Boulder’s Dinner Theatre has a strong record of challenging audiences with weighty musicals like “Ragtime” and “Cabaret.” But this summer is all about weightlessness. BDT is taking to the skies with the wholesome family fun of “Peter Pan.”
J.M. Barrie’s timeless tale of the now 105-year-old boy who will never grow up still speaks to disconnected youngsters of all ages. Barrie created a world where a wayward shadow can be sewn onto your back, where fairies light up the night sky like tiny beacons, and lost boys never have to land with their bedroom slippers planted in adulthood.
Not to mention pirates, Indians, human-sized dogs and the famous crocodile that dines on the arm of the nefarious Captain Hook.
Despite its dark undertones, the musical version on stage now in Boulder, made famous by Mary Martin and Cathy Rigby, is essentially elaborately staged children’s theater with a live orchestra and impressive production values. Narrated animation projected onto the side walls enhances the notion that this is a bedtime story for all of us.
Though we hear talk of Indian massacres and children walking the plank, your kiddies will be no more scared by this Captain Hook than a mustachio-twirling villain from a campy melodrama. Brian Norber disarms things from his first entrance — to boos, natch — when he snarls back to the audience, “Oh, grow up!” (Get it?)
Boulder’s Dinner Theatre brought in a flying expert from Indianapolis to handle the complex rigging system that allows Peter Pan to burst into the Darling home and later to launch Wendy, Michael and John to Neverland by instructing them to think wonderful thoughts.
Here, Peter Pan is considered the father figure, and he installs Wendy as mother. The irony, of course, is that in this paradise without parents, the runaways have created a surrogate family. It’s the anti-“Lord of the Flies.”
That’s really the heart of Barrie’s tale. Yes, it’s a call to adventure. To hold fast to a youthful sense of mischief and fun. But what’s most wonderful about Joanie Brosseau-Beyette’s surprisingly deep performance is that she embodies the brooding spirit of a rough little boy lost. Barrie, who wrote his story at a time when the mortality rate for British children was very high, wanted to stay young forever.
But in Brosseau-Beyette, we see a boy who’s emotionally stunted by the lack of a mother’s care and influence.Who’s never been told bedtime stories.
Yes, Brosseau-Beyette is a girl playing a boy — all Peter Pans are, because of the demands of flying and singing this musical score. But soon all thoughts of gender dissipate. Instead, the actor’s more important role as a real-life mother imbues her beautiful performance with emotional heft.
Her rapport with Wendy (Ellen Kaye) is especially moving. And we develop an embarrassing affinity for naughty Tinker Bell, the playfully jealous fairy who drinks poison to save her beloved Pan. There’s not a dry napkin in the house, which is slightly silly when you consider that Tinker Bell is a laser pointer!
Of course, you take a huge risk when Tinker Bell’s survival depends on Peter’s ability to get the audience to shout, “I believe!” (in fairies). I heard one brat yell out, “Let her die!” — then exhaled with great relief on finding that it didn’t come from my table.
The score is fairly nondescript, save for the “Distant Melody” duet Peter and Wendy sing to lull the children to sleep. But the storytelling is fluid through four distinct settings, aerodynamic flying and coordinated choreography that manages to avoid even a single midair collision.
The tale holds the young critters’ attention fairly well, even though the first act stretches on far too long. Director Scott Beyette gets yeoman work from a band of real, rotating kids who dispatch the pirates once and for all.
“Peter Pan” will be a perfect introduction to theater for many wee ones. It’s just too bad Boulder’s Dinner Theatre isn’t slashing prices to accommodate more of them. Prices range, as always, from $35 to $55 — well worth it for dinner and a musical, but prohibitive for large families. Smartly, mac, cheese ‘n’ tenders have been added to the menu to accommodate the kids. It was by far the most popular option at my table — and by far the least costly to the theater. They’re going to be selling a lot of that this summer, so they’d be wise to offer a proportionate price break.
UPDATE: BDT will be offering a “Family 4-Pak” for the July 4 weekend. Tickets start at $25 each ($100 for a family of 4).
John Moore: 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com
“Peter Pan” *** (out of four stars)
Family musical. Presented by Boulder’s Dinner Theatre, 5501 Arapahoe Ave. Adapted from the James M. Barrie story. Directed by Scott Beyette. Starring Joanie Brosseau-Beyette and Brian Norber. Through Sept. 5. 2 hours, 40 minutes. $25-$55. 7 p.m. Wednesdays, Fridays and select Tuesdays; 7:45 p.m. Thursdays and Saturdays; 1:30 and 7:45 p.m. Sundays (dinner service 90 minutes before). 303-449-6000 or
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