Finding Neverland

To paraphrase J.M. Barrie in "Finding Neverland", isn't it better to have fun than be perfect? It is a sentiment the Scottish playwright expresses about his stodgy life early in this musical adaptation of the Oscar-nominated film having its premiere engagement at the American Repertory Theater. It is also one that applies to the show itself -- one still searching to bring together its disparate elements, but compensates with an abundance of originality and buoyant spirits.

At the onset, Barrie (a charismatic Jeremy Jordan) is a writer in turmoil in Edwardian London. His latest play, "Little Mary," has flopped and, though his producer (the enterprising Charles Frohman played with zeal by Michael McGrath) has faith that he can still turn out a hit, Barrie faces writer's block. His wife Mary (Jeanna de Waal) -- a former actress now content on being the lady of the house -- offers him no solace; instead the chance meeting in Kensington Gardens with a widow Sylvia Llewelyn Davies (Laura Michelle Kelly), and her four sons inspires him.

At first, though, Barrie is just one of the boys, playing imaginary games with them and their mother, much to the chagrin of the family's starchy matriarch Mrs. du Maurier (Carolee Carmello), as well as his producer and his wife. Gradually the boys, especially the loneliest, named Peter (the assured Aidan Gemme) plant the seeds for what is to become Barrie's most enduring character and his world: a faraway island, pirates, Indians, mermaids and fairies. The place where they reside turns out to be Barrie's invention -- named Neverland: it is where he imagined his brother went to after he died in a tragic accident, an event that scarred Barrie for life.

The concept of Neverland is a pivotal to this musical, which attempts to mix the light-hearted fantasy world that Barrie created with its darker themes of those left behind after death. Since his father's passing, Peter has lost his joy in life. At first Peter is very much like his Edwardians elders; criticizing Barrie for not being a realist and lashing out for being cheated out of having a dad. Getting him to be a child again becomes Barrie's purpose.

The way Barrie's notion of Neverland is introduced in the musical, which has a book by James Graham, and music and lyrics by Gary Barlow and Eliot Kennedy, is as a power ballad midway through the first act sung by Barrie to Sylvia. If the song seems familiar, it was because it was introduced (by Jennifer Hudson) at this past year's Tony Awards in a somewhat controversial bit of product placement. I wish the song, one of the loveliest in this skillfully realized score, hadn't been heard before because it diluted its impact, despite the powerful rendition by Jordan and Kelly. It could have been the moment to fall in love with the show, but felt emotionally remote.

No, it is not until the slam-bang finale of the first act that "Finding Neverland" finds its footing. In this spectacular number, Barrie is visited by Captain Hook and his pirates who challenge his self-doubts about the childhood fantasy he has written. They sing to him to believe in himself; and as Hook's ship is constructed around him, Barrie gets his confidence back. In this show the characters often sing uplifting thoughts in a traditionally musical theater way, but up to this point it felt forced -- the emotions underscored, the comedy broadly played as if it was a Disney cartoon. It was pleasant enough, but nothing terribly original. Then Barrie meets the pirates and the Peter Pan elements fall into place. By personifying them, "Finding Neverland" comes to life.

At first Frohman's cast balks at the idea of Barrie's childish notion, but succumb in a boisterous musical hall-styled number where the producer implores them to get in touch with the inner-child within them all. It is one of the numerous, old-school musical-comedy turns that dot the show making it seem as if the show were written in the time that the popular "Peter Pan" musical was first produced. Additionally the ballads have an easy, pop sound that makes them performance-ready for a contestant on The Voice, and the declarative style with which they're delivered -- most notably from Jordan and Kelly -- also underlines that connection. Not that is a bad thing, just reflective of what audiences have come to expect in today's musicals.

In short, "Finding Neverland" is an audience show embraced by its opening night audience (admittedly, a partisan crowd) as if it was "My Fair Lady." It's not; nor, to be fair, does it aspire to be. But it certainly is engaging, imaginatively staged and designed, and played with great feeling by its first-rate cast. Though it sometimes falls victim to musical-comedy tropes, especially in its jokey libretto; it also dares to explore the notion of death and its effect upon both children and adults, and how clumsily everyone handles it.

In this way it brings to mind "The Secret Garden," the Marsha Norman-Lucy Simon musical that also looks at a child whose loss is tempered by a special world she discovers. But in its musical-comedy boisterousness it also brings to mind "The Mystery of Edwin Drood," another pop-pastiche piece that uses late 19th century archetypes in broad musical-comedy ways. Blending the dark with the light is the challenge that faces the show's collaborators as it continues its two-month run at the ART before it heads to Broadway next spring. As polished as the show is, it needs work; it's a bit overstuffed and long, and, as aforementioned, takes its time making the emotional connection that makes its final scenes so touching.

As it stands, "Finding Neverland" is a show you want to love, but because you're conscious of the mechanisms that make it tick (like the clocks that dot Scott Pask's designs), its emotional thread isn't organic, at least at first. That, though, may come with weeks of performance as Diane Paulus's hugely inventive staging falls into place, or cutting and additions are made. But isn't that why shows come out-of-town prior to New York? That this conventional fare -- co-produced by Harvey Weinstein -- is at the ART may be heresy to those that remember the theater from a decade ago; but kudos to Paulus at embracing an art form that the theater (rather snobbishly) ignored for the longest time; and to do so with such brio. There's little doubt that "Finding Neverland" will find an audience in Cambridge. It delights as a good children's musical should do; whether it will be more than this remains to be seen. (And there is an ART connection: in 1990, Allan Knee's "The Lost Boys," a version of the play that was adapted into the film "Finding Neverland," was produced at the ART with the late Jeremy Geidt as Barrie and Cherry Jones as Sylvia Lleweyn Davis.)

Looking at the glass-half-full may be the best way to evaluate the production at this point. The cast clearly connects to the material, which helps smooth over some of the less effective moments. Jeremy Jordan has presence, a clear, nuanced voice and a likability; he has the making of a great performance. What's missing now is for him to connect to that lost boy within Barrie; but that will likely come in time. Laura Michelle Kelly brings spunk and charm to Sylvia; and sings beautifully. Michael McGrath is delightfully appealing in a role Nathan Lane was born to play; while Carolee Carmello manages to make the one-note Mrs. Daurier sympathetic, despite her hard exterior. The boys -- Alex Dreier, Aidan Gemme, Sawyer Nunes and Hayden Signoretti -- are wonderfully believable; Gemme, especially as the troubled Peter, is touchingly real. And special note should be given to Thayne Jasperson who plays Barrie's dog Pothos with great comic verve.

Paulus great gifts as a director are also most evident, most notably in her rapport with the cast and the sleekness of its story-telling. Mia Michaels choreography has a satiric, exaggerated edge that deftly tunes the audience in on the show's playful nature. It is integrating the darker elements that needs to be worked on. The look of the production skillfully suggests the backstage world of London theater and the elegant (and less-so) environs that Barrie moves through. Scott Pask's designs have a flexibility to accommodate Paulus's quickly moving vision; and have a handsome, if abstracted, period feel; and there's moody lighting design by Philip S. Rosenberg. Their work is well complemented by Suttirat Larlarb's playful costumes, Gilles Papain's projections, Paul Kieve's illusions and what is called the Air Sculptor credited to Daniel Wurtzel. Coming near the end, it's a spectacular theatrical effect that takes your breath away just as you're getting a lump in your throat. If only "Finding Neverland" found that synergy earlier; but it may very well do so in time.

"Finding Neverland" continues through September 28, 2014 at the Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA. For more information, visit the American Repertory Theater website.