'Peter Pan Live!': How it upended hate-watchers' expectations
'The Sound of Music Live!,' NBC's previous live musical production, received poor reviews but huge ratings. 'Pan' surprised many by being a fairly good show, with even critics who disliked it admitting that it was better than 'Music.'
'The Sound of Music Live!,' NBC's previous live musical production, received poor reviews but huge ratings. 'Pan' surprised many by being a fairly good show, with even critics who disliked it admitting that it was better than 'Music.'
Last year, more than 18 million viewers tuned into NBC鈥檚 production 鈥淭he Sound of Music Live!,鈥� making it a ratings hit for the network. But it was a guilty pleasure for many viewers: many critics disliked the production, with Associated Press critic Mark Kennedy writing that 鈥渢he only real problem was the real reason most people tuned in: Carrie Underwood鈥� [there was] zero chemistry with her love interest and lacked any intensity or shading.鈥� Hank Stuever of the Washington Post called Underwood 鈥渁s flat as the label on a Swiss Miss package of cocoa.鈥�
This year, however, was a different story. Star Allison Williams insisted before the broadcast of NBC鈥檚 newest musical, 鈥淧eter Pan Live!,鈥� that 鈥淧an鈥� can鈥檛 be 鈥渉ate-watched鈥� the way 鈥淢usic鈥� was. 鈥溾�橮eter Pan,鈥� you cannot watch cynically,鈥� Williams, who portrayed the Boy Who Wouldn鈥檛 Grow Up, told Us Weekly before the broadcast.
And some critics agree with her post-broadcast, writing that the quality of the 鈥淧an鈥� production was far above last year鈥檚 鈥淢usic.鈥� 鈥溌燦BC鈥� acquitted itself worthily, earnestly, sometimes ploddingly and, at a few golden moments, magically,鈥� Deadline writer Jeremy Gerard wrote of the show. 鈥淚f you were prepared to hoot and howl over the casting of聽Allison Williams鈥� well, your snark went unrequited. This was a much better production than last year鈥檚聽Sound Of Music Live!鈥� Gerard praised the rest of the cast as well as Williams.
Entertainment Weekly writer Melissa Maerz agreed, writing, 鈥淪omething incredible happened.聽Peter Pan Live!聽wasn鈥檛 an epic failure. It was something much more shocking to the American public. It was鈥� fine. Totally fine.聽Just as I鈥檇 suspected. Nothing spectacular. But nothing so embarrassing聽as NBC鈥檚 live production of聽The Sound of Music鈥� Maybe the most surprising聽thing about聽Peter Pan Live!聽was that it largely聽wiped the spite off Twitter for a few hours.鈥� USA Today critic Mark Bianco was also mostly won over, writing, 鈥淭hursday's live musical on NBC didn't always soar, but it did generally manage to stay off the ground."
Not all reviewers agreed about the overall quality of the show 鈥� Kennedy wrote that 鈥淧an鈥� 鈥渘eeded a lot more fairy dust鈥� [it] was an oddly ponderous, disconnected, disjointed and jerky mess.鈥� However, he noted, 鈥淭o be sure, the new show lifted the bar technically, making "The Sound of Music Live!" seem like summer stock in comparison.鈥�
If NBC's live productions keep improving, be prepared to be wowed by their next scheduled musical, "The Music Man."