Peter Pan may be the boy who wouldn’t grow up, but Cathy Rigby is the woman who won’t grow old. The gymnast-turned-actress has been playing Peter on and off in the beloved musical since its 1990 Broadway revival, and at 59, she’s still at it — even after her “farewell” tour in 2006.
From a distance — and at the cavernous Theater at Madison Square Garden, nearly everyone sees her from a distance — Rigby’s convincing enough as a boy with a cute case of ADD. Her rambunctious Peter can’t stop running, bouncing, tumbling, somersaulting and, of course, flying. Holding the iconic pose — chin high, hands on the hips, short sleeves revealing impressive biceps — Rigby is the butchest little thing in town. For an appropriate finishing touch, there’s the slightly raspy voice, powering through rather than charming us in.
A big part of the fun for adults attending this “Peter Pan” consists of marveling at the star’s fantastic condition. But the production itself hasn’t aged as well.
Essentially this is a pared-down, touring version of the show that earned a Tony nomination for Revival of a Musical in 1999. This means painted backdrops and cardboard walls — our entire row tensed up when Rigby flew into one and it started wobbling — and Tinkerbell as an epilepsy-inducing flickering light.
It also means that the cast, used to playing large auditoriums, telegraphs everything broadly. Except, oddly for Tom Hewitt (Dr. Frank N. Furter in the last Broadway revival of “The Rocky Horror Show”), whose largely comic Captain Hook makes Cap’n Crunch look scary. He’s a perfect match for the small crocodile — in this case, an actor in a costume with glowing red eyes, slithering away on a wheeled platform.
Director Glenn Casale and choreographer Patti Colombo mostly keep things moving, though it’s hard to shake the impression that we’re watching a series of amusement-park tableaux. The big number “Ugg-a-Wugg” stands out because it’s basically “Stomp” with Native Americans and Lost Boys.
Amid this pandemonium, it’s easy to forget how lovely many of the songs are. After all, the original score is by Carolyn Leigh and Moose Charlap, while Betty Comden, Adolph Green and Jule Styne contributed extra material. Those melodies still shine, embedded in our collective unconscious, so that when Peter explodes with “I’m Flying,” you’re right up there with him.