Peter Pan Live! : Miscast Walken Almost Sank this "Jolly Roger"

Miscast Walken Almost Sank this "Jolly Roger"

Christopher Walken was drastically miscast as Captain Hook, and his ghastly, pale appearance was shocking. For me, the saddest thing about Walken as Hook was his inability to dance. Walken started out as a dynamic hoofer on Broadway; for a thrilling taste see his tour de force in the Herbert Ross/Steve Martin movie musical Pennies from Heaven. I can only imagine that his dancing days are over, no doubt as a result of age and physical infirmity.

I first noticed this in the film version of the Broadway Musical Hairspray. Walken was sharply cast as the oddball joke-shop weirdo but John Travolta (in fat drag!) danced rings around him in their duet.

In Peter Pan Live!, Walken barely moved at all. The pirate chorus danced their asses off around him but he mostly stood there and struck the occasional pose. A few times he seemed to be teasing us with a little tap riff, and it seemed like he was going to bust loose but it never happened. His legs remained stiff throughout and I suspect arthritis in the knees to be the culprit.

At one point he did the worst thing a performer can do in the midst of a dance number: he sat down. Come to think of it, he played most of the part from that throne, where the Teleprompter lurked unseen.

He's always been an interesting, quirky actor with a very distinctive persona and dry humor, and the idea of underplaying Captain Hook may have been a good one (see Dustin Hoffman in Spielberg's Hook) -- but here Mr. Walken took underplaying to the point of doing nothing for the character to have any impact.

In the "Making Of" bytes, cast members expressed (scripted) raves on how brilliant Christopher Walken is even when he's doing absolutely nothing, he is so cool. In a brief interview, Walken said: "I dance a little, I sing a little. That's what I do!" And I'm afraid that this turned out to be literally true: he did very little of anything.

"The definitive Captain Hook for a new generation"? A pity. This Hook almost sank the show single-handed (pun intended). What saved it for me was the remarkable strength of Allison Williams and the energy and exuberance of the entire cast.


Doctor Mabuse, Evil Genius, King of Crime

Re: Miscast Walken Almost Sank this 'Jolly Roger'

Totally agree. I'm a HUGE Walken fan. I watchedthe program just because he was cast as Hook. I was let down when he wasnt Mr. Darling. Then I was let down by his poor performance - little dancing, dropping lines, and his weak delivery/characterisation/interpretation of Hook. I thought he'd be a hoot & bring new life to Peter Pan. He didn't deliver. The Director failed to "direct" Walken - perhaps he was too intimidated to direct such a huge star of Broadway & Hollywood; however, I place a lot of the blame on the Director for this mess.

By the way, I have 25 - almost 26 - years of live stage experience as an actor and the past five years as a stage director.

Elsewhere with the production . . .

The choreography, score, costumes, scenery, & set pieces were spot-on spectacular. The Lost Boys were way too old. All 3 Darling children were great. Allison Williams was a good, but not a perfect Pan, because she was not playful enough and didn't come off as a young boy.
Mrs. Darling was awesome.Tigerlilly was excellent. The climatic sword fight was pitiful, horrendous, laughably Ed Wood-like - it looked like 3rd Graders play fighting at recess. The bright spot: Mr. Smee stole the show!

Re: Miscast Walken Almost Sank this 'Jolly Roger'

Thanks for your input. I agree there was a lot that worked really well. Mrs. Darling was wonderful. I liked the kids, although IMO Wendy could have been stronger. Williams did her best but the role was misinterpreted, which I think was as much the fault of the director as anything.

Walken was entertaining to me just because it was hilarious. Like he was spoofing himself. I thought The Sound of Music was hilariously woeful and atrocious on many levels, so I didn't mind watching just to laugh at it. I hate to say it but it's true.

Re: Miscast Walken Almost Sank this "Jolly Roger"


In a brief interview, Walken said: "I dance a little, I sing a little. That's what I do!" And I'm afraid that this turned out to be literally true: he did very little of anything.

Yes, it what I thought too when I rewatch the behind the scenes, it was literally true.

The special event was awkward in good and bad unintentional ways, I found it more entertaining than The Sound of Music, which I like too.

Re: Miscast Walken Almost Sank this "Jolly Roger"

Indeed there were a lot of good reasons to consider him for the role. But ultimately it was a mistake, as the results clearly show.

The question must be, what happened behind the scenes?

Did the producers and director see how wrong this was earlier on and get forced to go ahead? Or did they fail to see it?

Re: Miscast Walken Almost Sank this 'Jolly Roger'

I thought Walken was the weak link... Persona was 'OK' but voice and singing were upstaged by Paul Schoeffler in the Cathy Rugby stage version. Recommend you watch that one, too. However...kudos to this live version for staging & technology.

Re: Miscast Walken Almost Sank this 'Jolly Roger'

Jsckman would have lifted this up to a higher level and got the ratings! Anybody who had a song&dance background would have been better than Walken. I wonder how he got the role.

Re: Miscast Walken Almost Sank this "Jolly Roger"

Seriously? Is that all you people are doing? Complaining about how weak you thought Walken's performance was? People, lighten up. He tried, an you could tell he was nervous.

Re: Miscast Walken Almost Sank this "Jolly Roger"


Seriously? Is that all you people are doing? Complaining about how weak you thought Walken's performance was? People, lighten up. He tried, an you could tell he was nervous.


These posts were made well over two weeks ago, and all the people who posted them are long gone. Try to keep up.

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Re: Miscast Walken Almost Sank this "Jolly Roger"

I do apologize. Huge Walken fan though.
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