The Stage

Peter Pan

Published Wednesday 21 December 2011 at 14:13 by John Hannam

Any pre-show apprehensions about a brand-new musical version of Peter Pan are quickly blown away far beyond Neverland. The traditional JM Barrie tale remains firmly intact and is stunningly enhanced by modern stage wizardry, high-tech special effects and - most importantly - songs that make an instant impact and help to evolve the story.

Les Dennis (Smee) and Ben Richards (Hook) in Peter Pan at the Mayflower, Southampton (previous picture shows Daniel Boys as Peter Pan and Katie Ray as Wendy) Photo: Alistair Muir

As ever, the youngsters can barely wait for the flying scenes, which are spectacular. The particularly strong We’re the Boys song and dance routine, from the Lost Boys, is certainly a key moment and helps to ignite the show into more than two hours of spectacular entertainment.

There are stars in abundance for this Peter Pan and they all make an impact. Obviously, they have been chosen for their theatre talents and are definitely not merely famous names. Ben Richards doubles brilliantly as Mr Darling and Hook and many youngsters are unaware of this dual role. He gets the constant boos for his energetic and extremely visual Hook. Lucy Benjamin, last at the Mayflower with Jim Davidson back in 2003, is an asset to any show and she sings well in this production in her roles of Mrs Darling and Ethel Mermaid.

It’s such a delight to see a young man as Peter Pan. With due respect to many ladies who have found fame from flying all around numerous theatres, this makes the role so much more convincing in a world when youngsters are so streetwise. Daniel Boys makes a massive impact and creates a few screams of delight. My only disappointment was not seeing more of Les Dennis as Smee. He’s one of the most underrated light entertainment stars of the past 30 years. Despite him being a pirate, the kids’ cheer instead of boo, such is the impact he makes.

This is the UK premiere season for this exciting Peter Pan, which includes a superb 11-piece orchestra, and I’m sure there will be venues queuing up for this new musical in future years.