The nation’s capital is about to transform into Neverland by sprinkling some theatrical pixie dust.
The beloved Broadway musical “Peter Pan” flies into National Theatre from April 9 to April 21.
“I want to shoutout my ensemble,” Hawa Kamara, who plays Wendy, told WTOP. “Everyone who double plays a pirate or an Indigenous person, then plays a Lost Boy, everyone puts so much love and passion into this project.”
Based on the iconic 1904 play by Peter Pan creator J.M. Barrie and landmark 1954 Broadway musical, the show follows Wendy Darling and her brothers, Michael and John, who are visited one night by the magically ageless Peter Pan (Nolan Almeida). Arriving at their bedroom window, Peter and Tinkerbell take the Darlings on a flight to Neverland, encountering the Lost Boys, the tribe of Tiger Lily (Raye Zaragoza) and the pirates of Captain Hook (Cody Garcia).
“It starts out with the Darling family, a regular old family setting, and in flies Peter Pan,” Kamara said. “They fly to Neverland and there’s a bunch of fighting, there’s the Indigenous tribes there, there’s pirates, it’s an entirely different magical adventure. It’s all about childhood, growing up, youth and magic. It’s a really wonderful piece.”
Freshly adapted by playwright Larissa FastHorse, director Lonny Price and choreographer Lorin Latarro, the magical production brings Neverland to life by recreating the Jolly Roger pirate ship for plenty of swashbuckling adventure, not to mention some dazzling flying stunts from the Darlings’ bedroom and out across the night sky.
“Our creative team really all works together to create a three-dimensional show that puts the audience into the show in a way — at least with the flying. … It’s really magical how the audience is transcended into Neverland with us as we fly there,” Kamara said. “Tinkerbell is a flashlight, but she is also her own character, and she does have her own sass and we have very sassy conversations with one another. Expect to clap to bring Tinkerbell back, please.”
Of course, audiences can sing along to all of their favorite Broadway show tunes, from “I Gotta Crow” to “I’m Flying,” made famous by Mary Martin’s Tony-winning performance in the iconic 1950s Broadway musical.
“We have ‘Neverland,’ which is Peter singing an homage to his home, how beautiful it is,” Kamara said. “We have ‘I Won’t Grow Up,’ you’ll see a wonderful dance number there, so those are some classics, then we also added a new song called ‘Friends Forever’ … which replaced a song that was harmful, the ‘Ugg-a-Wug’ song. We had to cut that one out. This one gives Tiger Lily a voice and makes it more about the empowerment of everyone in Neverland.”
Listen to our full conversation here.
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