Introduction Maude Adams thought she was going to be playing Wendy, but she ended up being Peter Pan. Very early on the play had a little bit of difficult since the adults in the audience couldn't seem to understand what was going on, while the children in the audience absolutely loved it. Once the media explained about the play and word-of-mouth got around, then even the adults got into the spirit of the play. Some critics didn't like the play itself and felt Frohman was wasting Maude Adam's talents on it; others took the opposite view. One of the most famous people of the time made this comment about the play: It is my belief that Peter Pan is a great and refining and uplifting benefaction to this sordid and money-made age, and that the next best play on the boards is a long way behind it as long as you play Peter. The person? Mark Twain. This is the book that you need to get if you want to know about the origins of Peter Pan, and the various people who played Peter Pan through history, up to and including the movie versions of Peter Pan. There is an entire chapter about Charles Frohman, and an entire one about Maude Adams in the book. I'll just point out some of the highlights, as this is a book you'll probably want to buy.
1. Charles Frohman never wrote a book entitled Peter Pan. The New York Times October 18, 1905. Maude Adams was warmly received by a crowded house tonight at the National Theater, where she presented J. M. Barrie's five-act play, 'Peter Pan.' Her success was unmistakable and a large part of the audience was wildly enthusiastic, but so peculiar and unconventional is Mr. Barrie's play that another portion of the audience sat silent and mystified and went out, audibly declaring that they could not understand what it was about. The reason for this mixed verdict is that Mr. Barrie has moved so entirely out of conventional lines. He calls on his hearers to place themselves in the mental attitude they occupied when children. it is not a fairy play, a children's play; it is a play which the auditor is compelled to accept a wild riot of imagination as natural and reasonable. ===== New York Times, Nov. 7, 1905.: It would be impossible to name any one who could meet the requirements as Maude Adams has done. Her frail, delicate personality has taken on, the last two or three years, just enough of the more material substance to make her Peter Pan in appearance exactly the being that Mr. Barrie has conceived. There is the lightness of Ariel is her movements, and the grace of Puck; half spirit and half human, she has the gossamer, fairylike freedom of the one and the human heart-throb of the other. ===== The Evening Post Nov. 7, 1905: Miss Maude Adams fit the part of Peter wonderfully well, without attempting to depart from her natural manner. She expresses, with curious felicity, the innocence, the loving instinct, and the natural yearnings of the undeveloped being which the author has conceived. She played with just the right degree of mingled earnestness and simplicity, and touched the occasional notes of gentle pathos with more skill and nice sympathy. ===== The Theatre, Dec. 1905: There was not a flaw in her performance of the title role. She was, in turn, elfish, wistful, tender, joyous, sad. She danced and tripped, whistled and sang as gaily as the rest of the children, and invested the part with so much charm, poetry and atmosphere that it would be difficult to conceive of the part being better played. ===== The Salt Lake Herald, April 1, 1906. FROM BEHIND THE CURTAIN. Scarcely a day goes by that Miss Maude Adams does not receive a half dozen letters about 'Sally in Our Alley,' the old song which she sings in one scene of Peter Pan. While these letters make a request it is usually that Miss Adams shall sing a particular verse of 'Sally in Our Alley.' The song, it seems, is half a century or more old. Like all folk songs, its verse have grown as it has been passed from mouth to mouth. In Palgrave's 'Golden Treasury of Songs and Lyrics' the ballad is printed in four stanzas, but Miss Adams, in singing it in this year's play has brought out the interesting fact that the little tune has sung its way into several more metrical thoughts. Many of the letter writers assert that they can 'recall their mothers singing such and such a verse,' which they inclose with the request that the actress sing it on a certain night in 'Peter Pan.' The request is never refused. ===== ===== The Salt Lake Herald, June 4, 1907. SALT LAKE PEOPLE WELCOME MAUDE ADAMS HOME AGAIN. Talented Actress Greeted by Tremendous Audience in Theatre - Fairy Play Scores a Great Success. At first the applause was all for the little girl who went away from home a long, long time ago and won her way into the hearts of the strangers in the far country to which she traveled. Her own people wanted
