Evergreen stories in family musicals: 'Peter Pan' in Seattle; 'St. Louis' in Issaquah

To fill their playhouses this holiday season, two Seattle-area theaters are going back to tried-and-true tales that enchant generation after generation.

Seattle Children's Theatre is presenting "Peter Pan." And Issaquah's Village Theatre is taking on a live version of the classic Judy Garland movie musical, "Meet Me in St. Louis." Both qualify as chestnuts, yet with the right handling, they can still enchant.

"Peter Pan"

The strutting, soaring kid from Neverland has been winging it ever since Scottish writer J.M. Barrie wrote him into the 1902 storybook "The White Bird." A hit play about Peter followed in 1904, then more Peter Pan books, and the rest is history: The "lost boy," who never wanted to grow up, never has.

Peter Pan and his fairy sidekick, Tinker Bell, have flitted through many a local stage production, most recently a nonmusical outing by Book-It Repertory Theatre.

But SCT artistic director Linda Hartzell chose to stage the version she (and many a fellow baby boomer) knows best: the 1950s Broadway musical "Peter Pan." Its androgynous star, Mary Martin, won a Tony Award, then drew a record audience of more than 60 million viewers in the first of the show's numerous TV broadcasts.

"I loved it so much," Hartzell recalls, "I told my mom to leave the window open, because I really thought Peter Pan was coming for me."

Peter has often been played by a female, but Hartzell chose to cast SCT newcomer Eric Ankrim in the role, with Emily Chisholm as his new friend Wendy, and David Pichette as Peter's sworn enemy, the grandiose Captain Hook.

"Having read the books as a kid, I just think of Peter as a boy," said Hartzell. "Eric can sing and dance, and also be irascible and a little ornery, but still the guy everyone is enamored with."

Carey Wong, designer of many a dazzling SCT set, has come up with his own take on the London bedroom of Wendy and her brothers, and that place "where dreams are born" — Neverland.

Is there flight? "Yes, Peter and the Darling kids take flight," Hartzell assured — thanks to Flying By Foy, the theatrical outfit that has hoisted American Peter Pans since 1950, when they launched Mary Martin skyward.

"Meet Me in St. Louis"

If "Peter Pan" is quintessentially British, "Meet Me in St. Louis" is steeped in nostalgic Americana.

Based on the 1944 film culled from the stories of Sally Benson, the show is set against the backdrop of the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair and focuses on the close-knit Smith family, particularly love-struck daughter Esther. Garland owned the role on celluloid, singing such memorable tunes as "The Trolley Song" and "The Boy Next Door."

Village artistic head Steve Tomkins agrees that the 1989 stage version of the show, which ran for less than a year on Broadway and toured here, was sticky-schmaltzy.

He says the Village's production "is closer to the movie, though we have more dance numbers. I wanted to convey the exuberance of youth as much as possible. But the heart of the show is Esther."

Following in Garland's footsteps here is local native Ryah Nixon, a Roosevelt High grad, an alum of Village's Kidstage program and co-star of the company's recent presentation of the Elton John musical "Aida."

In addition to the right cast, Tomkins felt he needed the right home. "This is all about family, and I told our designer Steven Capone they must have this spectacular Victorian home to live in."

So how did it turn out? "It's utterly beautiful!" Tomkins exclaimed. "Honest to God, I want to live in this house."

Misha Berson: mberson@seattletimes.com