PETER PAN LIVE! Live Blog with Margaret & Anne Marie
Thursday, December 4, 2014 at 10:22PM ANNE MARIE: Good evening, Lost Boys & Girls. Anne Marie here with the ever-youthful Margaret to live-blog NBC's Peter Pan Live! Or it would be live, but Los Angeles does everything on a delay, so instead it's a late-blog three hours after the original event began.
MARGARET: Thank goodness they don't do this with the Oscars.
ANNE MARIE: A word on my credentials: Like millions of children, I was basically raised on the Mary Martin/Cyril Ritchard broadcast. Until I was six, I thought I was going to grow up to be Peter Pan. I've also been in it, designed for it, and seen the Cathy Rigby version (twice). Oh, and for actual credentials, I have a minor in theater and have stage managed in LA for six years. I also liveblogged The Sound of Music Live! last year. This isn't my first trip to Neverland, is what I'm saying.
MARGARET: While I haven't Anne Marie's technical background, I also grew up a huge fan of the Mary Martin production. My copy was taped from a TV broadcast on an ancient VHS (look it up, kids) and I watched it so much I memorized the commercials. Since I am also a great fan of (1) celebrities looking uncomfortable and (2) anything with a strong potential for disaster, tonight's entertainment is right up my alley. I hope I'm not alone in that.
ANNE MARIE: If you're on the East Coast, check in with us and think back on fond memories made just three hours ago. If you're on the West Coast, follow along as we experience childhood anew. If you're in one of the middle states, then you're kinda like the Lost Boys: nobody pays attention to you and we spend a lot of time flying over your head.
Are you ready? OFF TO NEVERLAND!
8:01 ANNE MARIE: Oooo! Nice set! Yay production designers!
8:02 MARGARET: Oh my god the music. My hearrrrrt.
8:03 ANNE MARIE: I have only seen Christian Borle in Smash, Peter Pan Live!, and The Sound of Music Live!. Does he have a three year indentureship contract with NBC?
8:04 MARGARET: Is that a real dog they've got playing Nana? It IS a real dog! I'm impressed. I hope there are a lot of treats in this animal's future, because it is remarkably well-trained.
8:06 ANNE MARIE: We haven't said anything about two-time Tony Award nominee Kelli O'Hara yet, but I am glad of her presence. Not as glad as I'd be if it was Laura Benanti. (Pour one out for Laura Benanti.)
8:07 MARGARET: It is a full seven minutes into the broadcast and I have yet to cringe about anyone's acting. I'd say so far they're up 100% from last year.
8:08 ANNE MARIE: I'm not crying at "Tender Shepherd!" I AM NOT crying at Tender Shepbherd. OH DAMN IT THEY ADDED "DISTANT MELODY." *sob*
8:09 MARGARET: Kelli O'Hara has a lovely voice. I am a puddle of cry.
8:10 ANNE MARIE & MARGARET: EEEEEEEEEE PETER PAN!!!!
8:11 ANNE MARIE: What an amazing, iconic entrance.
8:12 MARGARET: THESE EFFECTS ARE BEYOND LEGIT. Anne Marie has some complicated explanation for the awesome Tinkerbell animation she'll grant you at the commercial break. That flying effect is amazing! (I am easily impressed?)
8:13 ANNE MARIE: This monologue with them walking through the house is just an excuse to show off the production design. I'm not complaining. This is a gigantic nursery set. Bravo, production designers!
8:15 MARGARET: Allison Williams' received pronunciation English accent is taking me right back to college theater. In a good way, mostly. She's awfully adorable.
8:16 MARGARET: Peter Pan on Twitter: "Shadow's back. #Blessed"
8:17 ANNE MARIE: The shadows are off, as is Allison Williams's singing. They're trying, guys. They're really trying.
8:18 MARGARET: I'm afraid the US team has lost all hope of medaling in the synchronized shadow-dancing Olympic event.
8:19 ANNE MARIE: Let's see if I can get through "Neverland" without crying...
8:20 ANNE MARIE: Nope, no I cannot.
8:21 MARGARET: Allison Williams was awfully shaky during "I Gotta Crow," but she seems much more comfortable when they let her stand still.
8:22 ANNE MARIE: Commercial Break #1!
8:27 ANNE MARIE: So Tinkerbell. I'll explain the mechanics while Peter explains her story. Tinkerbell is a combination of CGI being "puppeted" around the screen live along with live keyboard playing. So Tinkerbell is actually two large dudes in front of computers. The magic is real.
8:29 ANNE MARIE: Peter's terribly obtuse about kissing. I sympathize. I have some really awkward first date stories that go much the same.
