Prior to casting a version of Peter Pan, the most important decision producers need to make is whether or not to cast a male or a female to play the boy who refuses to grow up. After waffling back and forth, NBC ultimately settled on the female route for its upcoming musical adaptation. More specifically, they settled on Girls star Allison Williams, and you can check out the first official photograph of her dressed as the beloved character below…
The serious upshot to hiring a female to play Peter Pan is you can look for women who are quite a bit older. An overwhelming majority of men who hit twenty or so lose that youthful, boyishness in their faces. They become a bit too thick and wide in the shoulders and a bit too lumbering in their movements to pull off portraying someone who needs to be light and free. A lot of women, however, can pull it off if they cut their hair and dress a certain way.
Now, I’m not saying Allison Williams looks like a boy in that picture. She’s still clearly a beautiful woman, but it’s close enough where most viewers can take the plunge and just go with it. Considering the basic story requires that anyway, it’s hard to imagine many people will have issues. Besides, apart from some light flirting between Peter and Wendy and some Tinkerbell, Tiger Lily and mermaid sexuality, Peter Pan really isn’t that interested in sex.
With Christopher Walken onboard to lead a superb supporting cast and plenty of good buzz from the high ratings and above-average reviews from last year’s Sound Of Music performance, it’s hard not to be excited about what we could see when the live event happens on December 4th.
There are roughly three months of rehearsals until the big day. Tha should be just enough time to turn the finished product into something really special. Given all the beloved adaptations of Peter Pan that have already happened, mediocre isn’t going to cut it either. It’s time to go big or go home.
