It’s extremely rare that Broadway theatre is inventive, compelling, and fun. Such is the case, however, with Peter and the Starcatcher, the prequel to the Peter Pan story, where he’s an unnamed orphan (Boy) going through various trials and tribulations with pirates, pirate booty, and one particular special girl, until he emerges as, you guessed it: Peter Pan. Taken from a best-selling children’s book by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, produced in part by Disney, this is by far the most unique and enjoyable play in New York right now, and literally offers something for anyone who wants to spend an evening being uplifted.

It starts with the wildly-colored mermaid on the theater curtain that rises to reveal twelve actors who do a short speech together, telling the audience they are about to embark on an adventure. Throughout the next two hours, these remarkable human beings portray at least 100 different characters on a journey to discover how the boy, who never grew up, got that way. There are two ships involved – one belongs to the Queen and another seems to have a normal crew but is actually overrun by pirates led by a quirky, clumsy captain named Stache. When a cargo mix-up puts our nameless orphan boy on a ship with Molly, daughter of the Queen’s emissary, we see she wears a mysterious necklace which, it turns out, holds the key to our orphan’s future.

Molly is an over-educated, know-it-all Starcatcher-in-training; she is on board to guard the world’s “most precious treasure,” the “star stuff.” Star Stuff is magic material that looks remarkably like beach sand, which is to be delivered to a remote island to keep it from mankind’s evil intentions. It holds within it dangerous properties that allow people to be, as they say, “whoever they want to be.” Her necklace allows her to communicate — in languages like “porpoise” and “dodo” — with her father, a Master Starcatcher who is on the other ship which supposedly holds valuables for the Queen but is a shill. There is an abundance of tempest parting and reuniting between her and Peter, punctuated by hilarious pirate speeches and songs. In the end, Molly becomes a full-fledged Starcatcher and is taken away by her father to grow up; Peter immerses himself in the Star Stuff and remains forever young.

There is not enough space here to discuss the inventiveness of the production and the plasticity and talent of nearly all the actors. If Christian Borle, as the pirate captain Stache (“my name is on everyone’s lips”) doesn’t get a Tony nod for his performance, there is no justice in the world. Already the recipient of a Lucille Lortel award, which he won when the production was off-Broadway, he strides, slides, jumps, and swaggers through this role with such zealous joy that the audience is touched by it from the get-go.  Stache is, of course, the early incarnation of Captain Hook, and when he loses his hand (not to a creature, but by slamming a trunk lid down on it), the audience goes wild; this is a star-like turn for Borle, and while he currently has a recurring role on the TV show Smash, let’s hope Broadway keeps beckoning for more.

Adam Chanler-Berat, as “the Boy” (aka: Peter before he’s Peter) is fresh off the hit play Next to Normal, and plays his confused and evolving self with humor, sensitivity and aplomb, even when confronted with a flying cat who has gotten into the Star Stuff or when Molly is bossing him around, which is often. Arnie Burton, as Molly’s nanny Mrs. Bumbrake, who falls in love with the pudgiest of pirates, does the best drag performance in the play, referring often in veiled terms to his/her lover’s anatomy, prowess and lack thereof, leaving the audience in stitches. The opening of the second act – where the whole cast appears onstage dressed in flowing tropical skirts and coconut bras, as by now everyone has been shipwrecked  – is so funny, the audience is almost in pain from laughter by the time the story resumes. The director, Roger Rees, must have been weaned on episodes of Fawlty Towers and the famous Bread and Puppet Theater in order to have pulled this off so well and completely.

For all its newness, Peter and the Starcatcher makes use of age-old theatrical techniques, such as puppetry (flying cats and clinging birds), body language (when all the pirates stand together and lean slowly in one direction, you can actually feel the ship pitching in a storm), costume and mime; part Monty Python, vintage screwball comedy, and high theatrics. But what’s so great about it is the ageless effect it creates. And could there be a more compelling character than the boy who never grew up?  While this isn’t a play recommended for children as the humor is truly on an adult level, and some of the story line may be difficult for younger people to follow or even understand, it is certainly fit for the 7-year-old in any adult on earth, for no one can completely resist a truly remarkable two-hour adventure back to Neverland, and to that never-ending state of wonder called childhood.

“Peter and the Starcatcher” is currently playing on Broadway at the Brooks Atkinsons Theater located at 256 West 47th Street, New York, NY. For ticket information and show schedule visit www.peterandthestarcatcher.com or call Ticketmaster at 877-250-2929.

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