“Peter Pan Goes Wrong” Broadway Review: Things are going well when Neil Patrick Harris joins Mischief Makers

All is well in the world when Peter Pan goes wrong.

The latest flawless demonstration of a catastrophic farce conceived and executed by Britain’s Gift-to-the-World Mischief Theatre, Peter Pan goes wrong currently hanging out with Neil Patrick Harris, who fits into the ensemble so well that he almost seems part of the gang. This is a tribute to both of them.

Opening tonight at the Ethel Barrymore Theater on Broadway, Peter Pan goes wrong prove Mischief is hugely popular The part that goes wrong — which opened on Broadway in 2017 and remains in New York at the New World Stages Off Broadway — was no fluke. In fact, Mischief seems to have accomplished on stage what many movie studios have done on screen: building a franchise.

I like The game that goes wrong PPGW uses a play-within-a-play structure as a loving homage to theater and a knowing satire of the narcissism and fearlessness it takes to make it.

This time, the (fictional) Cornley Youth Theatre, an amateur (adult) group with more guts than talent, presents a (very) low-budget production of the JM Barrie classic. Peter Pan.

As the real audience rolls into the Barrymore, stagehands — or, spoiler alert if you need one, who Peter Pan goes wrong Artists portraying stagehands – power lines snaking eerily from the stage, where lights are to be turned on, across the audience and to outlets somewhere near the lobby.

We soon learn that Cornley’s most recent production – a revival of Oliver – suffered a terrible fate (a tall man, a small child, an obstacle, a car blocking the path of an ambulance, and, well, you get the point). Peter Pan will be Cornley’s chance for a comeback.

Everyone who saw it Play what goes wrong know what’s coming next: on-set malfunctions, actor trips (and worse), and injuries seem just a slammed door or a collapsed bunk bed away. Add the fly that makes Peter Pan hover and you have a recipe for high wire disasters and big laughs.

Peter Pan goes wrong adds a second (or third?) layer to the insane antics by providing storylines to various members of the Cornley cast: the actor who plays Peter has a relationship with the actor who plays Wendy, who barely realizes that the actor is in love, play the crocodile.

These storylines play out in more detail in Act Two, a bit of dramaturgy – that word itself becomes a good punchline – on Mischief’s part: the mistakes and interruptions, gasps before the intermission, can be a bit repetitive when Peter Pan goes wrong go ahead.

Co-written by Mischief Company members Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields, Peter Pan goes wrong Matthew Cavendish, Bianca Horn, Harry Kershaw, Chris Leask, Henry Lewis, Ellie Morris, Charlie Russell, Jonathan Sayer, Henry Shields, Greg Tannahill and Nancy Zamit are seen in various roles.

In his roles as narrator and often confused pirate, Harris once again proves himself to be one of Broadway’s smartest comics, adept at character studies, light-hearted slapstick and expert pitfalls. (Harris will be on the show until April 30; other special guests are expected to fill the role regularly after that.)

Other standouts from the excellent cast include Cavendish as the irrepressibly enthusiastic young actor Crocodile; Shields as the tyrannical Director/Capt. Hook; Zamit, whose rapidly changing routines from one character to another are almost stand-alone special effects; and Lewis as a tough co-director forced to endure the humiliation of playing the family pet.

Set on Simon Scullion’s wonderful, deceptively wobbly set (Roberto Surace designed the clever costumes), Peter Pan goes wrong is performed by Adam Meggido with the all-important precision, an abundance of good humor and endless nonsense.

Title: Peter Pan goes wrong
Location: Ethel Barrymore Theater on Broadway
Director: Adam Meggido
Form: Matthew Cavendish, Bianca Horn, Harry Kershaw, Chris Leask, Henry Lewis, Ellie Morris, Charlie Russell, Jonathan Sayer, Henry Shields, Greg Tannahill, Nancy Zamit
Time: 2 hours 5 minutes (including break)