8:29 MARGARET: The actress playing Wendy, one Taylor Lauderman (Missouri native, apparently! Thanks, forever1267) is terrific. She is really selling this, and since-- let's face it-- it has massive cheese potential, I am very grateful to her.
8:31 ANNE MARIE: Michael is about to lose his head about Peter flying. Meanwhile, we're all groaning over how flat and sharp Williams is. Just focus on Michael. Michael's cool.
8:33 ANNE MARIE: Michael and I have the same reaction to the prospect of flying, which is to say wildly flailing. In other news, the Darlings are performing the same flying choreography as the original Mary Martin broadcast! YAY!
8:35 MARGARET: I hate to say it, but maybe casting someone like Carrie Underwood was a better move. Cringe-worthy acting, yes, but the woman sings like an angel. Ms. Williams... is hurting me.
8:36 ANNE MARIE: And they're already in Neverland! How convenient! All it took was a wall being lifted into the flyspace. These production designers are big on moving walls. Remember last year's randomly moving abbey wall? Anybody? Commercial Break #2!
8:38 ANNE MARIE: Anna Kendrick summed up Neverland's production design best:
OH shit!!! Neverland is an acid trip and I never want get sober. #PeterPanLive
— Anna Kendrick (@AnnaKendrick47) December 5, 2014
8:40: ANNE MARIE: Oh no. Here comes Hook...
8:40 MARGARET: Yo HO!
8:41 MARGARET: Christopher Walken is looking fab in those long raven locks. #nomakeup
8:42 ANNE MARIE: Christian Borle is ripped. Hellooooo Smee! Do you have a permit for those guns?
8:43 MARGARET: Now, come out with it: who decided to dress the pirates in all red-and-purple ensembles? They look like red hat ladies
8:45 ANNE MARIE: So this is a new number added just for this show and this Hook, which I'd be bitter about except that I never knew how badly I wanted a tapdancing Hook with a pink parasol until just now.
8:45 MARGARET: Say what you will about Walken's talk-singing, at least it means he's never off-key. Maybe they should have suggested it to Peter...
8:47 MARGARET: This flouncy joyful pirate tap-dance number is a DELIGHT and I want to find the choreographer so I can kiss them right on the mouth.
8:48 ANNE MARIE: Shout out to Tiger Lilly Alanna Saunders, a U of Miami alum! (Thanks, Jonny!)
8:49 MARGARET: So, ah, the Lost Boys are outfitted in the wardrobe from Spring Awakening?
8:51 ANNE MARIE: I like the set design shout out to the colored paper trees from the original Mary Martin broadcast set.
8:53 ANNE MARIE: Have some respect. The crocodile snuck that clock out of Vietnam in his ass.
8:56 MARGARET: Hook & Smee's tango is supes romantic. Anne Marie and I ship it.
8:56 ANNE MARIE: We ship harder than the crew of the Jolly Rodger.
8:58 ANNE MARIE: Now taking suggestions for Hook and Smee's ship name. Hee? Smook? Post you suggestions!
9:02 ANNE MARIE: Back from commercial break. The Lost Spring Awakening Boys shot Wendy and the kiss saved her life. Allison Williams's fighting form is seriously lacking.
9:04 MARGARET: Why is Wendy your mother? SHE'S YOUR AGE!!
9:05 ANNE MARIE: Ladies and gentlemen, Stomp!
9:07 MARGARET: Okay, neat freakery rears its ugly head, but Lost Boys, that is no way to scrub a floor there is no organization to your cleaning you are just moving the dirt around oh my god
9:09 MARGARET: Whatever sick misanthropic genius inserted the bit where Wendy explains the end of Hamlet to the lost boys is my forever hero.
9:11 ANNE MARIE: I miss Cyril Ritchard being carried in to every scene like the king he was, but I also love all of these cutaways back to Christopher Walken drinking tea on a throne like the king he is. "Tempo tempo, a TARANTELLA!"
9:12 ANNE MARIE: Nevermind being Peter Pan. Sorry, 6-year-old Anne, I want to be a pirate. Especialyl if I get to dance with Christopher Walken in Busby Berkley formations.
9:13 MARGARET: I've been trying to place the accent of Christian Borle/Smee is using, and I just got it. He's doing a bang up Old Gregg impression. I hope it's intentional. Commercial break!
9:15 MARGARET: I have gained new respect for the producers of this show based on their inserting, mid-commercial break, a shot of WAlken holding his final Hook note for another several bars. Unexpected, and brilliant.
