The Best and Worst of “Peter Pan Live!”

Virginia Sherwood/NBC

Peter Pan, Wendy, and her brothers fly away from the awkwardness. Still courtesy NBC.

By Jake Smith, Assistant Editor-in-chief
December 11, 2014

I spent last the entirety of the week before NBC’s Peter Pan Live! bracing myself. The event didn’t go as badly as it could have. It was weird-good. I enjoyed it, but I’m unsure whether I liked it. I’m finding myself commending NBC for repeating something (does anyone remember The Sound of Music Live!) that was torn apart and mocked into oblivion. Peter Pan Live! was bizarrely good. Let’s relive the magic.

That awkward opening scene.

NBC was going for fun family dynamics, but the dad (Christian Borle) threw everything off. Maybe he forgot his lines? He seemed uptight in a way that wasn’t acting. The best part of his role was the impressive mustache.

 

Allison Williams.

I’ll admit I was skeptical of this choice. Williams, however, delivered. She was earnest in a way that nobody else (especially Wendy) could pull off. Points to her for the constant flying scenes and the A-OK British accent.

Wendy and the totally not a girl Peter Pan look for mermaids or something. Still courtesy NBC.
Wendy and the totally not a girl Peter Pan look for mermaids or something. Still courtesy NBC.

Tinkerbell the CGI fairy.

Did anyone really think that a computer-generated Tinkerbell would work? Flashlights work in this instance, people.

 

Wendy.

Boring.

 

Christopher Walken.

The main appeal of Peter Pan Live! was the bizarre and brilliant casting of Walken as Hook. In his first scene, I didn’t pay much attention to his lines – I was too busy taking in his (very, very on-point) eyebrows and beauty mark. Walken killed a tap routine and the tepid delivery of his dialogue. We need more Walken.

Peter Walken as Peter Walken talk-sings his way into the best performance of the production. Still courtesy NBC.
Peter Walken as Peter Walken talk-sings his way into the best performance of the production. Still courtesy NBC.

Tick-Tock the Crocodile.

A collective “whaaaaat” erupted on Twitter after Tick-Tock made his first appearance. Why was he purple and blue? Why was he so flimsy? Why decide to have only one guy operating the suit? We may never know.

 

Tiger Lily and her tribe.

Was this offensive? It couldn’t have not been offensive.

The Lost Boys and Tiger Lily's casually offensive tribe gather around Peter Pan. Still courtesy NBC.
The Lost Boys and Tiger Lily’s casually offensive tribe gather around Peter Pan. Still courtesy NBC.

The miscellaneous pirates and and lost boys.

Both the pirates and lost boys were groups of very athletic men, which made sense for the pirates but seemed odd for the boys. If Peter Pan was played by a woman and both of Wendy’s brothers were played by kids, shouldn’t the lost boys be actual boys or women? It was weird.

I’m still a bit conflicted over how much I like Peter Pan Live!, but I know for sure that I’ll be watching NBC’s next live event.