I was two and a half years old when my parents taped the Mary Martin version of Peter Pan. I adored it. "Tender Shepherd" was my lullaby when I was a child. Needless to say, when I discovered A&E had filmed the Broadway revival, I was excited but skeptical. How could it compare to my favorite childhood movie? It more than compared. It even exceeded. The Cathy Rigby Peter Pan takes what Mary Martin did to the next level. The movie is filmed directly from the Broadway performance and has a lively adrenaline rush that is absent from the Mary Martin version, which was filmed on a soundstage. The casting is brilliant. Elisa Sagardia- whom I was lucky enough to see when the show came on tour this summer- is a beautiful and spunky Wendy. Smee and Hook work together perfectly and are absolutely hilarious. Tiger Lily is athletic, believable as an Indian princess, and one of the greatest dancers I've seen in a long time. And of course, Cathy Rigby. She stepped into a very difficult role to fill- after all, Mary Martin was one of the greatest Broadway actresses, and Peter was one of her signature roles. But Cathy makes the role entirely her own, giving a new approach to the famous character. The cockney accent and athleticism never gives the audience reason to doubt that Peter is, and really is, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up. As a rabid Peter Pan fanatic. I found this version to be as beautiful, as lavish, and as suited for the child at heart as Sir J.M. Barrie intended. Ten stars.
Review of Peter Pan
