WOW!
If you thought The Play That Goes Wrong set a laugh record at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, that record has now been broken by the even wilder, even wackier, even funnier Peter Pan Goes Wrong.
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The premise behind PPGW is the same one that made its predecessor a McCoy Rigby Entertainment smash this past January, namely that the fictional Cornley University Drama Society has once again bitten off more than it can chew in attempting to put on a show without the technical skills or talent know-how to prevent one stage disaster after another from taking place.
This time round, it’s a much beloved children’s classic that goes wrong, very wrong, a tale that’s familiar to anyone who’s read the J.M. Barrie classic, watched its Disney animated screen adaptation, or seen the one-and-only Cathy Rigby flying high above the Broadway and La Mirada Theatre stages.
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In Peter Pan Goes Wrong, it’s Broadway vet Steven Booth who defies gravity as the titular hero whose late-night visit to a London home is just the beginning of an unforgettable adventure for the Darling offspring: Wendy (Regina Fernandez), John (Reggie De Leon), and Michael (Nick Apostolina), accompanied by fairy Tinker Bell (Nicole Parker, looking suspiciously like both Mrs. Darling and Darling maid Lisa) on a journey to Neverland, where the dastardly Captain Hook (Josh Grisetti, looking suspiciously like Mr. Darling) reigns supreme.
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Completing the cast of characters are Trent Mill as pirate Sharkey, Darling family pooch Nana, and Peter Pan’s black unitarded shadow along with Ixchel Valiente as Neverland waif Tootles, Jamie Morgan as Peter Pan co-director Trevor, Lewis Pardo as stagehand Gill, and none other than Cathy Rigby herself as the evening’s narrator.
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And if a series of TV stars (Bradley Whitford, Daniel Dae Kim, and Neil Patrick Harris) only popped in occasionally to set the scene for each new scene when the Peter Pan Goes Wrong tour played the Ahmanson a couple years back, La Mirada audiences also get to savor Rigby’s comedic gifts as mustachioed pirate Cecco, and that’s not all.
As Peter Pan Goes Wrong’s title suggests, if anything could possibly go haywire in bringing J.M. Barry’s classic tale from page to stage, you can rest assured it will.
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Props are either missing or they malfunction, lighting cues come either too early or too late (that is when there’s not a total blackout), backstage mikes that are supposed to be muted aren’t, pooches get stuck in doggy doors, unexpected injuries necessitate last-minute cast replacements, and woe befall anyone who attempts to fly.
All of this adds up to two hours of non-stop hilarity thanks to Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shield’s brilliantly inventive script, Eric Petersen’s inspired direction, an absolutely brilliant cast, and a crackerjack design team.
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Booth is an absolute delight as the stalwart but accident-prone Peter, De Leon is a hoot as an actor who’ll repeat anything he hears through his headphones, Fernandez makes for the winsomest and spunkiest of Wendys (and doubles as fight captain), and Apostolina could not be more adorable as Michael and more.
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Grisetti chews the scenery like nobody’s business as the deliciously dastardly Hook, Parker’s trio of characters rival her Fanny Brice in unrestrained comedic brilliance, and Trent Mills has never been funnier than he is as a pirate, a pooch, and a gigantesque shadow.
Add to the above Morgan’s droll, Yorkshire-accented Stage Manager (and last-minute Understudy), Pardo earning his own abundance of laughs as a stagehand enlisted to do double and maybe even triple duty, and Valiente a treat as the most mishap-prone of Tootles and you’ve got the year’s best slapstick ensemble.
Not only does the entire cast prove themselves physical comedy aces, you just might find yourself thinking you’re seeing Peter Pan Goes Wrong: The Musical given the singing chops they display (harmonizing to music by John Blaylock) under Gabrielle Maldonado’s vocal supervision and the sprightly dance moves that choreographer Christine Negherbon has them they executing.
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Oh, and if it’s flying you want to see, Paul Rubin once again proves himself best in the biz, though this time round with a decidedly comic spin because in Peter Pan Goes Wrong, even the aerial feats go very very wrong.
Last but not least, never has a production design team done more to see that their creations fall to pieces in the most ingenious of ways than scenic designer Stephen Gifford, costume designer Adam Ramirez, lighting designer Steven Young, hair and wig designer Katie McCoy Yagen, properties designer Kevin Williams, and sound designer Josh Bessom.
Carly Jibson is assistant director. Casting is by Lindsay Brooks. Bella Hicks, Grant Hodges, and Danny Montooth are swings.
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Additional program credits are shared by Eric S. Elias (pyrotechnic design), Michael Polak (fight coordinator), Caitlin Muelder (dialect coach), Charles Glaudini (associate sound design), Kevin Clowes (technical director), and more.
Phil Gold is production stage manager and Courtney Wigderson and Megan Elizabeth Reed are assistant stage managers. David Elzer is publicist.
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Thanksgiving may still be nearly a month away, but audiences can begin giving thanks this very minute that Peter Pan Goes Wrong has arrived in La Mirada with the absolute best pre-Thanksgiving gift of all, the gift of laughter.
Not only that, but you’ll get a curtain-call bonus that will have you cheering like nobody’s business to the most glorious of high-flying surprises.
La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Boulevard, La Mirada. Through October 16. Thursdays at 7:30, Fridays at 8:00, Saturdays at 2:00 and 8:00, and Sundays at 1:30 and 6:30.
www.lamiradatheatre.com
–Steven Stanley
November 1, 2025
Photos: Jason Niedle/TETHOS
