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Leonard Bernstein's 'Peter Pan' Now on Stage at Bard

Date Published: July 10, 2018

Leonard Bernstein’s Peter Pan. Wait, what? Bernstein wrote a version of Peter Pan?

Yes, kids, it’s all true. HE DID! And you’ve no doubt never seen it. Now on stage from now until July 22 as part of Bard SummerScape, you should go and check it out. The Fisher Center on the Bard campus is located in Annandale-on-Hudson.

In the summer of Bernstein retrospectives, this is a jewel by the composer that’s rarely been seen or heard. “Peter Pan,” with music and lyrics by Bernstein, was originally composed for a 1950 Broadway production. Directed by the internationally renowned Christopher Alden, the musical, filled with the composer’s shimmering score, reveals more to Barrie’s childhood tale. The always-inventive Bard SummerScape brings to the Hudson Valley a new production, specially commissioned for the worldwide celebration of Bernstein’s centenary year. Lenny’s work never gets old, but we can’t wait to see and hear something new (to most of us, anyway). Note that this isn’t your grandmother’s “Peter Pan.” Right up 

front, SummerScape states it’s suitable for audiences aged 12 and up.

“The kiss we never dared We'll dare in dreaming...”—“Dream With Me,” Leonard Bernstein, Peter Pan

Internationally renowned director Christopher Alden highlights a darker side to J. M. Barrie’s fantasy of childhood and the inner child in a psychologically gripping new production, by turns whimsical and sinister, transfigured with a joyous and shimmering score by Leonard Bernstein. Originally composed for a 1950 Broadway production, Bernstein’s Peter Pan songs have long lain like secret jewels, waiting to be rediscovered. Now Alden (revered for his New York City Opera production of Bernstein’s A Quiet Place) restores them to thrilling life in an intimate, contemporary staging, specially commissioned for the worldwide celebration of Bernstein’s centenary year.  

This smashing new production has both music and lyrics by Leonard Bernstein, and is indeed still based on the play by J. M. Barrie. It’s directed by Christopher Alden. It’s staged with Jack Ferver, Rona Figueroa, Erin Markey, William Michals, Peter Smith, Catherine Bloom '18, Milo Cramer '12, Jewel Evans '18, Alec Glass '18, and Charles Mai '18.
 
“Bewitching . . . a black comic pearl . . . poses precocious existential questions [with] pensive tenderness.”— New York Times on Bernstein’s score

July 20 at 7:30 pm
July 21 at 2 pm
July 21 at 7:30 pm
July 22 at 2 pm
July 22 at 7 pm

In the Fisher Center, LUMA Theater. Tickets start at $25; $5 tickets for Bard undergraduate and graduate students are made possible by the Passloff Pass and available in advance for select performances. Buy Tickets online.

Choreography by Jack Ferver
Music Direction by Michael A. Ferrara MM '15
Orchestrations by Garth Edwin Sunderland
Text Adaptation by Christopher Alden and Peter Littlefield
Scenic Design by Marsha Ginsberg
Costume Design by Terese Wadden
Lighting Design by JAX Messenger 
Sound Design by Stowe Nelson

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