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Peter Pan

McCoy on Movies: Wendy

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Peter Pan and friends endure a terribly boring
and uninteresting adventure in Wendy

Titular character Wendy (Devin France) and Peter Pan (Yashua Mack) prepare to fly in a scene from director Behn Zeitlin’s imaginative re-envisioning of J.M. Barrie’s story about children who never grow up in WENDY. Credit: Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures © 2020 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.


WATCH THE TRAILER(S) HERE:




KEY CAST MEMBERS: Devin France, Yashua Mack, Gage Naquin, Gavin Naquin, Ahmad Cage, Krzysztof Meyn, Romryi Ross and Shay WalkerDIRECTOR(S): Behn Zeitlin

THE BACK STORY: A wildly different take on previous Peter Pan productions, Wendy stars Devin France as the titular character. Wendy, along with her two brothers Douglas and James (played by real life brothers Gage and Gavin Naquin), is a young child who we are first introduced to inside of the greasy spoon where their mother (Shay Walker) works. When the trio of siblings were younger, their friend Thomas (Krzysztof Meyn) went off on a train and was never seen again. 


Curious as to what happened, Wendy and her brothers one night sneak off when the train reappears. That is how they meet a young boy named Peter (Yashua Mack) who leads them on a journey to a mysterious island where children never age – as long as they believe in the island and “Mother,” a glowing whale-like sea creature that serves as the heart and soul of the island. The children enjoy their stay at the beginning, playing from sunrise to sunset … But they have no idea what awaits them as their extended stay turns into a life-changing experience, provided Wendy can get her family home once again.

THE REVIEW: In contention for both the most imaginative and worst movie of 2020 thus far, Wendy is at best wild and weird and at worst boring and grandiose.How can you take a classic for most and, at the very least, extremely familiar, story and turn it into a nearly 2 hour epic with no audience? Well, if you’re co-writer and director Behn Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild), you (1) take a children’s tale and make it geared towards an adult audience as you (2) have underperforming young actors recite (3) inane dialogue whilst (4) telling your story at an extremely methodical pace (5) too slow for children and too (6) plodding for adults. The movie is an art house take on a classic children’s story that is too artistic for anyone to be as entertained as the is it by itself.

While some will praise (or at the very least, commend) Zeitlin for his progressive thinking in his casting, a Caribbean Peter Pan with a distinct patois is something you’ll either be on board with or not. Likewise, the Pan character as portrayed in Wendy is both aloof and self-absorbed and less a compelling figure as much as he is a necessary conduit to arrive at various story points. (And not to criticize a child’s acting, but given that this is a critique, there are times Mack does not seem like the best choice for Zeitlin’s vision.)

Likewise, the older actors feel like last-minute replacements in their limited roles that match their limited acting skills. In addition, the new “mother” figure in the film – a deep sea creature that serves as the heart of the mythical island that Peter literally calls Mother – is a terrible metaphor for childhood/innocence and a lousy replacement for the role Wendy has in Barrie’s work. There are several plot discrepancies tied to the creature, which is a lot like the movie itself: An interesting but hodgepodge albatross that underdeveloped and misrepresentative of whatever it is supposed to represent.

Given the nearly decrepit pace the story moves at – coupled with the odd camera choices – Mack is the least of the film’s problems. Whereas Wendy aims to be ambitious, it often comes off as forced, odd for the sake of odd and at worst, completely non-compelling. It simply exists for its own sake with payoffs coming off so heavy-handed there is no inherent intrigue other than seeing how it ends.

These are all the reasons that Wendy is better off, like the Lost Boys themselves, staying missing from your movie viewing queue.

OVERALL RATING (OUT OF FOUR POSSIBLE BUCKETS OF POPCORN):

 

Take a Magical Trip to Neverland With Dayton Ballet and Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra

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Peter_Pan_Ballet_PhilharmonicOn Friday, March 20 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, March 21 at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.; and Sunday, March 22 at 3 p.m. in the Mead Theater of the Schuster Center, Dayton Ballet, in collaboration with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, will present Peter Pan, the fourth and final ballet of the 2014-2015 New Horizons Season. This unique presentation with live orchestra is also the fifth performance in the Kettering Health Network SuperPops Series.  The Signature Sponsor for this production is The Miriam Rosenthal Foundation for the Arts, and the Performance Sponsor is Premier Health.  Supporting Sponsors are Enterprise Roofing and Quantech Services, Inc.  The DPAA Innovation Partner is the DP&L Foundation – Powering Innovation in the Performing Arts.

Dayton Ballet’s Peter Pan will feature original choreography by Septime Webre, Artistic Director of The Washington Ballet, under the guidance of Dayton Ballet Artistic Director Karen Russo Burke. For this production of Peter Pan, Dayton Ballet joins forces with Artistic Director and Conductor Neal Gittleman and the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra to present the enchanting score by Carmon DeLeone.  Johanna Bernstein Wilt will be setting this ballet, having previously helped set it in several productions with ballet companies around the country. Dayton Ballet’s Sharon Neumeister will be the Rehearsal Assistant on this production.

The timeless story of Peter Pan extols the virtues of eternal youth, of keeping our childlike wonder, and of not taking the real world too seriously. The story of Peter Pan was written by J.M. Barrie over 100 years ago and has been retold over the years in various formats, from books to movies, from cartoons to musical theatre.  Just this past December the story was retold by NBC as a special live television production of the 1954 musical adaptation of Peter Pan.

Although the story itself has been around for over a century, the ballet version of this classic tale is relatively new.  In 2000, renowned choreographer Septime Webre was commissioned to create a new ballet version of Peter Pan.  Webre set out to design the ballet with two goals in mind. “One was to create a very ‘dancy’ production that would really challenge the dancers and their technique, and the other to connect to audiences of all ages,” said Webre. (www.pghcitypaper.com)

Septime Webre has indeed accomplished these goals in his story ballet version of Peter Pan.  The ballet includes many notable moments set to thrill audience members of any age.  The flying scenes for Peter, Wendy, John and Michael are magical and breath-taking.  There are spectacular solos for Peter and Wendy that are completely captivating, a high-energy opening dance for the Lost Boys, boisterous and bawdy scenes for the Pirates and Wenches, complete with real sword fighting, and a fantastic solo dance by the Crocodile.  This ballet is fun-filled and clever, rich with humor and including witty nods to classic ballets the audience will surely recognize.

“Peter Pan is a highly demanding story ballet that insists on larger-than-life character portrayals,” says Artistic Director Karen Russo Burke.  “The ballet is extremely well-crafted by Septime.  While the dancing is strenuous and intense, the ballet is hysterical and so much fun to perform!”

“Carmon DeLeone’s score for Peter Pan is brilliant, colorful, tuneful music,” adds DPO Artistic Director and Conductor Neal Gittleman.  “You’ll hear a little Prokofiev, a little Bach, a little John Williams, and a lot of wonderful original music, too. There are a lot of notes, but it will also be a lot of fun to play!”

The lively and dynamic dancing from all 19 dancers of Dayton Ballet and from dancers of Dayton Ballet II senior and junior companies, combined with the enchanting score played to perfection by Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, will make for a wonderful night of entertainment in the Schuster Center.

Tickets for Peter Pan range from $23 to $78 and are available at Ticket Center Stage (937) 228-3630 or online at www.daytonperformingarts.org.  Senior, teacher, student, and military discounts are available at the box office. For more information on this production or on other upcoming performances by Dayton Philharmonic, Dayton Opera and Dayton Ballet, visit www.daytonperformingarts.org.