9:17 ANNE MARIE: For those mourning the loss of all of our original Peter Pan collaborators, know this: Flying By Foy is doing all of the flying effects! Flying By Foy was developed for the original Peter Pan, and has evolved from a burly technician with a leather harness, some rope, and a prayer, to a sophisticated system involving computer-controlled flying effects. Hooray for Flying By Foy!
9:19 ANNE MARIE: If the Lost Boys refuse to grow up, who built the tables they're all sitting at? Did they steal them from the pirates? The pirates seem a little bit busy tapdancing to build anything.
9:21 MARGARET: Allison Williams is parking herself on the table for most of "I Won't Grow Up," and I'm really hoping she stays there, since her pitch is infinitely more reliable when she holds the heck still.
9:23 ANNE MARIE: Everyone knows good etiquette lessons involve balancing tea cups on your head while swordfighting.
9:25 MARGARET: Finding it nigh on impossible to root against the pirates being as how they are way awesomer than the Lost Boys and if I were to find myself in Neverland I'd enlist ASAP. (I'm with LadyEdith in the comments.)
9:26 ANNE MARIE: Whenever the Lost Boys dance I have Newsies flashbacks. Bring back the Busby Berkley pirates!
9:27 MARGARET: No better time to air commercials for every single musical coming to town in the next several months. Hi, Wicked. Hi, Matilda. See you soon, Annie and Into the Woods.
9:33 ANNE MARIE: I'm getting some serious Phantom of the Opera vibes from this boat. I wouldn't put a random plummeting chandelier past these production designers, either. Watch your head, Wendy!
9:34: MARGARET: I'm so glad if they're adding new numbers that they gave one to Wendy. This chick is killing it, and the song is actually pretty lovely. Not to mention... romancey.
9:36 ANNE MARIE: Wow, lesbian subtext says what?
9:36 MARGARET: SHA LA LA LA LA MY OH MY, LOOK LIKE THE BOY TOO SHY, AIN'T GONNA KISS THE GIRL
9:39 ANNE MARIE: This is a new song? I think this a new song. I'm with Williams. "Let's get on with the fighting/I'm bored."
9:42 MARGARET: TICK TOCK HERE COMES SOMETHING TO BREAK UP THIS TEDIOUS SONG
9:43: MARGARET: So a kite is capable of flying Wendy off this island? Neil deGrasse Tyson is gonna be piiiiiiissed!
9:48 ANNE MARIE: Sorry folks, having computer issues. But we're not missing a whole heck of a lot other than some attempted PC sidestepping of some very awkward racism.
9:52 ANNE MARIE: Glad to see so much dancing. It's not Jerome Robbins, but it's still pretty great. Also this set is enormous and I continue to love it.
9:55 ANNE MARIE: So, can I get through "Distant Melody" without crying?
9:56 ANNE MARIE: Nope. No I can't.
9:57 MARGARET: As Wendy tucks all these boys into bed who are basically her age the big ol' elephant in the room is J.M. Barrie's mommy issues. If he had written Peter Pan in the 21st century we would have gotten a heck of a lot of Huffington Post thinkpieces about his Woman Problem.
10:01 ANNE MARIE: In other news, I am sobbing like a dork and have therefore officially become my mother.
I'm not crying. You're crying. Shut up. #PeterPanLive #DistantMelody http://t.co/ij3kvtmqWx
— Anne Marie (@WeRecycleMovies) December 5, 2014
10:04 ANNE MARIE: "Mother and father will adopt you... if you don't make noise or spend money." John, these kids are almost preteens. Have you met preteens? All they do is make noise and spend money.
10:06 MARGARET: I have a feeling that this wig makes our Peter look exactly like Brian Williams did when he was her age... In other news, this broadcast has been pirate-free for far too long. #JusticeForPirates
10:09 ANNE MARIE: I gotta say, as snarky as we're being, the camera work is really good. It's directed by nine-time Emmy Award winner Glenn Weiss. Boy knows his stuff.
10:11 ANNE MARIE: More extra dialog. They have padded this broadcast so much it could be a serta mattress.
10:15 MARGARET: A lot of musicals are super long and I understand that you can't cut them up just to have a broadcast of a moderate length, but when you actually pick a show that could run in under three hours there's just no excuse for adding like six new songs and a full act's worth of extra dialogue. Have mercy, NBC, some of us have work in the morning.
10:17 ANNE MARIE: GET READY TO CLAP!
10:20 MARGARET: Let's all try to work faux-curses like "Split my infinitives!" and "By Carbonate of Soda!" into our everyday speech, a la Capt. Hook. Conversation would be so much more entertaining.
