. At the same time, I kinda miss the times when Into the Woods was just my own special dorky thing, that no one else knew about except some kids at theater camp. Guess I know how DH feels about LOTR?

YAS! Act 2 of Into the Woods is pretty dark, so I'm curious to see what Disney does with it. Musicals are my passion so I'm liivvvving for this thread today, even if most posters didn't like it.

Probably fuck it up just like they did with every movie adaptation of every Grimm fairytale ;-)

Hell most highschools and colleges don't do the 2nd act because it's "too dark." Let's do a live production of Sweeney Todd, ;-)

I love musical theater too- I did it for years and I'm a trained vocalsit who just doesn't have time for that hobby ATM, sadly- but that's why I'm very critical of bad shows, bad singing/acting, etc.

cosenti7 · December 2014

jdluvr06 said:

cosenti7 said:

Aray82 said:

cosenti7 said:

Aray82 said:

cosenti7 said:

I would have to disagree. I personally thought it was enjoyable. I'm a theatre fanatic and I can be super critical but it was cute. It's difficult to perform live and I think the dancing was amazing. I'm not a huge fan of Walken but I was pleasantly surprised. It was way better than Sound of Music Live. Kelli O'Hara, who played Mrs. Darling, is a goddess. And IMO I thought Alison Williams was cute! If these live performances spread the love of the arts, it is doing its purpose.

I did think Alison Williams was better than Carrie Underwood and Kelli O'Hara is always great. They've just done these performances the last two seasons trying to replace icons like Mary Martin so it's hard when you're comparing them. I'd be interested to see Peter Pan played by an older woman as the role typically has been, but I don't know who they'd get now...

I agree. It's hard to be open-minded and compare when you already love the original icons. I just think of the younger generations and how exciting it would have been to watch this version for the first time. Generally, I am thrilled that musical theatre is becoming more mainstream. I literally can not wait for Into the Woods and The Last 5 Years to come out in movie theaters. Don't get me wrong, I love to snark on it too. I just think people should think about the difficulty of performing live and find some joy in it. At least give the performers some credit, all of them have been working their butts off for months.

I'm excited for Into the Woods, too! I saw it in the revival with Vanessa Williams and my parents saw the original cast for their 10th anniversary. We also have the PBS original cast on tape and watched it to death. At the same time, I kinda miss the times when Into the Woods was just my own special dorky thing, that no one else knew about except some kids at theater camp. Guess I know how DH feels about LOTR?

YAS! Act 2 of Into the Woods is pretty dark, so I'm curious to see what Disney does with it. Musicals are my passion so I'm liivvvving for this thread today, even if most posters didn't like it.

I both looking forward to and dreading Into the Woods. I'm worried about what Disney is going to do.

So far, the previews have me pumped (except for the potentially cheesy-looking giant) and I think they cast it well overall. I really like Anna Kendrick's rendition of On the Steps of Palace, too. I love Meryl's wigs. Peter's wig last night looked great too

cosenti7 · December 2014

@PrettyGirlLost OMG, I was obsessed with singing the opening of Sweeney when I was 12, I think I freaked out everyone I knew. What are some your favorites?

Could you do community theater? I'm really active with my group after work and we are starting a school program for arts education, so I guess that's why I'm so adamant about NBC's Peter Pan showing kids how great musicals can be. Normally, I'm super snarky when I watch too, but I'm trying to be positive.

PrettyGirlLost · December 2014

cosenti7 said:

@PrettyGirlLost OMG, I was obsessed with singing the opening of Sweeney when I was 12, I think I freaked out everyone I knew. What are some your favorites?

Could you do community theater? I'm really active with my group after work and we are starting a school program for arts education, so I guess that's why I'm so adamant about NBC's Peter Pan showing kids how great musicals can be. Normally, I'm super snarky when I watch too, but I'm trying to be positive.

Nah no time for community theater >< I have other hobbies that are too time consuming right now, lol!

Les Mis is my fav show, I just love that the entire show is sung. . . there are very few, if any, spoken lines. Sweeney Todd is great, Jekyll and Hyde, Phantom, Jesus Christ Superstar, I actually do like Evita, My One and Only, The Wiz. . .

Aray82 · December 2014

PrettyGirlLost said:

cosenti7 said:

Aray82 said:

cosenti7 said:

Aray82 said:

cosenti7 said:

I would have to disagree. I personally thought it was enjoyable. I'm a theatre fanatic and I can be super critical but it was cute. It's difficult to perform live and I think the dancing was amazing. I'm not a huge fan of Walken but I was pleasantly surprised. It was way better than Sound of Music Live. Kelli O'Hara, who played Mrs. Darling, is a goddess. And IMO I thought Alison Williams was cute! If these live performances spread the love of the arts, it is doing its purpose.

I did think Alison Williams was better than Carrie Underwood and Kelli O'Hara is always great. They've just done these performances the last two seasons trying to replace icons like Mary Martin so it's hard when you're comparing them. I'd be interested to see Peter Pan played by an older woman as the role typically has been, but I don't know who they'd get now...

