KEEP 'EM FLYIN'!
                        A Review of the Springfield Muni Opera's Production of
                                                       Peter Pan
                                                by James L. Seay

 

 I swear that when I go to the lakeside theatre of the Springfield Muni Opera, I feel like the late Al Capp's little jinx, Joe Btfsplk, which people my age will remember as the black-dressed forlorn character in the comic strip, Li'l Abner who always had a black rain cloud over his head.  At least, I feel like "the guy whose feet are too big for his bed," in Hal David's lyrics for the 1969 Academy Award winning song, "Rain Drops Keep Falling on My Head."

 

 After a beautiful afternoon, by the time I got to the outdoor lakeside theatre looking forward to another evening of theatre under the stars, a front had blown in from the Northwest, and lightning was beginning to flash around the horizon.  By the time the first act of Peter Pan ended, the raindrops were falling during intermission, just like on opening night of Miss Saigon.  But unlike that evening, I had come equipped with a golf umbrella and after about a ten minute rain delay, Act II commenced and was relatively dry as the cast (and audience) soldiered on.

 

  At the end of Act II, a very ill-advised ten-minute intermission was announced.  Although I realize the economic need to keep the concession stand occupied and busy, the play was now running behind schedule and the Gods of Storm were rumbling.  Near the very end of Act III, after Captain Hook had been disposed, the Darling children and the Lost Boys had returned to London, and Peter had returned after twenty years to find Wendy had grown up and had a daughter of her own, the Rain Gods said "enough of this!" and released a toad strangler.  A disembodied voice came from the stage, announcing that the play was over and everyone lived happily ever after, as the audience made a mad dash for the exits dodging eye-poking umbrella stays on the way.  A soggy end for what had been a good production.  Had the management been willing to forgo the second intermission, we would have made it!

 

 I've never been a great lover of Sir James Barrie's 1904 story about the boy who refused to grow up.  But then, I never warmed up to The Wizard of Oz, either.  Perhaps that is because I, too, resisted growing up and found Pan to be somewhat patronizing to those of us who did refused to grow up and went into theatre to avoid it.  I don't know.  The 1954 American musical play has a score that is, to the mind of this reviewer, rather lack-luster with only two stand-out songs, "I'm Flying" and "I Won't Grow Up," both sung by Peter.  Out of the seventeen songs, eight are sung by Peter.  But the special effect of flying the characters of Peter, Wendy, John and Michael, along with the artistry of Mary Martin, was enough to make audiences love the 1954 Broadway edition of James Barrie's earlier story and play.  Consequently, my attitude is strictly a minority report.

 

 Recognizing its popularity, the Springfield Muni Opera has produced Peter Pan five .times; 1984, 1988, 1994, 2001 and the current 2007 production.  And it sells out!  Opening night was a capacity crowd, weather forecast or no!  Coming on the heels of the Muni's block-busting season opener, Miss Saigon, Peter Pan had a very hard act to follow.  But follow it did, and, in spite of an extremely well-known story line and a ho-hum score, it followed well.  While this production did not quite clear the bar set by Miss Saigon, it was the fault of the vehicle and not the company.

 

 As with the Broadway original, the Muni's production seemed to hang on the ability of two characters, Peter and Hook.  In the available talent pool of local actors, the Muni could not have selected two better to fill those roles than Aasne Vigesaa as Peter and John O'Connor as Hook.  In this production, a third actor stood out, as well.  Generally considered a foil for Hook and a comic relief, the part of Smee, in this production, was a show-stopper.  Stealing almost every scene in which he appeared, Joel Tinsley treated us to a somewhat effeminate Smee which kept us laughing all the time.  Vigesaa must have studied old films of Mary Martin, as she reminded me so much of that theatre legend in her performance of Peter, both in her acting ability and her singing voice, although she did get just a bit screechy when she invoked the audience to say they believed in fairies after Tinker Bell had drunk the poison and was dying.   And O'Connor's Hook was the wonderful steriotypic "mellerdrammer" villain that everyone loved to hate.

 

 The supporting cast was solid and worked extremely well.  However, something I cannot understand and have seen to my dismay in other productions of this show, while I realize that everything is possible in Neverland, I just can't quite accept blonde Indians.  I noticed that several of the fetching Indian maidens in Tiger Lily's tribe were not dark-haired.  With such inexpensive preparations as Streaks 'n' Tips readily available and easily removable, I see no reason for this.  But maybe I am just nit-picking.

 

 Perhaps the most outstanding aspect of this production, however, was the choreography.  Maybe it is because I have become used to such unimaginative amateur choreography in other community theatre musical productions, but I have been consistently amazed at the level of excellence I have seen in the choreography at the Muni and also at New Salem's Theatre in the Park.  And the choreography in Peter Pan has been the best so far!  From individual waltzes to show-stopping production numbers, Choreographer Ed MacMurdo's dance routines were spectacular.  According to his programme bio, he has only choreographed two other productions at the Muni (Big River in 1994 and Peter Pan in 2001).  I hope the company continues to use his skills as a choreographer, and uses them more often.

 

 The set, designed by T. David Parker, was effective, attractive, and due to being mounted on wagons, quickly, easily and unobtrusively changed.  The most effective scene came in Act I as Peter and the Darling children flew through a night sky against a backdrop of stars and above the clouds provided by the excellent use of smoke machines while Tinker Bell broke the proscenium arch playing in the treetops.  The whole effect was spell-binding.  Mary Bonner's lighting design also was effective and worked well.  Will Barnhart's costumes were colorful, effective and fun (particularly for the Neverland creatures), although I found Capt. Hook's outsized hat to be a bit distracting at time.

 And I am glad to see that this season, one of the Muni's traditional Achille's Heels, the sound system, seems to be up and functioning with virtually no flaws.  The only problem I had was that the Lost Boys seemed, at times, to be insufficiently miced, and Captain Hook's mic was giving out a bit of static at times in Act III, but this could have been caused by moisture from the intermittent showers.

 

 Conductor and Music Director Mary E. Myers' pit orchestra was exceptionally good.  I was a bit worried in the overture, as they seemed to screech a bit on some of the high notes, but that was the only time.  For the rest of the production, they were great and never overpowered the singers on stage.

 

 Following the drama of Miss Saigon, the Muni has thrown us a change of pace with Peter Pan.  However, as should be the case in baseball or in a theatrical season, the change of pace is an effective pitch when used well, and the Muni has used it well.  Peter Pan, co-directed by Phil Funkenbusch and Ed MacMurdo will continue its run through June 24th and will start up again on June 27th and continue through July 1st.  Curtain times are 8:30 p.m.  For ticket information, call (217) 793-6864, but, again, don't wait too long.  This is another sell-out production.

 
 

James L. "Jim" Seay
Playwright, Drama Critic, and Director