Finding Neverland at CPT

I love the musical Finding Neverland (both the Broadway and Broadway touring productions rendered me a sobbing mess) so, after being a bit underwhelmed by the version I saw at HCT, I was really eager to see what CPT would do with it. I went last night with both of my sisters and my brother-in-law (his niece plays Mary) and I absolutely loved it! JM Barrie (Ben Lowell) is caught between a world inhabited by his social climbing wife Mary (Jaycee Harris) who wants him to behave like a gentleman and his exasperated producer Charles Frohman (Blaine Hickman) who wants him to write another hit play and the world of his imagination. When he meets Sylvia Llewellyn Davies (Madeleine Pew) and her sons George (Xander Wardle), Jack (Daniel Bush), Peter (Hunter Jones), and Michael (Will Hickman) in Kensington Garden, he is able to indulge his imagination. He eventually writes the play Peter Pan as a way to help the boys deal with their grief over the death of their father. I love the music in this show and both Lowell and Pew perform my favorite songs, "My Imagination," "All That Matters," "Neverland," and "What You Mean to Me," so beautifully that I had goosebumps during all of them. I had tears in my eyes when Lowell and Jones sing "When Your Feet Don't Touch the Ground" because it is so touching and Jones has such a lovely voice (I was impressed by all four of the boys, especially in the song "We're All Made of Stars"). Even though this show is extremely emotional, there is quite a bit of comic relief and the choreography for "We Own the Night," "The World Is Upside Down," and "Play" is a lot of fun (I love the performers in the acting troupe because they are all over the top, especially Andrew Stone when he is left dangling in the air and Justin Lee when he learns that he is playing a dog). The staging is incredible in "Circus of Your Mind" as Barrie is trapped going through the doors belonging to Mary, Frohman, and Sylvia's mother Mrs. DuMaurier (Kassie Winkler) without a turntable to rotate them and in "Stronger" because the pirate ship in Barrie's imagination (shown with projections) is actually brought to life on stage but I was most impressed by the penultimate scene with Sylvia in the nursery because it is magical (it replicates the stage craft from the Broadway production and it gave me chills). The period costumes are beautiful and I love that the set is swathed in white curtains upon which projections appear because it emphasizes using the imagination. I loved everything about this production (it is now one of my favorites from CPT) and I highly encourage getting a ticket (go here). It runs on the Mountain America Main Stage through April 23.

Note:  It is always fun to see Trent's niece Jaycee on stage!  I was especially impressed by her dog wrangling skills when Mary takes Porthos (Indie Blue, making her stage debut) for a walk in Kensington Garden.