The opening of "Finding Neverland" at the Orpheum Theatre reminds us that "Peter Pan," the immortal play by Sir J.M. Barrie, has been the basis of oh so many productions. Disney, Comden and Green, Jule Styne, Mary Martin, even Johnny Depp have all taken their crack at it. So did composer Leonard Bernstein, who wrote music and lyrics for a musical "Peter Pan" that opened on Broadway in 1950 with Jean Arthur and Boris Karloff as Wendy and Captain Hook. It was soon eclipsed by the Styne version that went on to attain classic status, and then by the Disneyfied Pan. Today it's hardly remembered.
But in 2005 the score, restored and conducted by Alexander Frey, with Broadway singers Linda Eder and Daniel Narducci as Wendy and Captain Hook, was committed to disc (Koch International Classics), so Out There has the obscure musical treasure in hand. There are only a few songs (none for Peter, nor for John or Michael), and some incidental music, but Bernstein aficionados will find it worth a listen.
"Who Am I?" is a lullaby Wendy sings to the children as they drift off to sleep. "Oh who on earth am I?/Did I ever live as a mountain lion or as a fly?/My friends only think of fun,/They're all such incurable tots./Can I be the only one/Who thinks these mysterious thoughts?"
In the "Pirate Song" Bernstein has some fun with his professional colleagues when his pirates pride themselves as being "the evilest creatures in all the earth!/We are eviler far than the tenors are./It is true that the basses have eviler faces, but we are more evil inside."
"Build My House" foreshadows "Make Our Garden Grow" from Bernstein's Candide. "Captain Hook's Soliloquy" is a ballsy brag that points to the Sharks and Jets soon to come in "West Side Story." Most of the rest of the score consists of ambient pieces, entrance music and orchestrations, but even this is of interest, such as Tinkerbell's signature tune, or the "Shadow Dance," in which "Wendy sews Peter's shadow on him. He dances for joy."
OK, "West Side Story" this is not. It's not "On the Town" or "Wonderful Town," either. But in the realm of Bernstein curiosities, the music and lyrics to "Peter Pan" are a timeless treat.