Girls Star Allison Williams Cast as Title Character in NBC's Peter Pan Live!

The leading lady for NBC's live telecast of the Peter Pan stage musical has finally been announced. Allison Williams, star of HBO's Girls, will take on the iconic role of the "boy who wouldn’t grow up" in the television production, set to air on NBC on December 4.

Williams joins two-time Tony nominee Christopher Walken, who was cast as the musical's pirate villain Captain Hook.

"We couldn’t be happier that Allison Williams is our Peter Pan," said Robert Greenblatt, chairman, NBC Entertainment. "She’s a lovely rising star on the award-winning show Girls — where she occasionally shows off her incredible vocal talent — and we think she will bring the perfect blend of 'boyish' vulnerability and bravado to save the day against Christopher Walken's powerful Captain Hook."

Peter Pan features a book by Barrie, who wrote the stories on which the musical was based, and a score by Charlap and Leigh, with additional songs by Jule Syne, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green. The musical's original Broadway production, directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins, opened in 1954, and won Tony Awards for its stars, Mary Martin and Cyril Ritchard.

Peter Pan Live! will be produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who were at the forefront of 2013's Sound of Music broadcast. "Allison Williams is a major find," said Zadan and Meron. "She will reinvent the iconic role of Peter Pan with her wit, her warmth, her dynamic flying and her wonderful musical abilities. The score will be sung beautifully and introduced to a whole new generation of families."

"I have wanted to play Peter Pan since I was about three years old, so this is a dream come true," said Williams. "It’s such an honor to be a part of this adventure, and I'm very excited to get to work with this extraordinarily talented team. And besides," added Williams, "what could go wrong in a live televised production with simultaneous flying, sword fighting, and singing?"