10:25 MARGARET: Christopher Walken is really committing to these musical numbers, especially the dancing, and it's such a relief that he's not just, y'know, sleep-Walkening through it like he does with so many of his paycheck gigs these days.
10:30 ANNE MARIE: My love of Hook has to do not only with how much better Walken is acquitting himself than Williams, but also with how Peter Pan changes as you grow. As I mentioned before, when I was young I thought I would grow up to be Peter Pan. But then I actually did grow older, and when I read the book for the first time, I was shocked at how selfish and mean Peter was. I felt for Wendy, who was caught between being a girl and a woman. Now, old curmudgeon that I am, I like Hook best. Also I look great in red velvet. So there's that.
10:34 MARGARET: Oh my God, Wendy inching toward the end of the plank waiting for Peter to show up and then doing a major diva-sigh when he does is everything. Oh, and now she's taking up a sword and giving a pirate what-for. This. Wendy. Rules.
10:37 ANNE MARIE: My inner swashbuckler fan is very happy with this fight. GO PAN GO! (Maybe step up the fighting choreography.) Also, goodbye to Smee and Hook. Loved the hook/fist bump.
10:39 ANNE MARIE: Hey look! Laura Benanti makes a guest appearance as the crocodile! (Kidding, but I miss her still.)
10:45 MARGARET: Nana is back, and she does turn-down service! (Seriously these animal trainers are no joke, this dog is amazing.)
10:46 ANNE MARIE: Mr. Darling is a saint if he actually adopts all 1800 lost boys.
#PeterPanLive: the Angelina Jolie/Brad Pitt story pic.twitter.com/EVcY4GV1zp
— Jose Solís (@josekicksass) December 5, 2014
10:50 MARGARET: I was just going to say what a super job Minnie Driver was doing as narrator, and then she showed up for real, as grown-up Wendy. I love surprise Minnie Driver! They should do this on every live TV broadcast.
10:55 ANNE MARIE: My heart still breaks for Wendy, not because she can't stay young, but because Peter can't see the virtue of growing old.
10:55 MARGARET: And now the thing is done. All things considered, it was lovely. Those of you who are still awake, thank you for joining us!!
11:00 ANNE MARIE: Good night, everyone! I hope this experiment brought you as much joy as it did us. I, for one, will hold Christopher Walken's pink parasol in my heart forever. Anne Marie out!
Reader Comments (19)
So is this live live here on the West Coast? Or did they just finish the show on the East Coast a few minutes ago, and have now started all over?
Shout Out to fellow Missourian Taylor Louderman,from small town Missouri, who is playing Wendy.
If we're doing shoutouts, let me throw one out to my fellow University of Miami alum Alanna Saunders, playing Tiger Lily tonight!
And I thought I was the only Missourian on here. And I'm from a "blink or you'll miss it" town as well.
I'm watching live in Vancouver and I haven't seen a Peter Pan since I was a kid, but I'm curious. I have been getting into the mood by watching the fake auditions of Laura Benanti & Jane K. (did you catch Benanti doing the crocodile?)
So far the best part has been the flying but now to the pirates...
Christopher Walken looks a bit waxy, but the production values are quite impressive. . Walken really can't do an english accent. He likes that throne. His tap dancing isn't that bad - A for effort.
Kinda disappointed Dante Basco Wasn't free for this #bangarang
Busby Berkley choreography for the pirates was looking good. So far the pirates are the best part, if I was a kid I would want to join them not those lame lost boys with Lord of the Flies tendency's.
2 tribes uniting looks really strange, lost boys look like cast of Oliver and Tiger Lily and Native tribe dance look like they should do something from South Pacific.
Wendy is the real star of this production, but rather than pine for Peter she should check out Tiger Lily's tribe.
I want to go home too, where's Minnie Driver?
Ok - Kelli O'Hara just sang and reminded all of us what a really beautiful voice sounds like, and why didn't they cast more really great singers? Sorry but the difference was so vast.
Swordfight finally! camera work and flying is very good, but Walken is the most lifeless Hook I have ever seen, great relief to see him off the plank.
Anne Marie - am curious who would you have cast instead of Walken?
The cute guy playing Curly stars in "Five Dances." He's a charmer.
I am not sure that the strategy of hiring a fine but a bit stilted live performer in the lead (Underwood, Williams) is the best strategy when you throw a stage vet (McDonald, O'Hara) to remind us what we could have had.
