# Anyone See the Live Peter Pan? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 5, 2014, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-see-the-live-peter-pan/706408 "2014-12-05T13:45:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2014, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-see-the-live-peter-pan/706408/21 "2014-12-05T20:31:33Z")
I was curious as to whether the music was live or recorded, too. Some good celeb tweets in this: ['Peter Pan Live!': The Best Tweets - The New York Times](http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/12/05/peter-pan-live-the-best-tweets/?action=click&contentCollection=Television®ion=Footer&module=MoreInSection&pgtype=article) ---
**Author:** ![Hermione](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cdc98d/32.png) [@Hermione](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermione)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2014, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-see-the-live-peter-pan/706408/22 "2014-12-05T20:41:38Z")
I believe that in the original novel/play (which this musical follows), Peter does give the location as “second to the right”. I’m not sure if the Disney movie was the first to change it to “second star to the right.” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2014, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-see-the-live-peter-pan/706408/23 "2014-12-05T22:45:08Z")
I recored it and got through the first half of it last night. The woman who played Peter was quite good, I thought. This was one of my very favorite childhood things (I’m of the Mary Martin = Pater Pan generation), so it was very nostalgic. I enjoyed what I’ve seen so far. A thousand times better than _SoM_, live, which I thought was awful. Is there any real reason to not have a guy play Peter Pan? Aren’t there plenty of young looking male actors who could fit the bill? Is it just “tradition” to have a woman play him? This latest PP was quite good, but something about the hips just didn’t say “boy” to me. As a straight adult male, it’s a bit creepy to be even turned on the slightest by what is supposed to be a boy… ---
**Author:** ![Wisp00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/977dab/32.png) [@Wisp00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wisp00)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2014, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-see-the-live-peter-pan/706408/24 "2014-12-05T23:07:26Z")
> [@Hermione](#): > > I believe that in the original novel/play (which this musical follows), Peter does give the location as “second to the right”. I’m not sure if the Disney movie was the first to change it to “second star to the right.” Interesting. Thanks, I didn’t know that. So then what does “second to the right” mean? If the line had been different but made sense, I might have suspected a Disney change, but I can’t figure out what this would mean. No wonder he never gets any mail! With such a well known line, the producers must have know it would sound like a flubbed line to most of the audience. I wonder why they chose to go with that, then? I guess I can at least stop feeling sorry for Williams if she didn’t really mess up a big moment, after all. 🙂 ETA: That reminds me of another part, when Tinkerbell dies, the audience must revive her by clapping. I always thought the play had everyone chant “I do believe in fairies” to bring her back. Is that a different version? ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-see-the-live-peter-pan/706408/25 "2014-12-06T00:24:14Z")
> [@Wisp00](#): > > Interesting. Thanks, I didn’t know that. > > So then what does “second to the right” mean? If the line had been different but made sense, I might have suspected a Disney change, but I can’t figure out what this would mean. No wonder he never gets any mail! \*\*Hermione \*\*is correct (appropriately enough in a thread about British children’s works). The line in the book is indeed “second to the right, and straight on till morning.” We are further told–I’m almost certain–that Peter makes up the directions because they sound good and because he wants to impress Wendy; he actually doesn’t know “how” to get there. If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say that it sounds to Peter like something an adult in the real world might say in giving directions, only he’s garbled it somewhat (rather as if he’d once heard in his eavesdropping an adult say “Turn right at the second crossroad, then straight till you reach the lake”). Wendy is either not sophisticated enough or too wrapped up in the moment to recognize that it doesn’t make much sense. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-see-the-live-peter-pan/706408/26 "2014-12-06T05:13:47Z")
I didn’t watch it. However, I was struck by how the ads insisted on showing us Christopher Walken! Dancing! And it was so comically unimpressive. He was just sort of marking. I thought, well, that’s rehearsal, maybe he’ll go harder in the actual show. Apparently not? ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-see-the-live-peter-pan/706408/27 "2014-12-06T07:22:01Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Is there any real reason to not have a guy play Peter Pan? Aren’t there plenty of young looking male actors who could fit the bill? Is it just “tradition” to have a woman play him? [Slate had an article on this.](http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/01/23/peter_pan_played_by_a_woman_why_a_history_of_casting_the_j_m_barrie_character.html) ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-see-the-live-peter-pan/706408/28 "2014-12-06T07:25:50Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I had it on in the background while I was doing other things. I’ve never seen any presentation of it nor read the book, though obviously we all know the basic story. > Mostly I just wanted to see Mr. Walken. He did not look good. > > What is amazing to me is that it is such a long lived, beloved production. I found the songs to be unmemorable at best and more often annoying. I’ve seen Alison Williams on talk shows and she seems lovely, but there was nothing endearing about her as Peter Pan. > > I’ve no way to judge if last night’s performance did the play justice and I’m not likely to find out since after watching this I would never want to see \*Peter Pan \*live Oh I agree. If there were no such thing as Twitter, I would have been bored witless–the fun for me came from the live tweeting. If I could go to a live show of Peter Pan with carte blanche to MSTK it with the audience, I’d be in! I’ve never seen a musical version of PP before (well, not counting the Disney version), though I do love the book, and I was surprised at how dull the songs were, too. Nothing really stuck out for me. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-see-the-live-peter-pan/706408/29 "2014-12-06T11:03:12Z")
So, Captain Hook’s performance needed more cowbell? ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-see-the-live-peter-pan/706408/30 "2014-12-06T11:46:52Z")
I’m assuming I missed something - what’s the point of doing a live show on TV? I can’t imagine it’d replicate the experience of a show in a theater, and the idea just seems dumb to me. It’s like insisting on preparing and entire Thanksgiving meal over an open fire and ignoring the availability and practicality of a modern kitchen. I don’t get it. For the record, I didn’t watch because I remember the version with Mary Martin and I didn’t want a cherished memory of my youth to be tarnished. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-see-the-live-peter-pan/706408/31 "2014-12-06T21:43:39Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > I’m assuming I missed something - what’s the point of doing a live show on TV? The out-in-the-open audience appeal: it’s An Event–something that many people might watch, so you watch it to keep up with the water-cooler conversations the next day. The less-out-in-the-open audience appeal: someone might screw up! Or even get hurt! (Thus NBC’s heavy promotion of the fact that there would be a lot of flying-harness work in the show.) From the point of view of the network, the appeal is that though people _can_ time-shift a show like PPL, proportionally fewer people will do so if it’s a live event.\* Advertisers will pay more if they know the butts will be in the seats, and no fast-forwarding will render their ads pointless. \*Which is why sports is so profitable for all concerned: the teams, the leagues, and the networks. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-see-the-live-peter-pan/706408/32 "2014-12-06T21:51:47Z")
Christopher Walken’s good, but he’s no [David Steinberg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knlJOHnr11A&t=1m2s). ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-see-the-live-peter-pan/706408/33 "2014-12-06T21:55:41Z")
Wife had me DVR it specifically to see how obtuse Walken’s performance would be. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-see-the-live-peter-pan/706408/34 "2014-12-06T22:24:23Z")
It was pretty awful overall. Too long among many issues. Showing it on Thursday and having it end at 11:00pm was a terrible decision. I think NBC really failed on this. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-see-the-live-peter-pan/706408/35 "2014-12-06T23:43:27Z")
> [@Flywheel](#): > > Christopher Walken’s good, but he’s no [David Steinberg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knlJOHnr11A&t=1m2s). Where has this been all my life?! Too hilarious! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-see-the-live-peter-pan/706408.md?page=1)