I agree. It's hard to be open-minded and compare when you already love the original icons. I just think of the younger generations and how exciting it would have been to watch this version for the first time. Generally, I am thrilled that musical theatre is becoming more mainstream. I literally can not wait for Into the Woods and The Last 5 Years to come out in movie theaters. Don't get me wrong, I love to snark on it too. I just think people should think about the difficulty of performing live and find some joy in it. At least give the performers some credit, all of them have been working their butts off for months.

I'm excited for Into the Woods, too! I saw it in the revival with Vanessa Williams and my parents saw the original cast for their 10th anniversary. We also have the PBS original cast on tape and watched it to death. At the same time, I kinda miss the times when Into the Woods was just my own special dorky thing, that no one else knew about except some kids at theater camp. Guess I know how DH feels about LOTR?

YAS! Act 2 of Into the Woods is pretty dark, so I'm curious to see what Disney does with it. Musicals are my passion so I'm liivvvving for this thread today, even if most posters didn't like it.

Probably fuck it up just like they did with every movie adaptation of every Grimm fairytale ;-)

Hell most highschools and colleges don't do the 2nd act because it's "too dark." Let's do a live production of Sweeney Todd, ;-)

I love musical theater too- I did it for years and I'm a trained vocalsit who just doesn't have time for that hobby ATM, sadly- but that's why I'm very critical of bad shows, bad singing/acting, etc.

It's fun to see all the musical theater fan knotties coming out today! Hi everyone! I did a lot of theater and singing in high school and college but karaoke's about all I can manage now...haven't tried singing since I got my thyroid out earlier this year.

I think my parents actually wouldn't let us watch the second act on the tape for a long time because they didn't want us to freak out.

cosenti7 · December 2014

PrettyGirlLost said:

cosenti7 said:

@PrettyGirlLost OMG, I was obsessed with singing the opening of Sweeney when I was 12, I think I freaked out everyone I knew. What are some your favorites?

Could you do community theater? I'm really active with my group after work and we are starting a school program for arts education, so I guess that's why I'm so adamant about NBC's Peter Pan showing kids how great musicals can be. Normally, I'm super snarky when I watch too, but I'm trying to be positive.

Nah no time for community theater >< I have other hobbies that are too time consuming right now, lol!

Les Mis is my fav show, I just love that the entire show is sung. . . there are very few, if any, spoken lines. Sweeney Todd is great, Jekyll and Hyde, Phantom, Jesus Christ Superstar, I actually do like Evita, My One and Only, The Wiz. . .

Amazing. Les Mis is life-changing and Evita is just beautiful. I love when the whole show is sung also. I just saw Beautiful on Broadway, which was awesome, but my favorite is Jersey Boys. I'm in Little Women the Musical right now and I would kill to be in Sweeney. (See what I did there? LOL )

wandajune6 · December 2014

MagicInk said:

I was watching Mom and the McCarthy's on CBS and totally forgot this was even a thing.

I'm jealous! In my market, we just got football.

Maggie- thanks for sharing the Slate article! I was looking for the link to share.

I grew up with the Mary Martin version. My mom had such fond memories of the original that she tracked it down and got a copy made for us before it was re-released. I tried to watch last night's but it started to make me sad. It was recorded and will likely stay on the DVR for a few days before I delete it.

daria24 · December 2014

In my previous life, I was a giant theatre nerd. I've probably seen nearly every major musical.

I would love (and also fear) if they did My Fair Lady. The costumes would be amahhhhhhzing. But that probably isn't family-friendly enough. Kiss Me Kate is my other favorite.

lovesclimbing · December 2014

novella1186 said:

daria24 said:

novella1186 said:

I did not bother to watch but when I heard they were doing this I was extremely confused. Was Sound of Music not a huge embarrassment? Did they not learn their lesson the first time?

The ratings for Sound of Music were NBC's best for a non-sports/non-awards ceremony in years. They learned "who cares it's a shitshow! People will watch!"

The Peter Pan ratings were down a LOT though. I think they'll do another one next year though. Even a 2.3 rating is good for NBC these days.

omg seriously?! lol I didn't know they got such good ratings for that mess.

I read an article this morning that Peter Pan got something like 9.2 million views. Sound of Music was just slightly more than double that. The article also said NBC is already planning next year.

I think one of the reasons Sound of Music got so many views was because of Carrie Underwood. She's pretty much a household name, I'm sure that drew people in, and she can sing very well live. I love her, she's one of my favorite artists, but she cannot act.

Even though she can't act, she drew numbers, I'm sure. They didn't have that star power for Peter Pan. I'd never heard of Alison Williams before this, and had no idea of anything she'd ever been in. Just now, I had to scroll up to find where someone mentioned her name because I couldn't remember what it was.

flutteringinfl · December 2014

I had a videotape of the Mary Martin version and used to watch it all the time. I remember one summer we went to visit my grandparents and since there wasn't much else to do there I literally watched it every day of the trip. I also love Christopher Walken so I had some hopes it would be good.

I couldn't watch it live because I was working, but I might try to watch it on Hulu. Sounds like I shouldn't expect much though. I didn't watch Sound of Music last year. Don't care too much for it.

Is it true they're doing the Music Man next year? I'm not a big musical theater person but that's probably one of my favorite musicals. Fingers crossed that if they do it, they don't screw it up.

Peter Pan Live! - ugh!

Re: Peter Pan Live! - ugh!

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