‘Peter Pan’ explores family, nostalgia and the magic of theater
The show includes familiar songs from the original Broadway production like “I’m Flying,” “I Gotta Crow,” “I Won’t Grow Up” and “Neverland,” as well as a new addition.
Kurt Perry has been playing Captain Hook’s right-hand man, Mr. Smee, in the touring production of “Peter Pan” since the show’s inception in August 2023.
It’s the longest stretch of time the 35-year-old Jewish actor has played the same character. He describes the experience as “joyful and rewarding” but also “challenging.”
“You’ve got to keep things fresh, especially with comedy,” said Perry, speaking by phone from the show’s Oklahoma City stop. “So every day, I have to spend a little time with him and dig a little deeper.”
The show will make its area premiere at the Benedum Center April 1-6, presented by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust as part of the 2024-2025 PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh Series.
Based on the beloved 1904 play by J.M. Barrie, “Peter Pan or The Boy Who Would Not Grow Up,” and the 1911 novel “Peter and Wendy,” the touring production is directed by Emmy Award winner Lonny Price (“Sunset Boulevard,” “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill”).
While “Peter Pan” is traditionally regarded as a children’s show, it is better described as a “family show,” Perry said.
“What I love about ‘Peter Pan’ is that it really is a family story,” he said. “It’s about a family, it’s about family relationships.”
And, as adults recall the story with nostalgia from their own childhoods, they “get to introduce the story to young people in their life. I think it’s a lovely opportunity for families to come together while seeing this show.”
Theatergoers of a certain age may recall the 1954 Broadway production with Mary Martin as Peter and Cyril Ritchard as Hook. That production later was televised by NBC with the same stars. Walt Disney Productions produced the animated feature “Peter Pan” in 1953.
The current iteration was updated by playwright Larissa FastHorse, a Tony nominee who reworked “a lot of the more problematic stuff in the way that the indigenous characters were treated, and giving Wendy sort of a little makeover,” Perry said.
The show includes familiar songs from the original Broadway production like “I’m Flying,” “I Gotta Crow,” “I Won’t Grow Up” and “Neverland,” as well as a new addition.
Perry is the grandson of a Holocaust survivor but didn’t come to appreciate his Jewish roots until he was an adult.
“It is sort of an odd journey to Judaism, as I like to refer to it,” he said. “My mother’s father was Jewish, but he lost his family in World War II, as so many of us have. My mother likes to say that she was raised with Jewish values, but not the religion, because [her father] felt that he didn’t want her to be put through what he went through, and he was scared of how antisemitism would affect her. And he didn’t talk about it for many years. It was not something that we talked about as a family, until he passed away and I got to read his journals and I found out a lot more about the family history, and I was able to sort of explore those connections.”
While in college, Perry “stumbled into a comparative religions class,” he said, and was assigned Judaism as his course of study.
“That was around the time that my grandfather passed and the universe sort of moved me to have this really powerful personal experience with my own family that I didn’t even know was an aspect of my person.”
He was moved to delve into the religion, he said, “to find a sense of identity and a sense of faith.”
Perry attended his first High Holiday service when he was 24 and now regularly celebrates Shabbat when he is not on tour.
One perk of touring, he said, is getting to explore new cities and meet new people. He is eager to come to Pittsburgh.
“Something I’ve learned traveling the country is that there are good people everywhere,” he said, “and seeing the joy that this show brings out for people — it is such a common human experience. That has been a real joy.”
The show, Perry continued, “is an opportunity to bring your kids to introduce them to the theater. The thing about theater that I feel is that theater teaches empathy, and it literally makes you walk in someone else’s shoes. I think that where we are today, the best lesson you can teach children is empathy. And I think this is an opportunity to introduce them to the magic of theater.” PJC
Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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