If the current tour of “Peter Pan” is to be last time for Cathy Rigby to lead a bunch of people to Neverland, then she’s obviously determined to make that journey one wild ride.
Tuesday’s opening night performance of “Peter Pan” at the Tulsa PAC was easily the most energetic version of this show I’ve seen, with Rigby in the title role gamboling about — whether on stage or in the air — with even more devil-may-care abandon than usual.
Even the overall tone of the show is lighter, quicker, as if determined to leave as little room as possible between one adventure and the next, so that the melancholy elements of the story are downplayed as much as possible.
That’s not been the case in the past when Rigby and company have brought their production of “Peter Pan” to Tulsa. Previous productions have brought out some of the darker aspects of this seemingly timeless story, emphasizing what can be lost if one never grows up, as well as if one does.
But in this “Peter Pan,” everything is played as “a very big adventure,” and it all happens at such speed that there’s very little time for grown-up concerns to enter one’s head.
Well, except for the concern that Rigby might do herself a mischief in the flying scenes, which have been reworked for this production and allows her a greater freedom of movement while in the air.
There were moments in the first scene in the Darling household, where Rigby executed series of aerial somersaults and flips at such speeds that one could envision her whacking up against the set walls. And the trip to Neverland featured Rigby whizzing back and forth across the stage at dizzying, yet undeniably joyous speed.
Rigby has always surrounded herself with top-notch talent and this cast is no exception. Brent Barrett is a wonderfully foppish Captain Hook, who delivers his villainous plans and his dastardly threats with comically sneering aplomb. Kim Crosby gives luminous voice to the lullaby “Tender Shepherd,” and James Leo Ryan is first among thieves as Hook’s hapless henchman Smee.
Jenna Wright is an extremely flexible Tiger Lily, who make her entrance in a scene that resembles a cross between a Cirque du Soleil routine and the “Arabian” variation in “The Nutcracker, Krista Buccellato is a most earnest Wendy, Lexy Baeza and Sophie Sooter (or was it Hadley Belle Miller) are quite believable as the Darling sons, John and Michael. And Clark Roberts turns Nana the dog and the Crocodile into true personalities.
“Peter Pan” is the first show Celebrity Attractions has presented since the untimely death of the company’s founder, Larry Payton. As Payton’s son Drew stated before the show, “Peter Pan” was the first show Larry Payton invested in as a producer, because it was “a show he believed in.”
And maybe that is why this version of “Peter Pan” seemed so right. It was all about joy, all about believing, all about dreams taking flight, about hoping one day to take that second star to the right, and go straight on until morning.
“Peter Pan” continues with performances at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday at the Tulsa PAC, 101 E. Third St. For tickets: 918-596-7111,
tulsaworld.com/mytix.
