Finding Neverland, with music and lyrics by Gary Barlow and Eliot Kennedy and a book by James Graham, follows playwright J.M. Barrie through a creative rut and into a friendship with the widowed Sylvia Llewelyn Davies and her four young sons. Playing with them, Barrie finds the spark for Peter Pan, even as the theater world around him doubts him.
Triune Entertainment’s staging, directed by Renée De Ponte, is at its best when it trusts imagination over spectacle. De Ponte brings the show’s fanciful world to life with warmth and clarity, and she meets the challenge of a 27-person cast, sometimes all onstage at once, with staging that stays readable instead of chaotic. Choreography by Abby Rozmajzi and Abby Chaumont is top-notch, and the ensemble commits fully to it. Jack Tessier’s lighting is seamless, supporting each shift between Barrie’s London and his imagination without calling attention to itself.
The evening’s effortless star is Jennifer Ayers as Sylvia. Her singing voice is a true standout, and her honest, unforced acting gives the show its emotional center. Brian Donahue is spot-on as Barrie, with a consistent dialect and an acting style full of heart. He sometimes struggles with the vocal range the role demands, and in some sung passages he becomes difficult to hear and understand. Brad Broemmel is fun to watch as Frohman and Captain Hook, commanding the stage with obvious relish, though his dialect wavers throughout. Monica Kelly has the acting chops for Mrs. du Maurier and wisely sidesteps presentational choices, though she occasionally seems to lack confidence in her songs, and her dialect slips at times. Her scenes with Ayers are among the best in the show.
The Davies boys, including Peter, all appear to be about the same age, which occasionally disrupted my suspension of disbelief, since the story presents them as brothers of varying ages. Casting children who can handle roles like these is hard, and the young actors do well. Porthos the dog is a very good boy, though I couldn’t find his name in the program.
The most inventive moments come when the production leans into imagination. The staging of “My Imagination” is great. “Circus of Your Mind” is the highlight of the evening, with strong choices and bold staging, though Frohman was noticeably off rhythm with the backing track at its start. “Play,” with the full ensemble involved, is another high point. I wished for more of this kind of invention and less conventional stylization elsewhere. In some of the larger numbers, the background ensemble’s presentational choices clashed with the realism of the scene and became distracting.
Sound is where the production runs into trouble. Pairing recorded accompaniment with live singers is tricky, and at times the balance between voices and track was off. More noticeable were the body microphones. By my count, on more than eight occasions an actor’s mic was dead until it came on mid-scene. With every other mic working, the lapses stood out. This is early in the run, and I expect the crew will tighten it up.
The show’s other issue is the writing, not the performance. At two and a half hours, not including the 15-minute intermission, Finding Neverland feels long, and some numbers are redundant, restating what the story has already established instead of moving it forward. The cast and creative team do what they can with that material and often elevate it.
Triune’s production doesn’t fix the show’s structural problems, but it delivers what matters most: sincerity, a cast that clearly cares about the story, and a few moments of real theatrical magic. Once the sound settles, it will be an even stronger evening.
Running Time: Approximately two hours and 30 minutes, with a 15-minute intermission.
Finding Neverland plays through November 1, 2026, presented by Triune Entertainment LLC, performing at Journey Theatre, 4175 Bludau Dr, Warrenton, VA. Purchase tickets ($27 for adults, $23 for children) online or at the door.
