Peter Pan live! lacks lustre

Allison Williams of Girls fame plays Peter Pan in the classic musical’s live TV production.

NEW YORK: More than nine million people tuned in to watch a high-flying Allison Williams as Peter Pan and a tap-dancing Christopher Walken as Captain Hook in a live television production of the classic musical that unfortunately drew assorted reactions from fans and critics.

The three-hour Peter Pan Live! aired Thursday night followed last year’s live production of The Sound of Music. It drew half the 18.5 million viewers who saw last year’s show.

But not everyone was enthralled by the latest version of the beloved children’s story about the orphan boy who refuses to grow up and the villainous one-handed pirate.



Viewers who found the production lackluster, wooden or odd turned to social media to vent their disappointment.“Weird that the ‘lost boys’ are grown men,” tweeted prominent actor Mia Farrow. “Honestly at this point, I’m just sticking around to see that psycho in the crocodile outfit again,” tweeted Adam Lusici.

Oscar winner Walken, 71, drew the most varied comments for his laid-back, sashaying portrayal of Hook, which some likened to an aging Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean films.

“Christopher Walken can kill anyone on this stage anytime he likes. The only thing stopping him is his lack of interest,” said TV viewer Maureen Johnson. But another fan Matt Anderson tweeted, “Tap dancing Christopher Walken might just have saved this crapfest.”

Peter Pan was played by Williams, of the hit HBO show Girls, who won praise for her singing but lost points for her faltering British accent.

Critics commented that Williams could sing and act and credited the actor for her performance in a role that called for “a fair amount of physical effort, much of it on wires. Williams held her own and in the process held the show together.”Her voice has been reported to be described as ‘perfectly fine’ but noted she was less boyish and buoyant than other actors who have played Peter Pan.

“It’s been 60 years since Mary Martin soared in a live production of JM Barrie’s story, bringing a nice symmetry to this holiday telecast,” Variety magazine reported.

“But that was nearly a lifetime ago — certainly before the age of social media, creating an army of buccaneers eager to pick such a project apart in real time,” it added.  

Published in The Express Tribune, December 8^th,  2014.

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