Finding Neverland at ART -- Reviews & Thoughts- Page 4

[yellibean2]

Posted: 7/27/14 at 1:00am

sjewell - I think the we see that Mrs. and J.M. Barrie are incompatible as a couple, but not so much that Mrs. Barrie is a bad person. Spoiled and a little out of touch, maybe, but not bad. I think the audience is meant to think that this was more of a marriage of convenience/publicity, and they never really loved each other.

[emilyfaye48]

Posted: 7/27/14 at 9:44am

What color is Carolee's wig?

[emilyfaye48]

Posted: 7/27/14 at 4:07pm

Bump

[mikey2573]

Posted: 7/27/14 at 4:55pm

I think the post that says one has to look at FINDING NEVERLAND as a fantasy hit the nail on the head. This is NOT a true story and it is a stretch to even say it is based on "true events".
So, with that in mind, I guess they could make Mrs. Barrie more bitchy --do they go into the fact that she had an affair with Gilbert Cannan while married to Barrie? That Barrie never consumated their marriage (supposedly) --that is to say he never had sex with her? That after numerous appeals from Barrie to end her affair with Cannan, and he would forgive her and spare them both the public scandal, she absolutely refused? Those FACTS might make Mary seem less sympathetic, though how she was supposed to continue in a loveless (and childless --at least for her) marriage seems to be quite a legitimate obstacle in making her less likable.
The fact that Barrie never had sex with his wife makes his being a "romantic leading character" quite ridiculous, which is why this musical may need to stick to fiction. Barrie's love of Sylvia had more to do with his devotion to her children. He even "accidentally" copied Sylvia's will incorrectly in order to secure the children for himself. In the original, it clearly states that Sylvia wanted the boys to be raised in the care of Mary with help from Jenny (Mary was the family's nurse or nanny and Jenny was her sister). When Barrie transcribed these words in a letter to the boys' maternal grandmother, he "inadvertently" changed "Jenny" to "Jimmy" (himself).
Pretty manipulative! Yet, apparently we don't to see Barrie as a cheater and a liar.

Some other facts that are contradicted by FN:
* It was George who was the inspiration for PETER PAN, not Peter.
* It was with George and later Michael that Barrie had the most intense relationship.
*All the boys (except Nicco) met rather tragic ends; George was killed in WW1, Michael drowned at age 18, Jack died from lung disease, and Peter committed suicide by throwing himself in front of an oncoming subway.
*Before his suicide, Peter burnt all of Barrie's and Michael's letters to each other, his only comment being that they were "too much".

I look at FINDING NEVERLAND (the film) as a work of fiction that tried to go for the simple and the trite (a romantic love story between Barrie and Sylcia? RIDICULOUS!!). The REAL story is far too complex and full of unexpected twists and turns to make a conventional story. At times some of the true events in the story are almost SUPERNATURAL, it is that bizarre!
But the bottom line is that, for some reason, wherever Barrie went, sadness and tragedy were not that far behind. And that is a tale too difficult to squeeze into a 3 hour musical comedy. (I agree with a previous poster --look up the DVD JM BARRIE and THE LOST BOYS with Ian Holm. Meticulously researched.)




Updated On: 7/27/14 at 04:55 PM

[thebeautyis3]

Posted: 7/27/14 at 5:26pm

Even though the movie is vastly different than the real events, I thought it did a good job of establishing that Barrie and Sylvia's relationship was NOT romantic. When I was a teenager and the film first came out, I do remember thinking, "Oh, I wish they could have gotten together!" but the more I've watched the film as an adult, the more I saw that his love and devotion was first and foremost to the boys, with Sylvia as an extension of that. They had a relationship of companionship. She was in the midst of grief, and he just wanted to be a part of that family.

I thought the film also did a good job of portraying Barrie being odd, for lack of a better term. I know he was moreso in real life, and probably not quite as lovably quirky as Depp portrayed him, but they made an effort to make him into something besides the handsome romantic leading man. Does the musical/Jordan do that? I honestly don't know.

