This adaptation features a diverse cast, an updated script, and particularly alters the way indigenous people are portrayed. Although the audience can still sing along to popular songs from the original 1950s Broadway musical (“I’ve Gotta Crow,” “I Won’t Grow Up” and “You Can Fly! You Can Fly! You Can Fly!”), the more offensive “Ugg- a-Wugg,” has been replaced by a new song entitled “Friends Forever” written by Amanda Green whose famous father, Adolph Green, worked on the original Broadway musical.
Meet Tiger Lily
When Bailey Frankenberg, who plays Tiger Lily, was first introduced to the Disney version of the story, it wasn’t the story for her.
“It didn’t call to me and there were no characters I could relate to,” she said. “I didn’t feel like Neverland was a place for me. I’m a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and the Choctaw Nation and didn’t like the way Native people or women were portrayed.”
Older versions of the show had Tiger Lily and her tribe speaking in broken English and in the third person. For example, instead of saying “I am excited,” the character of Tiger Lily would have said “Tiger Lily is excited.”
“Over the past few years people have become more sensitive and aware that the depiction in the musical needed to be changed and updated,” Frankenberg said.
The older versions showcased tribe members as always looking for a hunt and speaking in gibberish.
“You have Native people being depicted in a harmful stereotype and you’re putting them in Neverland with elements of fantasy and make believe such as fairies and mermaids and pirates from the 1700s,” said Frankenberg about past productions. “You’re pairing those characters next to Native people, so people who see the show may also think Native people are make believe and something from the past and no longer exist. We want to make sure people are aware that Native people still exist, are thriving and are depicted as strong, leading characters.”
To accomplish that goal, Larissa FastHorse, a member of Sicangu Lakota Nation, was asked to revise the script. Several actors of indigenous descent were cast, including Frankenberg, who said the playwright has used the magic and lore of Neverland to give the reason why Native people exist.
“It’s because they are the last of their people who have banded together to preserve their culture in Neverland,” she said.
Behind the scenes
Frankenberg also works as both flight captain and fight captain for this show. The role of the flight captain is to maintain the safety and artistic integrity of the flying choreography.
“I help to make sure the actors are ready to fly in the show and I’m the eye on the ground so we can work together to improve their technique,” Frankenberg said.
She also may train operators in a city to help with flying sequences and help out when an actor is struggling with a complicated move like a backflip.
According to Frankenberg, who has worked on a number of other shows involving aerial work, when actors are first learning to fly they seem to adjust to the height pretty quickly.
“But you do have to feel what it’s like to go up fast and come down pretty fast,” she said. “The hardest part is being able to hold your body and adjust your muscles to do the choreography. A lot of conditioning goes into flying. It’s like building muscles. It takes time and many sessions to make it look effortless. But I love it. It’s so much fun.”
Staging the fights
Rick Sordelet and his son Christian Kelly-Sordelet, are the co-fight directors of this “Peter Pan” national tour.
“We’re the only Native-owned family business that does action for film, television and stage,” said Rick, a member of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.
He has a Dayton connection — his wife, Kathleen Kelly, studied acting at Wright State University.
When we chatted with Rick, he was on his way to his job with the Metropolitan Opera where he is working on the opera “Moby Dick.” He is also currently working on two Broadway shows.
“Our job is to create safe, sustainable fights that have the illusion of violence and that tell the story in the tone and atmosphere as interpreted by the director’s vision of the playwright’s work,” Rick said.
In the case of “Peter Pan,” there’s the famous duel between Peter Pan and Captain Hook and the big fight at the end of the show where Captain Hook and Peter also duel. For this one, Peter has allies in the Lost Boys and Tiger Lily and her tribe.
Sordelet said his job is to look for a healthy convergence of the expectations of the key players — the playwright, the producer, the director, the actors. Although he and a dance choreographer are first cousins, the difference is that he concentrates on the emotional aspects of the fight, not just the music.
“When we teach actors, we don’t assume anybody has any training,” he said. “We do a vocabulary day where we train the actors how to sword fight and the illusion of the violence. We work hard to make sure no one gets hurt in rehearsal. The majority of actors aren’t trained for sword fighting so they’ll get sore and work hard and use muscles they don’t normally use.
“But it’s a blast,” he said. “It’s always an audience favorite as well as an actor’s favorite.”
Why ‘Peter Pan’ remains a classic
Jamie Garcia, the Youth Services Team Liaison for the Washington-Centerville Public Library, has been a huge Peter Pan fan all her life. She grew up near Disneyland and especially loved the Peter Pan ride where visitors board a flying ship for Neverland.
She’s now reading the story to her four-year-old son, Lorenzo, and said there’s a version of the story for every age group and reading level. She believes it’s because of adults that Peter Pan remains such an enduring classic.
“I’ve always loved it because and when I introduce it to my son, I get to relive the magic of when I read it for the first time,” she said. “The world is already so tough with so many horrible things going on that it’s nice to read this story and think about a fairy realm, especially with your child.”
Garcia said even though the book was written a hundred years ago, there is a lot in it that parallels modern parenting.
“Parents are so stressed about getting to the soccer game on time and making sure all of the forms have been filled out for school,” she said. “We have so much to worry about and so do the parents in Peter Pan, rushing to get ready for a big event. I think the busyness of Mr. and Mrs. Darling makes for a great juxtaposition with Peter Pan’s never growing up.
“As modern parents, we can see and relate to the parents in the play, and that makes us cling to the fantasy of the mystical world all the more,” she said.
Garcia, who is hoping to see the upcoming show in Dayton, remembers watching “Peter Pan” when she was pregnant with her son.
“I don’t know if it was because I was pregnant and realized I was growing up and being an adult or because I needed an escape but I leaned a lot on Peter Pan. It’s about escaping the hustle and bustle of everyday life. We all need a little bit of escape and ‘Peter Pan’ is the perfect escape.”
HOW TO GO
What: “Peter Pan,” the national tour of the Broadway musical
When: Feb. 26-March 2
Where: Benjamin & Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center, Dayton
Tickets: $34; daytonlive.org/peter-pan or (937) 228-3630
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