Peter Pan | Barrie Wins Through
Hatch reviews a 1950 revival production of
Peter Pan for which new songs were composed by
Leonard Bernstein. While finding the actors to be
skillful, the production design imaginative, and
Barrie’s text to be as appealing as ever, the critic
was less than pleased with the new musical numbers,
finding their presence superfluous to the enjoyment
of the tale.
Considering the perishability of fantasy, the low esteem in which whimsy is now held and the knowing smiles of the recently analyzed, it must require a good deal of courage to offer ‘‘Peter Pan’’ today. Peter Lawrence and R. L. Stevens, producers of the current Jean Arthur-Boris Karloff revival, are suitably rewarded for their daring—they seem to have a hit on their hands.
But having taken the plunge with Barrie, it is too bad that the present backers then lost their nerve a bit and decided to help him along with a few ideas of their own. They engaged...
[The entire page is 548 words long]
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