Real boy energizes wonderful ‘Peter Pan’

The Penobscot Theatre Company’s invitation to visit Neverland should not be turned down.

Its layered and lavish production of J.M. Barrie’s “Peter Pan” at the Bangor Opera House is a refreshing substitute for “A Christmas Carol.” The show captures all the excitement children experience during the holiday season and the bittersweet feelings that often engulf adults.

Director Scott R.C. Levy’s decision to buck tradition and cast a real live boy as Peter Pan pays off the first moment Jonah Spear peers through the window of the Darling family’s nursery. While females in the role have tended to emphasize Peter’s coy impish side, Spear’s performance is full of male energy – the kind that makes parents want to nail a 10-year-old boy’s feet to the floor.

Spear, who has worked as a trapeze artist, uses his athleticism to great advantage in the role, especially in his sword fight with Captain Hook and when he flies. His costume, a pair of shorts and a vest made of bits of cloth, however, shatters the illusion that he’s a boy by showing off his muscular upper body.

Despite that, the New York-based actor adeptly portrays Peter’s longing for a mother and his utter confusion over who else Wendy could possibly be to him. Spear gives the boy who never grows up a depth and dignity few women who’ve created the character, most often in the musical version, have captured. The actor’s spirit of fun and adventure provide the spark the rest of the company uses to make the production glow.

Kate Kenney, an Orono High School graduate, is delightful as Wendy.

The actress exudes the kind and patient goodness that Barrie believed was the true nature of all mothers. Underneath the girl’s outward appearance, Kenney shows flashes of the sensual woman Wendy will become, but also captures the adolescent awkwardness between boys and girls in her scenes alone with Peter.

The director stuck with tradition in casting Adam Kuykendall as Mr. Darling and Captain Hook. The Bangor actor, who also worked as the production manager for the show, relishes both roles onstage.

He adroitly finds the similarities in the characters and plays the two men as the flip side of the same coin. Kuykendall’s Hook is every boy’s fantasy of an enemy – worthy yet conquerable, deceitful in a bumbling way, and smart but not quite clever enough to defeat the likes of Pan.

Levy rounded out the cast with local actors, many of them college, high school and elementary school students. They create a wonderful ensemble that brings the tropical isle of Neverland to life onstage while the Winter Wonderland outside the theatre’s doors shows no signs of abating. Anthony Arnista, as sophomore at the University of Maine, as John Darling and 6-year-old Zivi and Noam Osher of Orono as the Lost Boy twins are standouts.

The Indians are the one problem in staging the 1904 play that directors can’t easily work around. Barrie’s Tiger Lily and her band are not the “noble savages” of John Ford’s films. The tribe can be used as a dancing chorus backing up Mary Martin the way it was in the 1955 musical.

By 21st century standards, these Indians are the worst of any stereotype – silly and monosyllabic. In the imagination of the author, a man who came of age in the 19th century, they are allies worthy for Peter.

Lex Liang, PTC’s resident costume and set designer for the past three years, has outdone himself with “Peter Pan.” Outside of Peter’s outfit, everyone is perfectly clad. The costumes Liang created for Nana, the Darling children’s canine nanny, and the mermaids are simply stunning.

The complex set, which required a plot for how its pieces could be moved and stored in the theatre’s limited wing and backstage space, is spectacular. Everything about it, along with Jonathan Spencer’s lush lighting design, invites theater-goers into a magical world of make-believe.

And then there’s the flying. This is the one place where Levy could have planned in more rehearsal time. While it is awe-inspiring to see actors take flight, once Peter’s in the air, he traverses the stage too slowly. His sword fight with Hook is impressive but the imprecision of the offstage rope handlers causes it to lose momentum. Wendy and the boys are novice flyers, so klutzy works for them, but when it’s foisted on Peter, the spell that Levy, cast and crew have worked so hard to weave is broken.

Despite that, “Peter Pan” is a tremendous gift to the community that should be savored by children and grownups alike. Don’t miss it. Just aim for the second star to the right and fly straight on ’til morning.

“Peter Pan” will be performed through Sunday, Dec. 23, in repertoire with “The Santaland Diaries.” For tickets, call 942-3333 or 877-PTC-TIXX or visit www.penobscottheatre.org. Judy Harrison may be reached at jharrison@bangordailynews.net or 990-8207.