Peter Pan

I have seen both the Mary Martin version and this version, and even though I have fond memories of watching the Mary Martin version when I was younger, I enjoyed this one a lot more. The Mary Martin version was excellent, don't get me wrong, but while watching it, you consciously think to yourself,"This is a woman playing a little boy." In many ways, this can ruin the experience. In the Cathy Rigby version, Rigby acts as a little boy would. She uses the gestures a boy would, she moves as a boy would, and when delivering her lines and singing you actually believe that she is a little boy that just did not want to grow up. Elisa Sagardia was also wonderfully enchanting in her role as Wendy. When watching it you feel as if Wendy is your own sister or mother. Everything is an improvement from the Mary Martin version-the pirates are animated and hilarious, the lost boys are also quite funny and child-like, the Indians have wonderful dance sequences and you almost feel hypnotized while watching them. I suppose it is a matter of taste and what appeals to you more-charming, quaint, heart-warming productions, or believable, spectacular, animated, eye-catching, mind boggling, rhythmic, hypnotic productions. Out of 10 stars, I give it a solid 7 1/2.

Peter Pan is, of course, a timeless classic. But that doesn't mean every production of it is timeless as well. I've been a fan of the Mary Martin version for about 50 years. (Good God!) I, too, have been involved, in a very minor capacity, in an extremely well-produced amateur staging of the venerable Broadway classic. But this new staging is the new standard. (Viewers should be aware that the Mary Martin version which was aired, annually, as I recall, was a re-staged production of the broadway show for a live television studio broadcast. The recorded version we have today was, I think, from one of the last years of the broadcast, and was pre-recorded on video tape for the airing. Quite an ambitious feat for the time, but creaky, in its interpretation and the technical limitations of the time.) Rigby is perfect as a Pan for today's audiences. The Cockney accents seem to be appropriate for the "forgotten" children of London's lower and middle classes of J.M. Barrie's time. The well-known songs sound fresh. The flying is awesome.

This is a great recording of a modern live performance of this "timeless" classic.

I only saw this production because I happened to find a VHS tape of it in a clearance rack in my local video store (and bought it for next-to-nothing). It is a new staging of the Broadway musical from the 1950's; this does not minimize its impact in any way, but there are many reviewers here who feel the need to make excessive (and in my opinion unfounded) comparisons between this production and the original one with Mary Martin- when, in fact, it is the same show. I have copies of both performances and primarily treasure the Martin production because of its historical significance as a time capsule of early television. This version with Olympic gymnast Cathy Rigby version is brilliant; its presentation differs from the 1960 one as they captured an actual performance from a theater with an audience rather than tape on a network sound stage. As someone else noted below, Ms. Rigby's mannerisms and costuming better are indeed more boyish than Ms. Martin's (although I didn't care for Ms. Rigby's attempt at a British accent). The point is they each do it a little differently, Ms. Rigby opting for more exuberance. The book itself is a bit corny (doesn't matter which version), but chances are you're watching it with your own children or re-living your own childhood- and that's sort of the point. The Act 1 finale which shows Peter and the Darling clan fly out the window is stunning. Plan to lose yourself for two hours, and you'll probably believe you can fly when it's over.

Yes, the production is lavish. But the performance is wonderful! Cathy Rigby comes across as a real boy: innocently cruel and noble in equal measure. Most kid's fairy tales are rather um, grim -- and this one is no exception.

Personally I can't stand Peter Pan.

However, my 5 year old daughter found this at the library and asked to borrow it, and I have to admit that it is a wonderful and funny performance. The songs are great (much to my annoyance I have even been discovered humming them to myself). Cathy Rigby is extremely well suited to the role of Peter Pan, and I loved Paul Schoeffler as Captain Hook/Mr Darling.

So even though I don't like Peter Pan I gave it 7/10 and am able to sit through certain bits as my daughter watches it over and over again (unfortunately I was persuaded to buy the video for her).