Peter Pan Live! is a television special that was broadcast by NBC on
December 4, 2014. The special featured a live production of the 1954
musical adaptation of Peter Pan, televised from Grumman Studios in
Bethpage, New York, starring Allison Williams in the title role and
Christopher Walken as Captain Hook.The production was a follow-up to
The Sound of Music Live!â€"a similar adaptation of the 1959 play The
Sound of Music which aired on NBC in December 2013 and brought the
network's highest Thursday-night ratings since 2004. NBC's
entertainment head Bob Greenblatt would sign Craig Zadan and Neil
Meronâ€"who served as the executive producers of the special, to
produce another live musical for the 2014 holiday season.
Additionally, the production served as a follow-up to three
productions of Peter Pan produced for NBC in 1955, 1956, and 1960 that
featured cast members from its original Broadway run. While similar in
content to the original, the version of Peter Pan featured in the
special contained revisions to its book to emphasize the character of
Captain Hook, along with additional songs from its revivals, new songs
adapted from the musicals Do Re Mi and Say, Darling, and the
restoration of a song that had been cut from the musical before its
original Broadway premiere.In December 2013, NBC presented The Sound
of Music Live!â€"a live adaptation of the Broadway musical The Sound
of Music that starred country music performer and singer Carrie
Underwood and was produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron. After
bringing NBC's highest Thursday night ratings for entertainment
programming since 2004, NBC's entertainment head Bob Greenblatt
announced that the network would present another live musical for the
2014 holiday season, and that it had signed Meron and Zadan on to
continue their role as producers. Greenblatt felt that there were
enough recognizable, family-friendly musicals to make live musicals an
annual tradition, and noted that various theatrical rightsholders had
expressed interest in having their musicals adapted for television in
this manner. In January 2014, NBC announced that its next musical
would be an adaptation of the 1954 musical Peter Pan. This would not
be the first time that NBC had broadcast a live production of Peter
Pan, as a presentation featuring Mary Martin, Cyril Ritchard, and its
original Broadway cast was presented by NBC on March 7, 1955, as part
of the anthology series Producers' Showcase. The telecast, produced by
Fred Coe, was one of the highest-rated programs in the early history
of television, Martin and Ritchard would reprise their roles in
another live presentation in 1956, along with a color presentation in
1960 that was videotaped and rebroadcast several times
afterwards.Produced on a $10 million budget and broadcast live from
the Grumman Studios in Bethpage, New York, the staff from The Sound of
Music Live! was carried over to Peter Pan, including Zadan and Meron,
along with David Chase as music director and Derek McLane as
production designer. Whilst producing The Sound of Music Live!, Zadan
and Meron shared a fondness for creating what Meron described as
"moments of theatricality"â€"a practice that carried over into Peter
Pan Live!. Meron emphasized that the production would not be bound to
the limitations of a traditional stage setting, allowing for larger
sets, and "dynamic" camera angles and flying sequences. In total, he
described the production as a "total balls-out musical." The
production employed a CGI version of Tinker Bell: rendered live and
controlled by a technician, it expressed emotions and thoughts by
changing its size and color. Peter Pan Live! Biography, NetWorth, Height, Age, Weight, Family, Married, Son, Daughter