MNfusion: CTC's Changes To 'Peter Pan' Miss The Mark

From a novel in 1911 to a cartoon in 1953 to a musical in 1954, the story of "Peter Pan" has been altered, changed and, now, updated.

As with many works of theater from earlier eras, there are parts of "Peter Pan" that are outdated and offensive. The most prevalent is perhaps the show's portrayal of Native Americans.

The 1954 production included the song "Ugg-a-Wugg," a number sung between Peter Pan and Tiger Lily that included lyrics like "brave, noble red man." A 2000 film featuring Cathy Rigby as Peter Pan changed the lyric to "brave, noble warrior," and NBC's 2014 live production altered the lyrics completely and renamed it "True Blood Brother."

Instead of doing either of those things, CTC almost cut the song entirely. A few bars remained, but mostly it was an elaborate dance scene between the two groups.

This was not as troublesome as their decision to change the Native Americans.

While not deliberate, it seemed that while attempting to make a better portrayal of the culture they instead just eliminated it. The theater's efforts to rid the show of stereotypes is appreciated, and it's certainly not argued that the show be left as is, but completely changing Tiger Lily to be cat-like instead of updating the Native American characters is just as harmful. Instead of being portrayed correctly they are either stereotyped or eliminated, as is discussion about their culture and people.

Additionally, having Tiber Lily's tribe of all girls be "pussycats" brings other, most-likely unintended, derogatory connotations.

A surprising decision also because both the director and managing director noted they updated the script to be more respectful of women and their role in the story.

But this was also a miss.

While appreciated, the obvious additions almost slapped you in the face. For example, when persuading Wendy to come live with them Peter says, "We'll respect you!" And when the Lost Boys are hovering over Wendy after shooting her down Peter claims, "You mustn't touch her," then looks at the audience saying "That would be disrespectful."

We get it.

I'm all for giving women a strong voice and promoting equality between the sexes, but these attempts fall flat because for the remainder of the show Wendy's only role is to be a mother and to be rescued by the boys in her life.

This desire to give women a stronger presence may have been behind the decision to have Peter played by a man. The theater may have not wanted girls to feel that they were only strong when impersonating boys, but it could also be taken as though a woman wasn't strong enough to take on the part.

The role of Peter has traditionally been played by a woman. According to Slate, this mostly had to do with the fact that the original producer wanted his protégé, Maude Adams, to play the role. Subsequent productions followed suit and thus it became tradition.

The CTC decided to break with this tradition in casting Tyler Michaels.

Michaels has been capturing title roles in theaters across the Twin Cities, most recently playing Puck in the Guthrie's production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." He has received much acclaim for his dynamic on-stage presence.

While Michaels' effervescent persona fit the character of Pan, much better than it did Puck, after seeing an adult male play the role I realized that it really is better when a woman takes the part.

That said, this realization has nothing to do with Michaels or a lack of talent.

After seeing him portray Puck, I left the theater wishing he had had a bit more edge. This is actually what made him a great Peter Pan. His playful demeanor that was youthful and oblivious, versus mischievous, created a perfect Peter.

But no matter how youthful, or how high the tenor, when the boy who doesn't want to grow up is played by a man, it's hard to buy.

What the CTC's production did retain was vibrant, fun and whimsical.

The flying scenes were staged beautifully. Michaels acrobatic movements were fluid and appeared effortless, a great juxtaposition with Wendy, John and Michael who acted as though they were struggling a bit more being first time flyers and all.

And, really, how can there be anything wrong with singing and dancing pirates. (Anyone who watched Christopher Walken as Captain Hook in NBC's live production can attest to this.)

Reid Sigmund is a phenomenal character actor, creating a cartoonish Captain Hook that was fun for kids rather than scary. He also avoided the trap that some character actors fall in by creating a distinct character from his Grinch, his last role as seen in the CTC's "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" last winter.

While the changes were a bit of a miss, without them the show wouldn't embody it's own message of storytelling. A message that no matter the discrepancy in details, it is the act of telling stories that brings us all together.

 "Peter Pan The Musical" is playing now through June 21. Tickets cost $10 – $80. For more information on show times, or to purchase tickets, visit the Children's Theatre Company online.