her to know that they were glad she had come back to them; they wanted her to know that in their hearts a sacred corner had always been reserved for her. And so, as she leaped lightly through the window upon the darkened stage, they welcomed her. If her voice was just a little faint as she spoke her opening lines, if her lips quivered, if in her eyes there shone a hint of tears be sure it was not the actress who stood upon the stage. It was Maude Adams, the little girl who had come back from the far country, back to her own people. She was glad to be back, this little girl who wore last night the garb of Peter Pan. she said so with her eyes, her hands, her heart. And then the play went on. After a time Maude Adams was forgotten. Recollection of the girl whose fame is now secure for all time was blotted from the memory as a mark is sponged from a child's slate. In the character of Peter Pan her identity was submerged and interest in the woman changed to interest in the fortune of the boy who ran away and lived in Never Never Land, where there is no such thing as growing up. But in the beginning, and at the end, and as the curtain fell upon each act, she was Maude Adams again, again among her own. It has been two years since Miss Adams last came home. She came then as the bewitching Lady Babbie in 'The Little Minister.' Two years ago she was welcomed as never actress was welcomed in the Salt Lake theater. The scene last night was a replica of that other time. The great audience that filled every seat in the theater, perhaps the greatest audience of the season from many standpoints, awaited her coming with an interest so keen that it was all but breathless. And when she came the applause crashed out in one spontaneous roar that lasted half a minute. The stage was almost in darkness, for the children had been put to bed in the nursery and Peter had come in to look for his shadow that was lost before the play began. In a moment, though, the lights flashed up and Miss Adams stood there, in her boy's dress, more winsome than ever. With the first gurgling, happy little laugh as she found her shadow and tried to fasten it on contained a note of joy that was no counterfeit. It said as plainly as words could have said, 'I am glad to be home.' Nor was she happier for the welcome than were the people who so gladly gave it to her. But at last, as has been said, the interest in the character and in the play become so strong that the personality was for the moment forgotten. It is difficult to describe 'Peter Pan' as Maude Adams presents it. One must be a child again, one must believe in fairies. Ah, and who wouldn't believe in the fairies of 'Peter Pan?' They are so the fairies of our childhood. It is hard to understand how anybody who was born a baby-and a great many people were born babies-can fail to enter into the spirit of the play. Peter tells how the fairies were born. 'Every time a baby laughs,' he says, 'a fairy is born. And every time a child says I don't believe in fairies, a fairy dies.' It is true. There can be no manner of doubt about it, though, of course, no child ever said 'I don't believe in fairies.' That's the only impossible thing about the play. And no grown person ever said anything of the kind, either. If you don't believe this is gospel, go to see Maude Adams in 'Peter Pan' and let the glorious truth soak through your world-hardened crust. Why, everybody in the house last night surely believed in them. Else why did they applaud so hard when Peter, to save the life of poor Tinker Bell, asked them to signify their believe by applauding or waving handkerchiefs? If Peter had asked them to stand up on their seats they would have stood, because they could not let Tinker Bell die for lack of faith on their part. Who but fairies could have saved the children from the ferocious pirates after the pirates had overcome the friendly Indians? Who but fairies could have taught the children to fly, and who else could have brought them safely back to their father and mother? It is absurd to doubt for a moment. Of the art of Miss Adams it need only be said there is no art whatever about her work. She is as natural as the flowers, the green fields and the running brooks. She ran away to Never Never Land and we know that she will always be a smiling, happy boy, with just a touch of sorrow here and there to make the joys seem sweeter. It was a privilege to have seen her, a privilege that those who journied with her through the land of fairies will not soon forget. The play is as sweet and pure as a morning breeze, as refreshing as cold water in a desert place. ===== The San Francisco Call, June 9, 1907. Maude Adams will begin the week of her engagement in 'Peter Pan' at the Van Ness theater tomorrow night. It is announced for the benefit of patrons attending the play from out of town that the evening performances, beginning at 8:15 o'clock, and at 10:45 o'clock, and the Wednesday and Saturday matiness begin at 2:15 o'clock and are finished at 4:45 o'clock. An interesting feature of the present performances of 'Peter Pan,' thus far discovered only by those who saw