Flight to Neverland in Peter Pan Photography by Kevin Berne
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--age and gender indifferent!
PETER PANS
• Mary Martin originated Peter Pan on the Broadway stage in 1954 and went on to win a Tony Award for the role.
• Sandy Duncan flew into the role with a major Broadway revival in 1979 and became a Tony nominee.
• Playing Peter Pan continues to be a youth elixir for Kathy Rigby with 2,800 perfor- mances as Pan since debuting in a 1973 arena version for “Disney on Parade.”
• Robin Williams plays grown-up Peter Pan in the 1991 Spielberg film Hook, who has forgotten his childhood in Neverland and becomes a successful corporate lawyer.
• At fourteen years young, Jeremy Sumpter is the most recent to portray Peter in a 2003 film version.
The Darling family in Peter Pan Photography by Kevin Berne
Rage: How did you hear about the production of Peter Pan? AW: My agent got me an audition for Peter Pan, which
was the first I had heard of it. That was way back in Janu- ary, 2009.
Rage: This is a demanding role, what sort of audition process did you have to go through? AW: The audition process was kind of intense. I first
read the part for one of the producers and the director, then I went and had a flying audition for about five hours, and finally I read the part again for the other producer.
Rage: You had to learn how to fly for the role, what was that like? AW: Learning to fly was probably the most excit-
Peter Pan runs through November 21 at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Tickets: 714.556.2787 or
ocpac.org.
ing part of the job. It was physically quite hard, but very exciting.
Rage: I understand that there are puppeteers on stage; what it’s like to work with the puppets? AW: In my opinion the puppets, and in particular the
crocodile, are some of the best bits about this show. It’s a lot of fun working with them, especially Nana, the dog.
Rage: In the stage version, Peter Pan is usually played by a female, why did the producers decide to cast a young male? AW: In the original play a woman did play the role of
Peter Pan, but there’s no mention of this in the book. The idea of a female playing Peter Pan has also been adopted
by the many pantomime productions that take place all over the UK at Christmas and I think the producers wanted this show to be completely different from a pantomime, so they came at it from a different angle.
Rage: Describe the show in one sentence. AW: The show is captivating and engaging and the closest re-telling of the original story you’re likely to find.
Rage: What is next in your career? AW: I’m not sure what’s next in my career; hopefully a fulfilling acting job that takes me to new places. And I wouldn’t mind flying again...
OCTOBER 2010 | RAGE monthly 53
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