Ep. 63: Peter Pan (1954, 2000)

Of Slippers and Spindles - Fairy Tale Retellings and Adaptations in Books, Film, and Theatre

"Just think of lovely things, and your heart will fly on wings..."
Drew and Cassie are joined by Leah from YA Book Chat to discuss the 1954 musical version of Peter Pan! With music and lyrics by Jule Styne, Mark Charlap, Betty Comden, Adolph Green, and Carolyn Leigh, the original Broadway production starred Mary Martin as Peter Pan and Cyril Ritchard as Captain Hook. An adaptation of this production was televised in 1955, 1956, and 1960. Olympic gymnast Cathy Rigby would eventually claim the role of Peter, and famously played the role on stage for over four decades. For this episode, we compare and contrast 1960 televised Mary Martin version and the 2003 production starring Cathy Rigby that was professionally filmed for A&E. Drew also bit the bullet and watched the 2014 Peter Pan Live! starring Allison Williams and Christopher Walken, and sprinkles in some of the changes they made - some bad, some good. We discuss the different Nanas, the medicine scene, Cathy Rigby's massive amounts of fairy dust, the differences between Martin and Rigby's portrayals of Peter, the too-slowly-evolving portrayal of Tiger Lily and her tribe, the enigma of Liza's presence in Neverland, "Oh, My Mysterious Lady" vs. Marooner's Rock, the Hamlet joke, the casting choices for Adult Wendy and Jane, and so much more!
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Music: Through The Woods by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com