REVIEW: Cute but Uninspired FINDING NEVERLAND at Paramount

[SeattleBdwyGeek]

Posted: 1/11/17 at 6:26pm

My review of FINDING NEVERLAND at the Paramount.

What did you think of the show?


Click Here to Read BWW Review: Cute but Uninspired FINDING NEVERLAND at Paramount

[choitoy]

Posted: 1/11/17 at 9:58pm

I had super low expectations going into the show (saw it Tuesday night also), which were mostly met.

I think it's telling that when I try to remember what the songs were and what they sound like, the only song I can think of is "Stronger".  When I try to remember any other songs, I get a song from Frank Wildhorn's "Wonderland" in my head instead.  

I also wish they picked a tone for the show also.  Some parts were trying to be sincere and charming, and other parts were campy with cheap one liners built for a quick laugh.  Most of the tertiary characters seemed to try and chew up so much scenery with their one or two lines, I'm surprised there was any set left for the second act.  The accents were all over the place too. Kevin Kern (JM Barrie) at times sounded like Yakko from that 90's cartoon series "Animaniacs".  I noticed his voice cracked on a couple of songs also.  I don't know if he had a little cold or something, or if the songs were slightly out of his range. 

I mostly liked the children (when they weren't directed to overact) and the dog (one of the best trained ones I've seen on stage).  Sylvia's last scene which she's in was also done nicely (though I've seen the effect before in a Cirque du Soleil show with the wind and the glitter).

the show could have been so much better with an entirely different creative team, but I have to agree with your MEH- review. 

[choitoy]

Posted: 1/11/17 at 9:58pm

I had super low expectations going into the show (saw it Tuesday night also), which were mostly met.

I think it's telling that when I try to remember what the songs were and what they sound like, the only song I can think of is "Stronger".  When I try to remember any other songs, I get a song from Frank Wildhorn's "Wonderland" in my head instead.  

I also wish they picked a tone for the show also.  Some parts were trying to be sincere and charming, and other parts were campy with cheap one liners built for a quick laugh.  Most of the tertiary characters seemed to try and chew up so much scenery with their one or two lines, I'm surprised there was any set left for the second act.  The accents were all over the place too. Kevin Kern (JM Barrie) at times sounded like Yakko from that 90's cartoon series "Animaniacs".  I noticed his voice cracked on a couple of songs also.  I don't know if he had a little cold or something, or if the songs were slightly out of his range. 

I mostly liked the children (when they weren't directed to overact) and the dog (one of the best trained ones I've seen on stage).  Sylvia's last scene which she's in was also done nicely (though I've seen the effect before in a Cirque du Soleil show with the wind and the glitter).

the show could have been so much better with an entirely different creative team, but I have to agree with your MEH- review. 

[hamiltonboys]

Posted: 1/11/17 at 10:05pm

I agree with many of your criticisms. The ensemble/supporting actors' overacting was super annoying from the start. I also thought the "what the F**k" line felt super out of place in a family show. I enjoyed a few songs on the soundtrack but the ballads were very generic and boring in my opinion.

However, for a "spectacle" show, it had a lot more heart than I was expecting. The cast seems to have such enthusiasm for the material and there were many numbers that left me with a smile. I didn't start to get swept up in the production until the end of the first act, but I loved the second half.

Overall, it definitely has lots of flaws, but I enjoyed it for what it was. I liked it more than the other shows that have come through St. Louis this season.

[JustAnotherNewYorker]

Posted: 1/11/17 at 10:11pm

To be fair, I didn't think much of it on Broadway. Too bad my kid did--I had to see it twice

[PatrickDC]

Posted: 1/20/17 at 2:08pm

SeattleBdwyGeek said: "My review of FINDING NEVERLAND at the Paramount.

What did you think of the show?"

SBG, thank you for your review. I saw the tour last night, second night of the San Francisco stop. Other than HAMILTON this is the show I was most looking forward to in SHNSF's 16/17 season. I didn't see FN on Broadway, but was smitten with the recording and listened to it almost nonstop for a month when it came out. 

I was still delighted to see the show, and I don't have any negatives, it was just what it was, and for the most part what I was expecting, though after seeing PIPPIN I was expecting more magic and stagecraft. I loved the effects of Tinkerbell and the glitter tornado was beautiful and caused more than a few *gasps* around me. I also liked the projections, and I'm not much a fan of these, thinking they are a cheap way for producers and designers to save money and creativity in staging, particularly on tours (though, yes, I understand the economic issue of mounting shows). 

As you and others note, the ensemble's overacting grew old really quickly, almost to the point of annoying. The leads were wonderful. Note in the Playbill, Billy Harrigan Tighe will be taking over for Kevin Kern the last week or so of the SF stop ... I don't know if Billy is taking over the rest of the tour or just these last performances. The boys were charming as expected. I missed The Pirates of Kensington number in the revised first 15-20 minutes. Tom Hewitt was fantastic; Karen Murphy was a bit much, I'm a huge Carolee Carmello fan and am sorry I missed her interpretation of Mrs du Maurier. 

Speaking of the boys, the four actors playing the three older Llewelyn Davies children rotate the roles. I'm just amazed that such young kids can not only learn one track but three. When I was 10 and 11 I could hardly take direction to make a Thanksgiving turkey by tracing around my hand. 

I love the ballads and the shadow projections during What You Mean to Me were beautiful. Again, thinking of Paulus, I kept expecting the shadows of Barrie and Sylvia to take on a life of their own and dancing or flying in harmony to the actual actors. All That Matters has become a bit of a ballad for me following my leaving behind an personal issue, what's done is done, and all I need to do is look to the future.

So, overall, a sweet piece of theater, after a rather lackluster first half of Act 1. Act 2 is definitely more interesting to me. 

 

 

[trpguyy]

Posted: 1/20/17 at 2:12pm

^ Billy Tighe is taking over the role for a year. 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 1/21/17 at 2:51am

He was so "meh" in Pippin. 

And I'm not sure I'd call this a "spectacle" show. There's not much spectacle at all. One of the cheapest looking Broadway shows I've ever seen. There was no magic.

[mikey2573]

Posted: 1/21/17 at 3:48am

As mediocre as this show was on Broadway (there's a reason it got zero Tony nominations) it was even worse at ART.  There were moments when myself and the person I was with looked at each other and mouthed "What the F*&%!"  The dog was played by an actor in a cheap looking dog costume and at one point the dog actually came in riding a tricycle.  Not to mention the dancing bumble bees.  It was like something from some cheap Nickelodeon toddler show.  And the actors in the ensemble were mugging back then as well.  It was almost as if they were told to do whatever they could to jazz up the middling material.  There really is a beautiful story here, and maybe even a great musical, but it needed a better creative team to bring it to the stage.  As it is "meh" is an understatement. 

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 2/3/17 at 3:31pm

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/FINDING-NEVERLAND-Tour-Finds-Next-JM-Barrie-20170203

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 2/3/17 at 3:42pm

Paulus intentionally directed the ensemble (on Broadway and on tour) to play things very broadly and the vein of children's theatre. Don't ask me why, as I have not the faintest clue. I am pretty certain she does not either.

[trpguyy]

Posted: 2/4/17 at 12:00am

It's the result of directing by committee.