the play as it was performed last year in New York, is the fact that a number of Mr. Barrie's original lines have been reintroduced into the play. Several of the speeches now spoken in the first act by Miss Adams, the incident of the sewing machines on the pirate ship of the fourth act, and the singing of 'Sally in our Alley' by Miss Adams in the third act, are features of the performance which it has been possible to and time for only since the stage hands have quickened the setting of the five acts. ===== Newark Advocate, Nov. 1, 1907. MAUDE ADAMS IN PETER PAN. The Great Southern theater, Columbus, announces that it offers, for the conclusion of the season, what will constitute a grand dramatic festival-the engagement of the most popular actress in the most popular play of the year. Maude Adams in Peter Pan. the engagement will be for Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, May 1, 2, 3, and 34, with a matinee on Saturday. Mail orders will be accepted and filled in the order of their receipt. It has been known since the opening of the season that Maude Adams would appear in this masterpiece of J.M. Barrie's before the year was over, but the exact date had not been made public until during the last week. The prices range from fifty cents to two dollars. Scarce anything need to be said regarding the merit or appealing quality of Peter Pan, for ever since its first production in New York, it has received page after page of praise in every periodical published in the country. ===== The Standard (Ogden, Utah) June 17, 1909 [ This article seems to indicate that there was a planned performance at the White House of Peter Pan. This is the only reference I've ever seen to such an event so I can't say for sure if it actually was done or not.] Much interest attaches to the coming open air performance on the White House lawn. Maude Adams will appear in the role of Peter Pan in the play of that name before the president's family and other notable personages for the benefit of charity. ===== ===== The Tacoma Times May 1, 1913. MAUDE ADAMS MONDAY. One of the most important theatrical events of the season is the appearance of Maude Adams at the Tacoma theater Monday and Tuesday in James Mathew Barrie's fairly play, 'Peter Pan.' this whimsical work of eternal youth and you and happiness is known throughout the English-speaking world. Had the gifted Scotch dramatist never written 'the Little Minister,' 'Quality Street,' and 'What Every Woman Knows' this play, having for its hero the boy who wouldn't brow up, would have made him famous. The success that has fallen to it and to Miss Adams as its hero is a matter of theatrical history. ===== The Tacoma Times, May 27, 1913. It's a fairy tale. And only a Maude Adams can interpret it for the little children as she did last night at the Tacoma theater where grown-ups and little ones alike devoured the fascinating story of 'Peter Pan,' the youth who didn't want to be president. No wonder Maude Adams plays to packed houses; no wonder children worship her; no wonder she holds herself aloof from undesired publicity; no wonder she makes millions for Frohman. Maude Adams is a real fairy. her personality is irresistible. Her acting to please the children is superb. Her art seems to have been deeded her by the gods of fairyland. Those of you who have seen Maude Adams in 'Chantecler' and saw her last night in 'Peter Pan' can appreciate the wonderful genius of the woman. ===== The New Yorker, Dec. 19, 1931 She was ever a person apart, and long ago she learned to shut herself such as she was, away from the distracting sounds of the managers, the critics, and the public. I am glad of that for only such a one could, in 1905, have saved the new-born Peter Pan from being the dire failure which the managers, the critics, and the public at first so confidently regarded it. I was not able to find any copy of the actual Peter Pan play itself, but I did find a 1911 copy of the original story so that is what I will use here.
Notes from The Peter Pan Chronicles
Articles About the Play
The 1911 Book of Peter Pan
My Other Written Works
Introduction
Notes From the Peter Pan Chronicles
2. Tinker Bell was called Tippy in early drafts of the play.
3. Charles Frohman was the one who wanted the part of Peter Pan tailored for Maude Adams, who thought she was going to play the part of Wendy.
4. The book says that Maude Adams played parts in Uncle Tom's Cabin and Oliver Twist.
5. The play was not always the same. An entire act was added at one time, and in 1907 a song was added for Maude Adams to sing.
6. Maude Adams did not act in the play Mary Rose because a contract had been drawn up which would have she would have to not play Peter Pan or Lady Babbie over a three-year period so movies could be made of the plays without her being in them.
7. There was supposed to be a radio recreation of the play with Maude Adams in 1937, but she was too ill to play the part.
Articles About the Play
Peter Pan story
