It's still the century old classic tale of the little boy who never grows up. But this is Peter Pan with a twist, including swashbuckling sword fights, punk fashion inspired costumes and spectacular flying scenes.
The traditional story takes a turn right from the start with the suggestion that Peter Pan, the leader of the lost boys, is actually a long lost member of the Darling family.
Lauren Fadeley/Wendy/Peter Pan said, "It starts off with these nurses carrying the babies in these carriages and it's John, Michael, Wendy and Peter. And Peter somehow falls out of his carriage, gets swept away and the fairies take him away to Neverland."
When Peter Pan returns to the Darling family nursery, he's not the mischievous elfin boy you may remember.
"He's more of like an animalistic character, like he sniffs to find like things and so it's a completely different world," said Fadeley.
For the dancers who play Wendy and Peter Pan, the ballet is a huge athletic challenge…. filled with fantastic, carefully choreographed flying dance scenes complete with mid-air flips.
Fadeley added, "It's more of like a Broadway show kind of thing. like there's so many different sets and costumes and yeah they actually have boats that collide into each other. There's moving walls."
Peter Pan was originally commissioned by the Houston Ballet in 2002. This is the first time the Pennsylvania Ballet has put on the show.
Peter Pan plays at the Academy of Music May 3rd through the 13th. For tickets and scheduling go to Pennsylvania Ballet.