tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7823625636675642409.post7362782756832900834..comments2024-03-14T04:07:39.792-07:00Comments on Earl Pomerantz: Just Thinking...: "A Belated 'Peter Pan - Live' Reaction"Earl Pomerantzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16963705121297866334noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7823625636675642409.post-37022718132267273012014-12-14T19:31:38.621-08:002014-12-14T19:31:38.621-08:00Bingo, Earl. No enchantment, and worse yet for Cap...Bingo, Earl. No enchantment, and worse yet for Captain Hook, no comedy. It's supposed to be fun. Cyril Richard was over-the-top. Christopher Walken was below-the-bottom in energy, fun, verve, style, and diction.<br /><br />The LA Times critic must be a pompous ass.<br /><br />Allison Williams forced perkiness was no match for Mary Martin's joy and exuberance.<br /><br />The repeat on NBC Friday night had abysmal ratings, which were well deserved.<br /><br />Candanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7823625636675642409.post-60127723709310000862014-12-12T16:45:08.053-08:002014-12-12T16:45:08.053-08:00"The Uses of Enchantment"
You make excel..."The Uses of Enchantment"<br />You make excellent points throughout this commentary. There was just no 'fun' in this production. I, too, loved this story as a child, enjoyed the Mary Martin/Cyril Richard version for its delight and whimsy, both qualities entirely absent in this weird rendition. <br />You must have made a terrific 'Smee, Mr. Pomerantz (just as you would have made a sensational Cowardly Lion, if it weren't for some Latin teachers and a teacher's pet named Urjo). You would have been a most worthy 'right-hand man' to your buddy Alan's well-received interpretation of Captain Hook in the Staff Show at Camp White Pine in 1968, when he craftily strode the outdoor stage replete in long pirate coat with lace sleeves and a formidable 'Arrrrgh-hook', beckoning his crew of assorted trippers and swim staff, "To the ship! To the ship", while they scattered to the winds.<br />Was there ever a more enchanting Tinkerbell than Jack Newman? All 6' of him, dressed in a tutu and fairy wings, lifting up the camper who played Peter Pan and 'flying' her across the stage while she belted out "I'm flying"? Everyone gasped at this awesome levitation.<br />As the capable assistant to the Director (later, his wife) I remember spending a summer afternoon pecking the lyrics to all the songs on dittos on his typewriter. That ditty, "Ugh-a-bug, ugh-a-bug, ugh-a-bug, ugh-a-bug, Wah!" still haunts my dreams. Not in a good way.<br />The audience of campers and staff were exhausted with laughter by the end of the show. There was something very magical about setting it at the edge of the forest, at dusk, too.<br />There was nothing magical about this TV version. Not the stiff and awkward flying poses, the frozen pisk of the 'hero', the lackluster Tink or, especially, the disinterested Captain Hook! The only person having fun in that show was the kid playing Michael. He made the others look like amateurs. There was a sense that they all just wanted to get it over with. As did I.<br />I couldn't watch the whole thing..I PVR'd and zipped through to the musical numbers, the acting was so wooden I had no patience. .<br />I felt like a parent forced to watch a lousy school production that my kid had a tiny part in. Only, as a former teacher, I can assure you, our school shows were far more entertaining than this was.<br />I bet your camp shows were better, too.Pidgehttp://pidgygordon.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.com