Peter Pan may be “the boy who won’t grow up,” but that doesn’t mean he can’t adapt to more enlightened times. A new national tour of the musical based on the beloved adventurer redresses some longtime concerns with some of the characters and brings the whole story into the 21st century. “Peter Pan: The Hit Broadway Musical,” as the new production is called, is coming to The Bushnell Feb. 4-9.

J.M. Barrie created Peter Pan as a minor character in one of his many novels for adult readers, “The Little White Bird” in 1902. He revived and revised Peter as the star of a play in 1904 then wrote a novel, “Peter and Wendy.”

Barrie’s creation has been freely adapted by many other artists over the past 123 years. There was a Disney cartoon feature in 1953, a TV cartoon series in 1990, Steven Spielberg’s “Hook” in 1991 starring Robin Williams, an avant-garde play with music by the New York-based Mabou Mines company (which played at the Yale Repertory Theatre in New Haven in 1998) as well as role-playing games, concept albums, pop songs and several different musicals, including one by Leonard Bernstein. The musical “Finding Neverland” was about Barrie writing “Peter Pan” and the comedy “Peter and the Starcatcher” is a rethinking of the Peter Pan story.

Copyright protections for both the Peter Pan character and the original “Peter and Wendy” play have expired, so both are in the public domain.

The musical that this tour is adapting is the 1950 one with music by Moose Charlap and Jule Styne and lyrics by Carolyn Leigh, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. It originally starred Mary Martin as Peter — part of a tradition of casting women in the role that dates back to the first production of Barrie’s original play — and Cyril Ritchard as Captain Hook. Martin and Ritchard also starred in several popular TV broadcasts of the musical. There was another live TV version of the musical in 2014 starring Allison Williams and Christopher Walken. Broadway revivals and subsequent national tours starred Sandy Duncan in the late ’70s and early ’80s and Cathy Rigby throughout the ’90s. This production stars Nolan Almeida, one of a very short list of male actors to play Peter in a major stage production.

The tour is directed by Lonny Price, who as a young actor originated the role of Charley Kringas in the Stephen Sondheim musical “Merrily We Roll Along” in 1981 and has since become a prolific stage and TV director. Price directed a production of the Billie Holiday biographical play-with-music “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill” at the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven in 2005. Nearly 10 years later, he directed Audra McDonald in an acclaimed Broadway production of the same show.

The script was adapted by Larissa FastHorse, the acclaimed Native American playwright and activist whose satirical comedy “The Thanksgiving Play” was one of the most produced plays in the U.S. during the 2019-20 season and had an off-Broadway production in 2018 and one on Broadway in 2023.FastHorse’s version is set in present-day America, which means the cast doesn’t have to speak in phony British accents or wear Victorian costumes.

In an introduction to her script, FastHorse writes that “the goal of this adaptation is to let every child believe that they could look out their bedroom window at night and see Peter flying by.” The time is contemporary, yet timeless. The location of the Darling home is never named specifically but should feel familiar to the children it is being performed for.

In the case of the first tour, the accents and set decoration were “American.” But what that means should be considered quite broadly with all socio-economic levels, areas of the country, races, cultures and types of families as the basis for what is truly universal. The goal of this version is that it is an adaptation for all children, not just those with traditional families or financial means or white-centered culture.”

Of particular concern to FastHorse (and the producers who hired her for the rewrites) is the depiction of Native Americans. “Peter Pan” has, for decades, been criticized for perpetuating racist stereotypes and outdated cultural language. In her script notes, Fasthorse specifies that “to discourage ‘red face,’ Tiger Lily’s tribe is made up of extinct Indigenous people from around the globe. Research should be done to make them as culturally specific as possible, not a pan-Indigenous culture.”

As for casting in general, the script suggests that “unless specified, all ethnicities, races and genders should be considered for all roles. Adjust pronouns accordingly.”

Cody Garcia, who plays Pan’s nemesis Captain Hook on the tour, is known to Connecticut audiences for three other projects. As a student at Boston Conservatory in Massachusetts, they appeared in a reading of “Milo at the Movies” for the Goodspeed Festival of New Musicals in East Haddam in 2010. In 2019, they starred in a national tour of the musical “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” that played The Bushnell in Hartford. In November 2022, Garcia was back in the state as Buddy in a tour of “Elf” at the Oakdale in Wallingford. They’ve been with the “Peter Pan” tour since it started over a year ago.

Garica said both FastHorse and Price were open to the actors’ input during rehearsals. Garcia identifies as non-binary and uses they/them pronouns, but said they are not playing Captain Hook as a non-binary character. They feel “there’s not a necessary aspect to that.” They do say they have added some interesting new elements to the Hook role but are unwilling to share what those may be, preferring to keep them a surprise.

What’s important, Garcia said, is that “Peter Pan” connects with today’s audiences.

“This is being shown to a new generation of kids. It’s set in modern times,” they said. “We want to acknowledge and erase the stereotypes. It’s not 1904.”

“Peter Pan” runs Feb. 4-9 at The Bushnell, 166 Capitol Ave., Hartford. Performances are Tuesday through Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 1 and 6:30 p.m. $36-$156. bushnell.org.