Scottish playwright J.M. Barrie wrote the now-classic adventure tale of Peter Pan as a play for children in 1904. He transformed it into a novel in 1911.
The story has spawned dozens of literary, theatrical, film and TV adaptations and incarnations, among them a 1953 Disney animated film, a 1954 Broadway musical starring Mary Martin - which was filmed for television - filmmaker Stephen Spielberg’s 1991 live-action sequel, Hook, and recently, Peter and the Starcatchers, a prequel based on a novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, which opened on Broadway last month.
Critically acclaimed contemporary choreographer Trey McIntyre set the story to dance in 2002 when his full-length work premiered with the Houston Ballet. Now, as Pennsylvania Ballet stages McIntyre’s Peter Pan, WRTI’s Susan Lewis considers the boy who wouldn’t grow up, and how dance recreates the magic of flight.
