Worth the Pryce

Just a little shout out about excellent actor Jonathan Pryce. He's currently playing the role of Captain Hook in Peter Pan the Show, which is the touring production of the new adaptation that began in London as Peter Pan at Kensington Gardens. (You might recall Bart and I went to London to see the historical stage show.) While I would not have thought of Mr. Pryce right off the bat to play Barrie's fearsome pirate lord with a claw, he's certainly got the talent and the power to do it. Especially given the presentation of Hook in this production.

Jonathan Pryce is always great in films and plays in two I especially like: The Adventures of Baron Munchausen and Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl.* He's in lots more worth seeing as well. And I am currently enjoying his singing. Yes, really. He played Guido in a concert performance of Nine, and you can bet that Bart has it. (I rather like "Guido's Song.")

So HOORAY for Mr. Pryce as the infamous Captain Hook, break a leg, sir!

Two side notes:

#1 My niece and nephew went to see Peter Pan the Show in San Francisco, where the touring of the U.S. began. The general consensus is that they liked it. However, I found it rather satisfying that they, too, were annoyed at the visible puppeteers (for Nana and other creatures.) Nice to know kids do have discriminating tastes. For as I mentioned in my review, although there is a time and place for the operators to be seen without ruining the 'magic' on stage (such as Chicago's Redmoon Theatre Company), it just seems to kill the mood in a showing of Peter Pan.

#2 I'd gone to Peter and Wendy to search for a fun description of Peter's first nemesis... and discovered an interesting bit of trivia instead. I'll let you in on it tomorrow.

* Yes, he also plays Governor Weatherby Swann in other PotC films. But let's face it, the first one is so far the best.