If the backstory of The Wizard of Oz can be turned into the theatrical juggernaut that is Wicked, then why not apply the same treatment to Peter Pan?

That at, at least, must have been the thinking behind Peter and the Starcatcher, based on Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson’s best-selling 2004 children’s book. It’s clearly attracted a host of big names, starting with Disney Theatrical Productions, which commissioned it, and continuing with writer Rick Elice (Jersey Boys, The Addams Family) and co-directors Roger Rees and Alex Timbers, the latter fresh from Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and The Pee-Wee Herman Show.

The results on display at the New York Theatre Workshop are something of a mixed bag. Staged with imagination and ingenuity and wonderfully acted by the ensemble, the piece seems rather too sophisticated for children and too juvenile for adults.

Staged in a style reminiscent of English pantomime and story theater (co-director Rees is no stranger to the latter, having starred in Nicholas Nickleby), it tells the story of the young Peter (Adam Chanler-Berat) and his fellow band of London orphans who are enslaved on a remote island.

 Among the figures Peter encounters on his adventures are bizarre mermaids; an English lord (Karl Kenzler) and his plucky teenage daughter (Celia Keenan-Bolger), the guardians, or “starcatchers,” of a magical substance that can be used for both good and evil; and the villainous Black Stache (Christian Borle), who would later be better known as Captain Hook.

Elice’s overly jokey script is filled with meta-theatrical touches, comic asides to the audience, and such anachronistic one-liners as “he’s more elusive than a melody in a Philip Glass opera.”

The results are as much wearisome as fun, although the sheer vigor of the staging provides some compensation. Adding greatly to the show’s effect are the terrific performances, especially Borle’s wonderfully tongue-in-cheek turn as the moustache twirling villain, and the consistent inventiveness of Donyale Werle’s malleable sets.

Although there is fairly constant musical accompaniment provided by an onstage pianist and percussionist, there is only a smattering of actual songs. They are the most entertaining moments in the show, suggesting that a full-blown musical treatment might have been a better way to go.

New York Theatre Workshop, 79 E. 4th St. 212-279-4200. www.ticketcentral.com.