• Home
  • popular
  • EVENTS
  • submit-new-event
  • CHARITY GUIDE
  • Children
  • Education
  • Health
  • Veterans
  • Social Services
  • Arts + Culture
  • Animals
  • LGBTQ
  • New Charity
  • TRENDING NEWS
  • News
  • City Life
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • Home + Design
  • Travel
  • Real Estate
  • Restaurants + Bars
  • Arts
  • Society
  • Innovation
  • Fashion + Beauty
  • subscribe
  • about
  • series
  • Embracing Your Inner Cowboy
  • Green Living
  • Summer Fun
  • Real Estate Confidential
  • RX In the City
  • State of the Arts
  • Fall For Fashion
  • Cai's Odyssey
  • Comforts of Home
  • Good Eats
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2010
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2
  • Good Eats 2
  • HMNS Pirates
  • The Future of Houston
  • We Heart Hou 2
  • Music Inspires
  • True Grit
  • Hoops City
  • Green Living 2011
  • Cruizin for a Cure
  • Summer Fun 2011
  • Just Beat It
  • Real Estate 2011
  • Shelby on the Seine
  • Rx in the City 2011
  • Entrepreneur Video Series
  • Going Wild Zoo
  • State of the Arts 2011
  • Fall for Fashion 2011
  • Elaine Turner 2011
  • Comforts of Home 2011
  • King Tut
  • Chevy Girls
  • Good Eats 2011
  • Ready to Jingle
  • Houston at 175
  • The Love Month
  • Clifford on The Catwalk Htx
  • Let's Go Rodeo 2012
  • King's Harbor
  • FotoFest 2012
  • City Centre
  • Hidden Houston
  • Green Living 2012
  • Summer Fun 2012
  • Bookmark
  • 1987: The year that changed Houston
  • Best of Everything 2012
  • Real Estate 2012
  • Rx in the City 2012
  • Lost Pines Road Trip Houston
  • London Dreams
  • State of the Arts 2012
  • HTX Fall For Fashion 2012
  • HTX Good Eats 2012
  • HTX Contemporary Arts 2012
  • HCC 2012
  • Dine to Donate
  • Tasting Room
  • HTX Comforts of Home 2012
  • Charming Charlie
  • Asia Society
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2012
  • HTX Mistletoe on the go
  • HTX Sun and Ski
  • HTX Cars in Lifestyle
  • HTX New Beginnings
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2013
  • Zadok Sparkle into Spring
  • HTX Let's Go Rodeo 2013
  • HCC Passion for Fashion
  • BCAF 2013
  • HTX Best of 2013
  • HTX City Centre 2013
  • HTX Real Estate 2013
  • HTX France 2013
  • Driving in Style
  • HTX Island Time
  • HTX Super Season 2013
  • HTX Music Scene 2013
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2013 2
  • HTX Baker Institute
  • HTX Comforts of Home 2013
  • Mothers Day Gift Guide 2021 Houston
  • Staying Ahead of the Game
  • Wrangler Houston
  • First-time Homebuyers Guide Houston 2021
  • Visit Frisco Houston
  • promoted
  • eventdetail
  • Greystar Novel River Oaks
  • Thirdhome Go Houston
  • Dogfish Head Houston
  • LovBe Houston
  • Claire St Amant podcast Houston
  • The Listing Firm Houston
  • South Padre Houston
  • NextGen Real Estate Houston
  • Pioneer Houston
  • Collaborative for Children
  • Decorum
  • Bold Rock Cider
  • Nasher Houston
  • Houston Tastemaker Awards 2021
  • CityNorth
  • Urban Office
  • Villa Cotton
  • Luck Springs Houston
  • EightyTwo
  • Rectanglo.com
  • Silver Eagle Karbach
  • Mirador Group
  • Nirmanz
  • Bandera Houston
  • Milan Laser
  • Lafayette Travel
  • Highland Park Village Houston
  • Proximo Spirits
  • Douglas Elliman Harris Benson
  • Original ChopShop
  • Bordeaux Houston
  • Strike Marketing
  • Rice Village Gift Guide 2021
  • Downtown District
  • Broadstone Memorial Park
  • Gift Guide
  • Music Lane
  • Blue Circle Foods
  • Houston Tastemaker Awards 2022
  • True Rest
  • Lone Star Sports
  • Silver Eagle Hard Soda
  • Modelo recipes
  • Modelo Fighting Spirit
  • Athletic Brewing
  • Rodeo Houston
  • Silver Eagle Bud Light Next
  • Waco CVB
  • EnerGenie
  • HLSR Wine Committee
  • All Hands
  • El Paso
  • Avenida Houston
  • Visit Lubbock Houston
  • JW Marriott San Antonio
  • Silver Eagle Tupps
  • Space Center Houston
  • Central Market Houston
  • Boulevard Realty
  • Travel Texas Houston
  • Alliantgroup
  • Golf Live
  • DC Partners
  • Under the Influencer
  • Blossom Hotel
  • San Marcos Houston
  • Photo Essay: Holiday Gift Guide 2009
  • We Heart Hou
  • Walker House
  • HTX Good Eats 2013
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2013
  • HTX Culture Motive
  • HTX Auto Awards
  • HTX Ski Magic
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings 2014
  • HTX Texas Traveler
  • HTX Cifford on the Catwalk 2014
  • HTX United Way 2014
  • HTX Up to Speed
  • HTX Rodeo 2014
  • HTX City Centre 2014
  • HTX Dos Equis
  • HTX Tastemakers 2014
  • HTX Reliant
  • HTX Houston Symphony
  • HTX Trailblazers
  • HTX_RealEstateConfidential_2014
  • HTX_IW_Marks_FashionSeries
  • HTX_Green_Street
  • Dating 101
  • HTX_Clifford_on_the_Catwalk_2014
  • FIVE CultureMap 5th Birthday Bash
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2014 TEST
  • HTX Texans
  • Bergner and Johnson
  • HTX Good Eats 2014
  • United Way 2014-15_Single Promoted Articles
  • Holiday Pop Up Shop Houston
  • Where to Eat Houston
  • Copious Row Single Promoted Articles
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2014
  • htx woodford reserve manhattans
  • Zadok Swiss Watches
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings 2015
  • HTX Charity Challenge 2015
  • United Way Helpline Promoted Article
  • Boulevard Realty
  • Fusion Academy Promoted Article
  • Clifford on the Catwalk Fall 2015
  • United Way Book Power Promoted Article
  • Jameson HTX
  • Primavera 2015
  • Promenade Place
  • Hotel Galvez
  • Tremont House
  • HTX Tastemakers 2015
  • HTX Digital Graffiti/Alys Beach
  • MD Anderson Breast Cancer Promoted Article
  • HTX RealEstateConfidential 2015
  • HTX Vargos on the Lake
  • Omni Hotel HTX
  • Undies for Everyone
  • Reliant Bright Ideas Houston
  • 2015 Houston Stylemaker
  • HTX Renewable You
  • Urban Flats Builder
  • Urban Flats Builder
  • HTX New York Fashion Week spring 2016
  • Kyrie Massage
  • Red Bull Flying Bach
  • Hotze Health and Wellness
  • ReadFest 2015
  • Alzheimer's Promoted Article
  • Formula 1 Giveaway
  • Professional Skin Treatments by NuMe Express