While I realize Finding Neverland, both movie and musical, are works of fiction, I do believe that they should be, to some degree, respectful of the real people whose lives they are portraying. Yes, it might be best to leave out the darker elements of the real story: some of the deaths involved, the speculation on how appropriate or inappropriate Barrie's relationship with the boys was, though the movie touched on that briefly, but I appreciated that the movie tried to keep some things somewhat truthful (Barrie's oddities, no romantic relationship between him and Sylvia, etc.).

Other facts not included in FN:
* Sylvia's husband was alive and well when Barrie met the family.
* There was a fifth son that was left out of the movie, Nicco (mikey mentioned this). Fun fact: Nicco's daughter appears in the film. She is the old woman who approaches Freddie Highmore's Peter and says something along the lines of, "This is the real Peter Pan!"
* Sylvia's brother, the actor Gerald du Maurier (father of Daphne du Maurier, who wrote, among other things, Rebecca) originated the role of Captain Hook/Mr. Darling in Peter Pan.
* SPOILER: The in-house performance of Peter Pan, performed in the film for a dying Sylvia, was actually performed for one of the boy's birthday parties (I believe it was Michael's). The cast apparently was bossed around and found this performance to be a miserable experience.


On a side note, does anyone know who is understudying Barrie? I'm curious to see if they are closer in age to the real life Barrie than Jordan is, or if the production is going for a younger angle.



Updated On: 7/27/14 at 05:26 PM

[yellibean2]

Posted: 7/27/14 at 10:40pm

Rory Donovan and Stuart Neal are understudying Barrie, I'm not sure how old either of them are.

Updated On: 7/28/14 at 10:40 PM

[mikey2573]

Posted: 7/27/14 at 11:25pm

Since you brought up the Du Mauriers, there is a fascinating book by Piers Dudgeon called NEVERLAND: JM Barrie, the Du Mauriers and the Dark Side of Peter Pan. Fascinating to read, and very dark and disturbing. Paints Barrie as a master manipulator who weaseled his way into people's lives. The author's research has been criticized for being to "speculative" but it is still an engrossing read.
So much of Barrie's life was full of odd coincidences and strange events and emotional turmoil. When it comes to Barrie's real life and the movie FINDING NEVERLAND, truth truly is stranger than fiction. So it always seemed odd to me to make Barrie's life less interesting and more mundane; it is all so strange and fascinating and a HELL of a lot more interesting than anything that happens in the movie FINDING NEVERLAND.

Another strange coincidence:
*Barrie was on his way to the post to mail a letter to his beloved Michael, who was away at school, when a reporter approached him and asked him if he had any more details about the drowning. Barrie did not need to hear any more. He took the letter and went back to his flat where he stayed for weeks, in a deep, inconsolable depression.
*Barrie met and befriended George and Jack while walking in Kensington Garden. He later met their mother at a New Year's Eve dinner party, but was completely unaware that she was the mother of "his boys".

[newintown]

Posted: 7/30/14 at 1:28pm

"While I realize Finding Neverland, both movie and musical, are works of fiction, I do believe that they should be, to some degree, respectful of the real people whose lives they are portraying. Yes, it might be best to leave out the darker elements of the real story..."

I certainly don't agree that whitewashing people's lives posthumously is "respectful." Real respect is representing them truthfully and finding a way to make that work.

Updated On: 7/30/14 at 01:28 PM

[thebeautyis3]

Posted: 7/30/14 at 1:55pm

You misunderstand me, newintown. When I said respectful of those people's lives, I meant respectful of what they did, of what they were like, by portraying them truthfully, or as truthfully as possible. I've seen too many biopics and biomusicals to expect anything to be completely truthful. I understand why the film cut out much of the darkness in Barrie's life, even if I don't agree with that, but I wonder if the musical will go further than that. Which worries me.


Updated On: 7/30/14 at 01:55 PM

[newintown]

Posted: 7/30/14 at 2:37pm

Ah, I see - then we agree!

[emilyfaye48]

Posted: 7/30/14 at 5:06pm

Hey people who have seen the show, what color is Carolee's wig?
Thanksloveyoupleaseanswer

[sweeneyguy]

Posted: 7/30/14 at 6:05pm

Aw,c'mon people. There have been many very successful musicals based on real people and events where the facts have been distorted and sugarcoated. To name a few: Fiorello, The King And I, The Sound of Music, Gypsy, Mack and Mabel, and on and on. For theatrical pedants who find this disrespectful, and worrisome I would suggest that they pass on Finding Neverland. I have seen two previews already and it's a gorgeous production. The audience response has been nearly euphoric.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/30/14 at 6:47pm

EmilyFaye -- I must ask: WHY is the color of her wig so important???

