Kenneth
Jones Playbill
On-Line
Cathy
Rigby's farewell appearance in the musical Peter Pan is
expected to be seen on Broadway in late 2005, producer Tom McCoy
told Playbill On-Line.
Currently
flying high in a touring revival that coincides with the 100
anniversary of the creation of J.M. Barrie's boy who wouldn't
grow up, former Olympic champion Rigby is expected cap off the
tour with a limited Broadway engagement between Thanksgiving
2005 and January 2006.
Tiny,
nimble and acrobatic, the fiftysomething Rigby earlier announced
this would be her last time in the green tights. Her Capt. Hook
in the current tour is Howard McGillin, a veteran of Broadway's Anything
Goes and The Phantom of the Opera.
For
one of her several trips to Broadway in the role, Rigby was Tony
Award-nominated. The 1954 musical by Carolyn Leigh, Moose
Charlap, J.M. Barrie, Jule Styne, Betty Comden and Adolph Green
first starred Mary Martin (who also starred in a popular TV
version of the show). A 1979 revival starred Sandy Duncan. In
the 1980s and 1990s, however, Rigby was most identified with the
role, playing it on tour and on Broadway.
Critics
have embraced Rigby's athletic work as Peter. The creativity of
the production - put together in recent years by McCoy-Rigby
Entertainment, La Mirada Theatre, the Nederlanders and other
producing partners - has also been well-reviewed. Under the
direction of Glenn Casale and choreographer Patti Colombo,
scenes from the original Barrie play were added to the
McCoy-Rigby staging, some conventions of the original production
(like dancing animals) were cut, the Indian number known as
"Ugg-a-Wugg" was reinvented as a percussive dance that
trimmed out offensive "redskin" references.
For
many children, the musical Peter Pan represented a first
brush with the magic of musical theatre; the combination of
singing, dancing and flying on wires makes the show
unforgettable for some children.
"We
definitely have plans to go back to Broadway beginning before
the Thanksgiving holidays through the New Year, a seven or eight
week period," McCoy told Playbill On-Line. "The
Nederlanders are the partners on this show; hopefully we'll be
in a Nederlander theatre, although theatre availability isn't
known right now. We have every intention on taking it into New
York."
Maestro
Review of Peter Pan
Peter
Pan Website
Playbill
Website
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