[Cavey]

Originally Posted by Rueters 06/07/06

Disney's latest mega-musical "Tarzan" swung into town with a spectacular shipwreck scene and bungee-jumping apes but the critics were lukewarm and several resorted to phrases such as "bungle in the jungle."

"Tarzan," which opened on Wednesday night, is among the most expensive musicals on Broadway with a budget reported at between $15 million and $20 million (8 to 10 million pounds). It is Disney's latest effort to match the success of hit movie-based musicals such as "The Lion King" and "Beauty and the Beast."

"Almost everybody and everything swings in 'Tarzan.' Which is odd, since the show itself, to borrow from Duke Ellington's famous credo, definitely ain't got that swing," was Ben Brantley's verdict in The New York Times.

"'Tarzan' feels as fidgety and attention-deficient as the toddlers who kept straying from their seats during the performance I saw," Brantley said.

Oh well, at least we still have Tarzan Rocks at AK. Oh, wait....

[chastmastr]

Wah!!

David

[Laneysdad]

Too my understanding Tarzan was "so-so" compared to Beauty and the Beast or Lion King leaving me to wonder why it was deemed broadway worthy. It makes no sense to me I guess.

[Goofy3230]

Bummer, I was hoping to see it.

[chastmastr]

Maybe it'll stay open and survive... :hope:

David

[Tinkerbelle67]

Hmmmm... Maybe that's why my tickets haven't arrived yet. We are supposed to see the show on June 30. It's a shame, this is the first B'way show my DS has even showed an interest in going to, I got the tickets because of him. This is from a kid who fell asleep during Wicked.

[Kippage]

Saw that one coming from a mile away...

[dwoodz]

This is very suprising to say the least. I thought this would surely sell tickets.

[geeman]

Woah- Hang on!- Don't believe everything ya read folks- especially if it comes from the mouths of theater critics. Tarzan hasn't "bombed" - NY Critics and "Serious" Theater fans just didn't take to it lightly - and to be honest it wasn't meant for them.It was meant as pure family entertainment - and that's what it delivers.

The "review" you see up top is really an OLD story, just posted yesterday onto a Disney news site. Tarzan opened last MONTH, not last Wednesday.

I caught an early preview of it and had a great time - as did the audience. There weren't any bored little kids there. Everyone loved it that night.

Now don't get me wrong- it is NOT the greatest thing ever. But it's a lot of fun for people who love the movie, Phil Collins, and Disney stuff- and that's what it's intended to be. Nothing more.

Here's my review as I posted it after seeing a preview of the show at another site:

Disney's newest musical spectacular, Tarzan, doesn't officially premiere on Broadway until May 10th, but you could hardly tell from the craftsmanship involved that the preview performance I attended was only the third showing, ever. I will try to keep my review spoiler free, but in reality, there's little to spoil. This is a show that is easier experienced than described,and since it sticks almost entirely to the known Disney movie, there's nothing to spoil!

Following the direct storyline of the 1999 animated feature, Disney's Tarzan brings the story of 'two worlds--one family' to life into an exciting, colorful, thrill-filled production that should turn the head of even the grouchiest member of your own 'tribe'. Using inventive, state-of-the-art stage techniques Disney has found ways to tell their story while entertaining audiences in a new, dynamic way, namely via some high-flying swinging acts, scenery that comes to life before you, fantastic singing voices, a sensitive storyline, and of course, the great pulsating beat of Phil Collin's fun movie score, here expanded by a few more memorable musical numbers by the former Genesis drummer himself.

The surprises start right at the beginning, with a full enactment of the fate of Tarzan's parents, including an amazing looking 'underwater' scene that set the audience applauding and cheering right from the start. The child actor portraying young Tarzan almost seems as if he is the drawing come to life, emerging as a limber fireball of an 8 year old with a terrific singing voice, tumbling about the stage with such great ease, it seems he was born to play this part (yet he was probably an infant when the movie first came out!!!). This kid knows his act well, and it is obvious that he and the others have taken ape-behavior study classes, as his motions are quite believeable and realistic.

The apes themselves, as of this third showing, were simply represented -- not really made up to look like apes, so much as appear to be apes by reference. The dancers portraying them, (who quite convincingly shake and literally swing their way throughout the entire show) are covered in shaggy dark hair, and though the effect looks strange at first, as the show goes on, you forget what they look like and get absorbed in what they are doing. Their acrobatics are hard to describe, but it is something quite amazing to behold -if you like that sort of thing-- kind of like "Tarzan Rocks!" meets "Cirque De Soleil". There is constantly something swinging, moving, or singing on stage, which is great for those audience members with attention deficit problems.

One major change in the show is in Tarzan's cohorts -- The elephants are nowhere to be seen (understandably, in this somewhat realistic setting), but the ape Terk is now portrayed by a male actor, and he is clearly Tarzan's best friend in many ways. (In the movie that role was portrayed by Rosie O'Donnell. Those wondering why she didn't reprise her role here would simply need to see Terk's amazing first scene-- Imagine an ape climbing up a tree and swinging around it, only the Tree is made of cloth material being held up only by ROPE, and the actor has nothing to stand on -- they are being held up in the air entirely by harnesses! Pretty scary stuff!!)

