Peter Pan [Original 1954 Broadway Cast]

by Mary Martin

Overview

James M. Barrie's 1904 play Peter Pan has been the subject of so many musical adaptations in such a short time that it seems worth pointing out that this one bears no relationship to the 1950 Broadway musical with songs by Leonard Bernstein or to the 1952 animated film with songs by Sammy Fain and Sammy Cahn. (Nor does it have anything to do with the musicals of the same name staged in 1905 or 1924, for that matter.) This one started out on the West Coast with a score by composer Mark "Moose" Charlap and lyricist Carolyn Leigh, but by the time it got to Broadway in October 1954, so many songs by composer Jule Styne and the lyrics team of Betty Comden and Adolph Green had been added that they got separate credit in the ads. (Trude Rittman provides some incidental music, for good measure.) Surprisingly, all those cooks make for an excellent meal, as Charlap and Leigh provide such memorable songs as "I've Gotta Crow," "I'm Flying," and "I Won't Grow Up," while Styne, Comden, and Green chip in with "Never Never Land" and Rittman contributes the various dance tunes that make Captain Hook (Cyril Ritchard) sound like a refugee from a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta. Of course, what really makes it all work is Mary Martin, who sounds as delighted as she could be to be playing the impish boy who can fly. Martin may be a stage veteran, but her Peter Pan is one of her most ingenuous creations, and she sets the tone among a cast full of children, including, toward the end, her own daughter Heller Halliday. So, although there have already been too many singing Peter Pans on-stage and onscreen, this may be the best one yet.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/04/2010
Label:	Masterworks
UPC:	0886975620128
catalogNumber:	756201
Rank:	9223

Tracks

1. Overture
2. Prologue
3. Tender Shepherd
4. I've Gotta Crow
5. Never Never Land
6. I'm Flying
7. Pirate Song
8. Hook's Tango
9. Indians
10. Wendy
11. Tarantella
12. I Won't Grow Up
13. Oh, My Mysterious Lady
14. Ugg-a-Wugg
15. Distant Melody
16. Captain Hook's Waltz
17. Finale: I've Gotta Crow / Tender Shepherd / I Won't Grow Up / Never Nev

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Mary Martin   Primary Artist,Vocals
Cyril Ritchard   Vocals
Sondra Lee   Vocals
John Newton   Vocals
Lucky Kargo   Vocals
Suzanne Luckey   Vocals
Frank Marasco   Vocals
John Tewkesbury   Vocals
Arthur Tookoyan   Vocals
Kathy Nolan   Vocals
Albert Linville   Vocals
Margalo Gillmore   Vocals
Joseph Stafford   Vocals
Heller Halliday   Vocals
Ian Tucker   Vocals
James White   Vocals
Robert Banas   Vocals
Richard Wyatt   Vocals
Robert Harrington   Vocals
Jackie Scholle   Vocals
Richard Winter   Vocals
Peter Pan Pit Orchestra   Performing Ensemble
Frank Bouley   Vocals
David Bean   Vocals
William Sumner   Vocals
Stanley Stenner   Vocals
Robert Vanselow   Vocals
Robert Piper   Vocals
Paris Theodore   Vocals
Lisa Lang   Vocals
Linda Dangcil   Vocals
George Lake   Vocals
Frank Lindsay   Vocals
Darryl Duran   Vocals

Technical Credits

Elmer Bernstein   Additional Music
Joe Carlton   Producer
Betty Comden   Songwriter,Song Music
Didier C. Deutsch   Liner Notes
Paul Goodman   Remastering Engineer
Adolph Green   Songwriter,Song Music
Hugo Winterhalter   Producer
Jule Styne   Composer
Bill Rosenfield   Original Liner Notes
Roxanne Slimak   Art Direction
Trude Rittman   Songwriter,Additional Music
Carolyn Leigh   Songwriter,Song Music
Mark "Moose" Charlap   Composer
Peter Elliott   Executive Producer
Elisabeth Ladwig   Graphic Design