A Rough Takeoff for Finding Neverland

Provenance is a concept usually associated with art, not theater. Who, after all, owns a plot — or the history on which it is based? Still, the problem rears up in several ways in “Finding Neverland,” the new musical starring Matthew Morrison as J.M. Barrie, the author of “Peter Pan.” This is not the first Broadway show to posit a backstory for a beloved work of fantasy. (Hello, “Wicked.”) It is not even the first to posit a backstory for “Peter Pan,” just a few years ago we had “Peter and the Starcatcher.” But that play was itself a fantasy, set within the Pan universe before the arrival of the fictional Darlings. “Finding Neverland” purports to be historical: the true tale of how Barrie, inspired by his dealings with the family of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies, created the boy who wouldn’t grow up. It also purports to be a singing-dancing family entertainment. It winds up being neither. I’m not sure which problem — historical or musical — is worse; the two are intertwined. Part of what makes the show so frustrating as entertainment is its utter falseness, only some of it grandfathered in. (“Finding Neverland” is based on the 2004 film of the same name, starring Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet, which in turn was based on “The Man Who Was Peter Pan,” a 1998 play by Allan Knee.)