Amanda Green Revises Trunk Songs and Pens Additions for Peter Pan Live!; "Ugg-a-Wugg" Also Given Makeover | Playbill

News Amanda Green Revises Trunk Songs and Pens Additions for Peter Pan Live!; "Ugg-a-Wugg" Also Given Makeover Amanda Green, the daughter of one of Peter Pan's original lyricists, Adolph Green, and a Tony nominee for the score of Hands on a Hardbody, has been enlisted by the creative team of NBC's Peter Pan Live! to expand the musical's score.

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Amanda Green

According to Entertainment Weekly, executive producer Neil Meron and the creative team behind Peter Pan sifted through the songbook of Jule Styne, Betty Comden and Green for songs they could adapt and expand upon for Pan.

New songs include "Vengeance," an entrance song for Captain Hook (Christopher Walken), adapted from "Ambition" from the musical Do Re Mi; "Only Pretend," a song for Wendy (Taylor Louderman) about her feelings for Peter Pan, adapted from "I Know About Love" from Do Re Mi; and "A Wonderful World Without Peter," a duel song between Hook and Peter (Allison Williams), adapted from "Something's Always Happening On The River" from Say Darling.

There will also be a reprise of "Only Pretend" for Kelli O'Hara (who plays Mrs. Darling) and "When I Went Home," a song for Peter by Moose Charlap and Carolyn Leigh that appeared in the 1954 out-of-town tryout.

Not in the NBC production is "Oh My Mysterious Lady," a song in the musical that was written for Mary Martin.

Meron said that the new songs "fleshed out the show" and "deepened the characters." He described the process of finding songs to transform as an "excavation mission" for him, musical director David Chase and Amanda Green. He told EW, "We were looking for that type of melody that we loved, that we thought would fit into the fabric of Peter Pan, which led us to shows like Say Darling and Do Re Mi."

Additionally, the second-act number "Ugg-a-Wugg," a song for Peter Pan and Tiger Lily, which shows the opposing worlds of the Indians and the Lost Boys, has been updated — due to lyrics and phrases that have been deemed offensive in recent years.

The song, now titled "True Blood Brothers" (a lyric in the song's original version), replaces lyrics such as "ugg-a-wugg" and "gugg-a-bluck" with traditional Native American terms that have been approved by Native American consultant Jerod Tate. "Now and forever, this will hopefully be the version [in the show]," Meron said.

The one-night-only event will air Dec. 4 at 8 PM.

Click here for behind-the-scenes footage and more.

PHOTO EXCLUSIVE: Ryan Steele Takes Us to Neverland! A Day With the Lost Boys, Pirates, Peter, Smee and Wendy on the Peter Pan Live! Rehearsal Stage

 
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