Based on the Miramax motion picture by David Magee and the play The Man Who Was Peter Pan by Allan Knee, Finding Neverland follows the relationship between playwright J. M. Barrie and the family that inspired Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, one of the most beloved stories of all time.
Final Broadway performance August 21.
There's not enough flying in 'Finding Neverland' -- metaphorical flying, that is, those giddy flights of wit and imagination that make us believe, if not in fairies, then at least that the American musical is still alive and well. Despite the technical marvels that director Diane Paulus brings to producer Harvey Weinstein's beloved obsession, this ambitious version...remains stubbornly earthbound. The lead in its feet has a lot to do with the ponderous lyrics, but at the heart of the matter, this material doesn't cry out to be a musical...Morrison ('Glee') is extremely well cast as the hypersensitive Scottish playwright, investing him with a stirring voice and a tender heart. But what can he do for a repressed character whose cerebral solo numbers are internalized thoughts?...In a way, the whole show seems to be holding its breath for this death scene, which Paulus ('Pippin') has staged with imaginative flair...It's just too bad that this magic is all in the service of transporting Sylvia Llewelyn Davies off to her death -- er, that is, to Neverland. Try explaining that one to the kids.
Finding Neverland purports to be historical: the true tale of how Barrie, inspired by his dealings with the family of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies, created the boy who wouldn't grow up. It also purports to be a singing-dancing family entertainment. It winds up being neither...What's accurate -- perhaps the only thing -- is that Barrie acknowledged the Davies brood as his muses for Peter Pan...On this slender foundation Finding Neverland...builds an enormous superstructure of trite psychology...Finding Neverland demonstrates about as much insight into creativity borne of loss as a Facebook memorial candle. Even if everything in it were profound and true, it would still be a mess, suffering as it does from confusion (or willfulness) about what makes a musical a musical. In good ones, songs are not decorations applied interchangeably to the exterior of a story, like gift-wrap. They are the gift. Here, they seem to be recycled from a different package entirely...More attention has been lavished on the show's tricks than its logic.
| 2015 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
| 2016 | US Tour |
First US National Tour US Tour |
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Leading Actor in a Musical | Matthew Morrison |
| 2015 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Lighting Design | Kenneth Posner |
| 2015 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Orchestrations | Simon Hale |
| 2015 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Scenic Design | Scott Pask |
| 2015 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Score | Gary Barlow |
| 2015 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Sound Design of a Musical | Jonathan Deans |
| 2015 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Matthew Morrison |
| 2015 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | Carolee Carmello |
| 2015 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Kelsey Grammer |
| 2015 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Matthew Morrison |
| 2015 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical | Finding Neverland |
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