Peter Pan in Wonderland

Ross Petty in Peter Pan in Wonderland.

For two decades, Toronto's historic Elgin Theatre has played host to a series of consistently hilarious, wacky family musicals, thanks to actor and producer Ross Petty. Petty's boundless creativity, humour and love of hearing “boo!” from young audience members have turned his “Fractured Fairy Tale" musicals into an Ontario family holiday tradition. As Petty prepares to take his final bow, he has combined two fairytales into one with Peter Pan in Wonderland, a holiday gift box packed with colourful characters, several storylines, and plenty of jeers from the audience that sends Petty out with a bang.

On a sparkling Toronto night, young Wendy (Steffi DiDomenicantonio) laments to the audience, and her dog Nana, how much she longs to go on more adventures with her friend Peter Pan. Like clockwork, an Amazon drone arrives and drops off a giant gift basket which turns out to be a kind of rabbit hole, and Wendy jumps in, hoping she'll find herself in Neverland—but this fairytale follows another storyline entirely. Moments after Wendy jumps in, Peter Pan (played by Anthony MacPherson) flies through her window, followed closely by “Tinkerbum," the well-known Plumbum in a new role (played as always by Dan Chameroy).

Upon realizing where Wendy has gone, the pair jump into the gift basket and fall through an abyss to the “Mad Men” theme song, arriving in what they think is Neverland. However, after meeting characters such as The Queen of Hearts (Jessica Holmes) and Alice (Jordan Clark), they quickly realize they are in a very different fairy tale and must contend with the villainous Captain Hook (Ross Petty himself) in order to find Wendy.

The combination of two fairy tales in this production is creative in its execution, but suffers from having too many characters, making the story slightly difficult to follow at times. The chaos of the plot, however, is balanced out by the incredible talent of the cast—both in singing ability and athleticism. Three cast members from The Next Step, a Canadian Family Channel production—Alice (Jordan Clark), The Mad Hatter (Lamar Johnson) and the Cheshire Cat (Taveeta Szymanowicz)—put their own creative spin on Bruno Mars' “Uptown Funk” in “Wonderland Funk," showcasing their phenomenal talent as performers.

Another scene, in The Queen of Hearts' garden, pokes fun at the Pan Am Games as the cast competes against one another in a skipping rope competition and a dance-off, leaving the audience dazzled at their skills.

Always a major highlight of Petty's productions, Dan Chameroy is especially hilarious in his cross-dressing role as Tinkerbum, and will be sorely missed once the final curtain falls on Peter Pan in Wonderland. The entire production has the bittersweet undertones of a final performance, which endear it to the audience.

Don't miss Ross Petty's final holiday fairytale, on stage now at the Elgin Theatre until January 3, 2016. VIsit rosspetty.com for more information and to buy tickets.