    The Review is In

    Flights of silliness and the power of imagination elevate Finding Neverland

    Tarra Gaines
    Apr 27, 2017 | 10:11 am

    During the second act of Finding Neverland, the latest Broadway in Houston offering at the Hobby Center, a boy named Peter introduces a backyard play he wrote for his mentor J.M. Barrie, telling him that it's not supposed to be taken seriously, but "It’s really just a bit of silliness.”

    Finding Neverland the musical, with book by James Graham and music and lyrics by Gary Barlow and Eliot Kennedy, also contains quite a bit of silliness, but its broad comic antics do harbor a serious but hopeful message about the power of imagination to help us survive loss.

    The show is very loosely (think seven sizes too big loose) based on the true story of how J.M. Barrie was inspired to write Peter Pan, and so at the core of Finding Neverland lies the relationship between Barrie (Billy Harrigan Tighe) and a young family he meets in the park, a recently widowed mother, Sylvia Llewelyn Davies (Christine Dwyer) and her four young sons. Three of the boys are playing pirates while the dour Peter (Ben Krieger) refuses to let imagination and play distract him from the real world, a world filled with dying parents.

    Imagination Therapy

    Playwright Barrie is in desperate need of a new theatrical hit, but really he needs to find the fun in writing again, while the boys could use a father figure, especially one who allows them to behave as kids instead of short grown-ups, as their societal matron grandmother (an intentionally over-the-top in haughtiness, Karen Murphy) would have them behave.

    And so while Barrie teaches Peter to find hope in life again, Peter and his brothers help Barrie rediscover Neverland, the magical land he invented as a boy when he also faced tragedy.

    Those relationships represent pretty much the serious bit of the plot. The play spends the rest of the two-and-a-half-hour run time on flights into the silly stratosphere, including meta commentary on theater production, overacting actors, snooty society dinners and almost every other song themed around the power of imagination.

    When Captain Hook (a delightful Matthew Quinn) and his gang of singing pirates finally show up representing Barrie’s inner dark side, these vaguely homoerotic psychological shadows mostly just tell him to man up and demand more artistic freedom from his producer, Charles Frohman (Matthew Quinn again and still fun).

