Streaming ‘Peter Pan, A Musical Adventure’ Chicago Shakespeare Theater's delightful hit “Peter Pan” first took center stage in a London theater two days after Christmas in 1904. In advance of its opening, word got out that the play by Scottish author J.M. Barrie (1860–1937) was about a boy who didn’t want to grow up, who could fly, and who had adventures in a place called Neverland. The gossip was that the unusual play would be a bust, so everyone was surprised when it turned out to be a big hit. It wasn’t just a huge success in its own time, though; Peter has never grown old. Indeed, he seems to be living forever having been immortalized in Disney’s animated movie (1953) and the film “Finding Neverland” (2004) starring Johnny Depp; in Broadway musicals, such as the production starring Mary Martin (1954), and revivals with Sandy Duncan (1979) and gymnast Cathy Rigby (1990). In modern culture, it became the name of a psychological syndrome, and even a moniker for a major peanut butter brand.