The producers have chosen not to hide the harnesses from the audience, which makes sense, most obviously seen when Young Tarzan straps it on in order to do some swinging. However, this action, much like a magic trick, is performed during dialogue, and goes virtually unnoticed by those not looking behind the magic.

The actors portraying Tarzan's Ape parents were quite good and are given some nice new material (and songs) to flesh out their characters. Tarzan himself, former American Idol finalist Josh Strickland, does quite well in the title role. Though a little younger and limber than the wel nown movie Tarzans (he was reminiscent of George of the Jungle), his ability to belt out the high notes while swinging around on ropes was just astonishing. And his voice is terrific. His transformation from Wild Boy to Man is handled in an exciting way, and his vocalization of the songs which were sung in the movie by the composer himself, resonated wonderfully when coming through the pipes of the character. One of my favorite movie scenes, in which Tarzan watches the slide projections change ("Son of Man") was handled almost exactly as seen in the film.

Less satisfying were the characters of Jane and her bad-guy suitor, but really, they too seemed to have stepped out of the movie itself, and simply remind you of the source material. Tarzan's daring rescue of Jane (from a titanic arachnid), as well as his battles with nature (a scary, realistic black panther that might frighten young kids), were a bit intense, but artfully created. Think "The Lion King" meets "Tarzan Rocks!". Without the Skateboards.

Usually new numbers added to shows aren't as good or add a totally different characterization to the characters (like the ones in BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and LION KING), but the new songs here were actually good and fit in well with the mood of the piece, moving the action along and providing interesting backgrounds to some of the minor characters.

Since I saw an early showing, there is still some timing issues to be fixed, and some of the new songs might not make it to the opening, but Disney does intend to release a CD of the show (it's available for pre-order at the theater), and judging by the uproarious crowd reaction, this show should be around for a while. It is definitely a crowd pleaser.

Oh, it should be noted that there were reports on other websites about problems with "partial view" seats. The reports were somewhat overrated. Most of the show does take place on stage, but there are a lot of high-flying acts going on all over the place. Due to the way the theater is designed, people in the last few rows of the ORCHESTRA will be missing some of that due to the overhang of the Mezzanine. Those seats are available at a discounted price on purpose, so if you do plan to make a trip into NY to see it, make sure your seats are not in the last few rows of the orchestra, or do not say "Partial or Obstructed" view on it, unless you don't mind missing a lot of the high flying acrobatics that take place mostly in act two for a brief couple of minutes. We got our tickets late (just a couple of weeks ago) and so we sat in the next to last row of the mezzanine on the right side, and our view was just fine.

Despite possible trashing from the critics when it opens, ( Yeah, I don't think the Broadway establishment is going to go 'ape' over this 'spectacle' designed specifically for the family audience, but who cares. It was a lot of fun...), I do think this show has a lot to offer a family who just wants to see something different while in the city. It definitely is a unique show, though it's currently running a little long.I noticed a few toddlers being carried home asleep or cranky by their folks (the show running time in previews has been at 2hours and 45 minutes!). I wouldn't recommend this for children under 10 unless they know every song.

And I guess I would really only recommend it to Disney fans and people who either love the movie or love Phil Collin's songs, want to see a lot of swinging, or like creative use of stage design. Others may not enjoy it. Despite that, the show should run for a while.

In the fall, Disney will have four shows on Broadway, when "Mary Poppins" joins "The Lion King", "Beauty and the Beast", and the by then opened, "Tarzan". The playbill officially confirms that on the drawing boards (no pun intended) next is "The Little Mermaid"!

Review by Geeman ©2006

[chastmastr]

COOL!! :) :) :)

David

[geeman]

Here's the official site, in case you're interested- not many photos from the show up yet, but they do have some reviews, and you'll see it's not really a flop -- just not 'artistically" anything to write home about.

Tarzan on Broadway- Official Site

[Dana]

Geeman -
Your review, just like your trip reports, is well written. It would be hard for anyone to convince me this show stinks after reading your thoughts on it. Thank you for taking the time to give us a first-hand opinion/review of this latest disney broadway production. I won't see it, but I do hope others do.

[Cavey]

Interesting. And I'm glad the critics got it wrong.

BTW, the newstory was dated yesterday, which is why I thought it was current.

[geeman]

Originally Posted by Cavey

Interesting. And I'm glad the critics got it wrong.

BTW, the newstory was dated yesterday, which is why I thought it was current.

Yeah,sorry I didn't mean you - I meant the news story was wrongly dated. For some odd reason Reuters saw it necessary to trounce the show out of nowhere yesterday, which was unkind. It got mixed, not horrible reviews, as does everything else to do with Disney. The only thing the critics loved straight off was The Lion King - and only because it had "artistic integrity" brought on by it's vision at the time.

[geeman]

Originally Posted by Dana

Geeman -
Your review, just like your trip reports, is well written. It would be hard for anyone to convince me this show stinks after reading your thoughts on it. Thank you for taking the time to give us a first-hand opinion/review of this latest disney broadway production. I won't see it, but I do hope others do.

Aw, thanks, Dana. I haven't posted my recent trip reports here in a while, mostly due to time, and the fact that I enjoy reading the ones posted here.. But when I get a chance I have a few stories to tell. Did I ever tell you guys I was part of a Disney Wedding last year? (No, not mine!) I don't remember sharing that one. Nice to know the tales are appreciated. Will post more soon.