    The show even features one moment near the end when Mr. Henshaw (Dwelvan David), a much-put-upon Shakespearean actor, must don a giant dog suit. David, as Henshaw, has managed to steal almost every previous scene he’s been in but costumed as the dog in Peter Pan gets that scene napped literally right from under him by Neverland’s dog character Porthos (played by a very real and adorable canine named Sammy), David’s only real rival in theatrical scene thievery.

    The show almost collapses onto itself in a meta singularity of silliness at that point, but like many other moments in Finding Neverland manages to cut the frivolity with moments of poignancy, usually involving death.

    Another Peter

    Full disclosure: I’ve never been a fan of the Peter Pan story with its weird Freudian mommy and daddy issues embedded within the play, along with its idealizing of preadolescent selfishness. I’ve also hated the story’s hidden message for little girls that if you’re going on an adventure to a magical land be prepared to spend the majority of your time cooking, sewing and mothering dirty, needy little boys or murderous pirates (same difference).

    Yet, I found myself surprisingly won over by director Diane Paulus’s rendering of Neverland.

    Barrie could have easily become the annoying man-child Peter can be in certain Pan productions, but Tighe endows the Barrie the character, and his constant insistence that imagination can lessen any tragedy, with a great amount of mitigating charm. Sylvia is a mother just too perfect and ideal, yet Dwyer manages to humanize her and therefore gives her tragedy some much needed emotional heft.

    The production is also just pretty to watch thanks to the creative crew, especially the scenic, costume and projection designers Scott Pask, Suttirat Anne Larfarb and Jon Driscoll, respectively.

    I wouldn’t recommend heading off to Neverland looking for secret treasure troves of rich and dark psychological drama that many fairytales, including Peter Pan, hold, but for a night of very light and fanciful theatrical flights, go ahead and clap your hands together for silly faeries and shaggy dogs. You can still find them in Neverland.

    ---------------

    Finding Neverland runs through April 30 at the Hobby Center.

    Billy Harrigan Tighe as JM Barrie and Tom Hewitt as Captain Hook.

    Finding Neverland
      
    Photo by Jeremy Daniel
    Billy Harrigan Tighe as JM Barrie and Tom Hewitt as Captain Hook.
    theater
    news/arts

    bookworms unite

    This is what Texans are reading the most in 2025

    Amber Heckler
    Apr 21, 2025 | 3:58 pm
    Bookstore
    Photo by Becca Tapert on Unsplash
    Support local bookstores, y'all.

    A new study revealing the top book genres enchanting each of the 50 states has revealed fantasy books are the No. 1 pick for avid readers in Texas.

    The book trends report by security experts Cloudwards examined Google Trends data to discover the top literary genres for each state. Romance was the leading genre infatuating most states (22 in total), with literary fiction, poetry, and fantasy ensnaring 24 other states combined.

    Besides being the No. 1 genre in Texas, fantasy books also dominate for readers in Washington, Michigan, Ohio, New Jersey, and North Carolina.

    The report says these innovative states that boast high quality universities and bustling tech sectors are the driving force behind growing demand for fantasy books and other works of imaginative literature.

    "The enduring popularity of fantasy may be attributed to its unparalleled world-building capabilities and capacity to address complex social issues through allegorical frameworks," the report said. "Undoubtedly, for many, fantasy offers a temporary escape from day-to-day stresses and worries."

    The rise of BookTok — a popular TikTok category centered around reading, book clubs, and popular books — may be another major factor in the younger generation's shift towards reading. The category has nearly 53 million posts to prove it.

    Well-known fantasy books that have remained in the zeitgeist in recent years include George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series (a.k.a. Game of Thrones), Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn and Stormlight Archive series, and Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea series.

    Many of these titles can be found on the shelves of Houston's many independent bookstores, just in time for Independent Bookstore Day on Saturday, April 26. It's crucial that Houstonians support their local bookstores rather than shop from big box stores like Amazon, Target, or Barnes and Noble.

    The annual Houston Bookstore Crawl, which runs through April 30, is a wonderful guide for touring many of these local literary havens.

    Here are a few non-exhaustive options for shopping at independent bookstores in the Houston area:

    • Becker's Books
    • Blue Willow Bookshop
    • The Book Attic, Tomball
    • Books Abound
    • Books by the Bay, La Porte
    • Brazos Bookstore
    • Good on Paper
    • Houston Book Warehouse
    • Kaboom Books
    • Katy Budget Books, Katy
    • Kindred Stories
    • Lit Java Coffee & Books, Pearland
    • Murder By The Book
    • Quarter Price Books
    • Village Books, The Woodlands
    bookstoresreadinglistshouston
    news/arts
    Loading...