[gleek4114]

Posted: 7/30/14 at 7:19pm

Emily has a minor (just kidding, severe) obsession with Carolee. She has been trying to figure it out since previews started. By now it's eating her up from the inside out.

[yellibean2]

Posted: 7/30/14 at 8:00pm

It's red.

[emilyfaye48]

Posted: 7/30/14 at 8:34pm

Huzzah! Red! Thank you Yellibean2!

The color of her wig is not really important but I was a little curious if they would wig her in grey to age her up at all but then she wasn't in any of the production photos and then I started calling it #wiggate. Anyway glad #wiggate has been solved. I have a Carolee Carmello problem. Thank you all for the understanding. #carolee4ever

[mikey2573]

Posted: 7/30/14 at 8:40pm

It is not that there have not been musical biographies of real people that have fiddled with the facts. It is that they usually do the fiddling to make the characters and the story more interesting and more compelling. With FINDING NEVERLAND they seem to be making changes to make the story and characters LESS interesting and compelling. At least, that was the case with the movie.

[joe5]

Posted: 7/31/14 at 7:47am

Attended the performance on Tuesday . I really liked it , the end of Act 1 is stunning . From the carousel sequence to the ascending of the ladder. And the song Stronger , my favorite . Had the sound of Take That , and feel of Le Miz . Jeremy killed it ! Hope to catch again later in run .

[CoreyRyan3]

Posted: 7/31/14 at 8:09am

Loved this last night! Expect it on Broadway soon, because I definitely believe it will make it there.

There are some truly magical moments in this production. Some really jaw-dropping theatre moments that just take your breath away.

I also really enjoyed the music!

[valeposh]

Posted: 7/31/14 at 6:37pm

Do we know when this is supposed to open on Broadway, and in which theater? From what I hear, there might be some big cast shakeups before the NY transfer.

[john45cc]

Posted: 7/31/14 at 6:48pm

I hope not. The present cast is excellent. Hope the album is made by the original cast too - NOT Jennifer Hudson.

Updated On: 7/31/14 at 06:48 PM

[Tag]

Posted: 7/31/14 at 7:11pm

Well if the Tonys told us anything, Jennifer Hudson is playing Barrie for the Broadway transfer.

[Back Row]

Posted: 7/31/14 at 8:05pm

"From what I hear, there might be some big cast shakeups before the NY transfer."

Probably wishful thinking on the part of Matthew Morrison fans. If that had been the plan all along, I doubt that Jordan would have signed on to commit four or five months to the project. If he gets slammed by the reviewers, that's one thing, but if the production transfers on a high note, it would be foolish to change horses in mid-stream. It's too early to draw any final conclusions, but the show seems to be building some momentum. Adding a "Hollywood star" at this point would be like admitting that it is too weak to stand on it's own. Of course, you never know when you have a Hollywood movie producer calling the shots.

Updated On: 7/31/14 at 08:05 PM

[valeposh]

Posted: 7/31/14 at 11:10pm

"Probably wishful thinking on the part of Matthew Morrison fans."

Nothing of the sort (at least from me).
Regardless, anyone knows when it should open on Broadway?

[matttaylorr021]

Posted: 7/31/14 at 11:17pm

Just got back from seeing the show. It was fantastic! The act one finale and Sylvia's death scene were by far the best scenes of the show. Great dancing too! I saw Mia Michaels in the audience and many were going up to her and complimenting her. Jeremy Jordan was great! I really love his voice and he didn't look as young as he usually appears to be.

The one thing I was nervous about seeing was the actor playing the dog but it was actually one of my favorite parts! He really can embody a dog! Not to mention he is super cute.

I was so satisfied with the show and would love to see it again! The only thing that was irritating was the man who kept yawning obnoxiously loud and having constant coughing fits.

Updated On: 7/31/14 at 11:17 PM