World of Make Believe is a song, musical and dance number which is sung by the Cornley Drama Society during their Peter Pan play. The song is sung whilst the main characters are in Neverland and the singers include: Sandra, Max, Dennis, Annie and Francis.
When Peter Pan Goes Wrong was adapted for a BBC special, a few things were cut to reduce the length, including a few lines from this song. Francis' one line playing a Lost Boy is instead given to David Suchet, and the Lost Boys themselves are changed to look like skimpily-clad backup dancers.
Lyrics[]
(Bold denotes lyrics only in the stage version, Underline denotes lyrics in the TV version.)
Sandra: Come along, boys! Michael?
Max: Yes, Wendy?
Sandra: John?
Dennis: Yes, Wendy?
Sandra: Tootles?
Lucy: (close to tears) Yes, Wendy?/Robert: (shoves Lucy on) Get on stage, Lucy!
Sandra: It's time for dinner!
Dennis: Oh, I do love Neverland! (holds headset) And now for the shipping forecast/weather report.
Max: I hear this evening's meal is imaginary.
Sandra: So it can be anything you want it to be!
All: Anything?
Sandra: Anything.
Sandra:
You can have steak or salami,
You can have chestnuts or cheese!
The only thing to remember, is the magic word...
All: What?
Sandra: Please!
Max (spoken): So I can have anything I can think of?
Sandra (spoken): Of course!
Max: I could have lobster or lettuce!
Sandra: You could have pastry or pies!
Max: I could have dumplings or damsons!
Dennis: (from headset) Your taxi/Uber has arrived!
Sandra:
With give and take, then you can make,
whatever you can conceive!
With faith and trust and fairy dust,
and the world of make-believe!
All:
With give and take, then we can make,
whatever we can conceive!
With faith and trust and fairy dust,
and the world of make-believe!
Max (spoken): But Wendy, where's Peter?
Sandra (spoken): This is Neverland, Michael; he could be anywhere you want him to be!
Sandra: (singing) He could be fighting off pirates,
Max/Sandra: or chasing a horse! (Lucy yelps as Dennis/Annie jumps on her back and knocks her over)
Sandra: He could be riding a star!
Francis/David Suchet: Impossible!
Sandra: Of course!
Max: I could be a steam engine driver,
Annie: or a carnival clown!/or a sailor at sea!
Sandra: You could be a prince fighting dragons!
Dennis: (from headset) The A train is down!/Cut to camera three!
Max: I'll be a warrior winning the war!
Sandra: I'll be a lawyer learning the law!
Annie: I'll be a pastor protecting the poor!
Dennis: (from headset) Lady in Red!/Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd!/Teletubbies! Teletubbies!
(The music shifts to a tap-dance break. Lucy screams as she attempts to strike a pose with her broken foot.)
All:
With give and take, then we can make,
whatever we can conceive!
With faith and trust and fairy dust,
with sticks and stones and bags of bones,
with ups and downs and all arounds,
with hops and skips and broken bits...
(The song pauses for Robert to enter, seductively showing off for the camera. The stage version has him enter from the door at the top of the stairs (and in some performances, subsequently fall down them as soon as his music cue ends), while the TV version has him emerge from a circle the other actors create and run off stage towards the audience.)
Sandra: With courage!
Dennis: Honour!
Max: Valour!
Annie: Speed!
Sandra: Heroes!
Max: Villains!
Sandra: Goblins!
Annie: Greed!
Sandra: Princes!
Francis: Wizards!
Sandra: Sandstorms!
Max: Blizzards!
Dennis: Action!
Annie: Fighting!
Max: Damsels!
Dennis: Biting!
All:
Ohhhhh!
With faith and trust and fairy dust,/Whatever you can conceive,
and the world of make-believe.
And the world of make-believe!
Trivia[]
- The second edition of the script contains a few more examples of things going wrong that were later scrapped:
- The song randomly speeds up and slows down, forcing the actors to try and keep pace whenever it happens.
- Tootles gets a solo, but Lucy is too petrified to sing a single word beyond just stammering. The rest of the cast still respond in tune to her lines.
- The song suddenly starts skipping during the last “whatever you can conceive” — causing the actors to keep repeating their line in time with the skip — before a quick burst of “Girls on Film” by Duran Duran plays (similarly to an incident in The Play That Goes Wrong).
External links[]
- World of Make Believe on YouTube.