ALBUM REVIEW: The Original Broadway cast recording of Finding Neverland

Inspired by the 2004 film of the same name, Finding Neverland, follows the Scottish author J.M Barrie as he creates his most famous work, Peter Pan. 

The music, written by Gary Barlow and Eliot Kennedy, evokes a sense of awe and wonderment throughout the album. Although some rock inspired tracks do feel a little out of keeping with the period in which the musical is set, they also help to create an exciting vibe and adds an unexpected element of edginess to a story which on paper seems a little bit dry. 

FIRST LOOK: Finding Neverland, starring Laura Michelle Kelly & Jeremy Jordan

Jeremy Jordan and Laura Michelle Kelly head the cast of the American Repertory Theater world-premiere musical Finding Neverland, which begins performances July 23 under the direction of Tony Award winner Diane Paulus.

Based on the 2004 Miramax film about Peter Pan playwright J.M. Barrie, the new version of the musical has a score by U.K. pop songwriters Gary Barlow and Elliot Kennedy, with a book by James Graham (This House). A previous incarnation of the musical, which featured a score by Tony nominees Scott Frankel and Michael Korie, received a 2012 U.K. premiere.

The new staging of Finding Neverland, which Paulus (Pippin, Porgy and Bess) has been developing over the past year, features choreography by Emmy Award winner Mia Michaels. Academy Award-winning producer Harvey Weinsteinis shepherding the project, which is aiming for a future Broadway life.

Laura Michelle Kelly and Jeremy Jordan to star in FINDING NEVERLAND

The previously announced Finding Neverland revamp will fly into Cambridge, Massachusetts with a starry cast. Tony nominee Jeremy Jordan will play J.M. Barrie in the American Repertory Theater production, a role played by Glee's Matthew Morrison in aworkshop in March. Jordan will star opposite Broadway and West End vet Laura Michelle Kelly, who will play Sylvia Llewelyn Davis. Joining them are Tony winner Roger Bart as Charles Frohman and Tony nominee Carolee Carmello as Madame du Maurier. Tony winning A.R.T. artistic director Diane Paulus helms the tuner that features music and lyrics by Gary Barlow and Eliot Kennedy and a book by James Graham. The production will run from July 23 through September 28 at the Loeb Drama Center.

When a faltering playwright meets a widow and her four boys in Kensington Gardens, he embarks on a friendship that inspires one of the most beloved stories of all time. Based on the Miramax film written by David Magee, Finding Neverland follows the real-life relationship between the Llewelyn Davies family and James Matthew Barrie as he writes the revolutionary 1904 play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up. Staged by A.R.T. Artistic Director Diane Paulus and with music by U.K. pop sensation Gary Barlow (Take That), this new musical explores the power of imagination to open up new worlds, and the pressures put upon those worlds by the prospect of growing up.