Watched it on the East Coast. A+ for production design and film work. But, as Jestifer and others have said why oh why can't they hire REAL Broadway performers as leads for this kind of job? Williams can sing-ish, and since I've never seen Girls, not sure she can act (no joy, no pouts, no mercurial movements that ARE Peter Pan!). Everyone in this seemed flat and boring, even my beloved Christian Borle. Poor Walken--it seemed he was just looking for the cue cards. Wendy/Taylor was the standout, and yay for Minnie Driver.
I think Melissa Joan Hart had more bounce in the Wal-Mart commercials than this whole cast combined.
And give me Jason Isaacs as Hook any day, in that great live-action Peter Pan from 2003.
That's five-time Tony Award nominee Kelli O'Hara, bitches!
I, too, was raised on an old VHS tape of the Mary Martin/Cyril Ritchard version which at some point I memorized. And then my freshman year of High School I got to play John, so I got to FLY!!! With Flying By Foy!!!!! So I have a deep and abiding love of this show. The production design in this was indeed glorious - although the trees of flowers were a bit too Oz-like for my taste, and I loved how Peter got all pissy about making their cave neat and tidy when it was largely an empty room!
I thought Williams was just fine with the singing, but... she looked and acted like she was about 30 years old, which is a bit of a problem when you're playing a boy who won't grow up!
It's like everyone was so worried about being the Carrie Underwood of this production that they all decided to just be competent actor/singers AND NOTHING ELSE. The show was seriously lacking the childlike joy and sense of wonder that is part and parcel with the story of Peter Pan. The new songs and dialogue were hit and miss (Hit: the Hamlet bit. Miss: Wendy's creepy new song. Hit: The duet portion of Distant Melody - my favorite song in the show. Miss: Everything involving Tiger Lily and the Indians - being PC doesn't mean you can't also be fun!) and I can't decide if I'm impressed or annoyed that they basically didn't try to hide the wires that were flying everyone - in the Mary Martin version it was kind of magical; you could barely see it. I missed the bits with the maid Liza in Neverland (which make no sense at all but are tons of fun), and HATED the choice not to use the same Mother/Wendy actors in the last scene with Old Wendy/Jane.
But overall... it wasn't an embarrassment, I guess. But I can't imagine children rewatching this for years on end like so many people did with the Mary Martin version. And of course, it introduced the world to the hook-fistbump, so it wasn't a total loss!
I never got to see the Mary Martin version, so I can't compare.
I liked Allison Williams as Peter Pan. I liked her buoyant uncomplicated cheerfulness.
I thought the Darling children should have been called the Dulling children. I wish child Wendy could have been more like adult Minnie Driver Wendy. Smarter and sharper. Child Wendy was the low point for me, but I don't have a discriminating musical ear (although Kelli O'Hara sounded like the best singer to me).
Costumers and choreographers... I loved that it was such a dancey production, but if you dress your dancers in patchwork colors and have them do a group number, you can't see the line of their bodies.
Nice job on the live blog, Anne Marie and Margaret. Nice to know that I wasn't the only one who didn't go looking to hate watch this.
I enjoyed the whole thing - Williams did a fine job, the songs are still lovely, Kelli O'Hara's voice is stunning, the production was beautifully designed and executed, the chorus boys looked great, etc.
But we have to talk about Hook. Christopher Walken was so gleefully half assed (blatantly forgetting lines, searching for cue cards) and unhinged through this thing. I loved it. You can't even grade him on a good to bad scale. You can only grade him on the degree of Walken-ness on display, and this was a turn-it-up-to-11 masterpiece of the genre, as mesmerizing and strange as his best SNL apperances from the olden days.
A sardonic reminder that Eleanor Parker died like two days after The Sound of Music was savaged on television. Surviving members of the original cast should take care.
I second Jestifer. Williams wasn’t as bad as Underwood, and it was a “serviceable” Peter Pan. I also expected more from Christopher Walken. It can be such a fun part and over the top, but it was flat. Even my husband noticed there was no passion……….. or joy or even wry self buffonery.
I agree with Margaret that in trying to make this a 3 hour event, some of the padding was too much. And having your under 10 year old kids up late on a school night in the keyed up Christmas season can’t warm any parents’ hearts to NBC.
I so wanted to love this. Great production values, great choreography. But, it is a very hard transition from film/tv to stage. Williams warmed up and got better but it was hard to have her sustain it and she never looked like she was having fun. Mary Martin’s Peter just had a blast! I clapped for Tink, and wished to see more of her.
So close…………………….
This was the gayest G rated family musical I have ever seen! The Lost Boys were flown in from West Hollywood. The Indians took a ferry from Fire Island. Capt Hook was pure drag. But seriously the show was too long and the commercials break did not help.