Sunday Showtunes

Disney has another show on Broadway.  It is a jungle tale of a youngster who is born and then is separated from his family.  The opening number has nothing to do with the story we see presented except to introduce a theme, which is in the title of the song.  We later see the child as an adult and he is banished from his people, where he finds love with a girl and learns about his true heritage, which he must come to accept.  There is a doting parent and a deep-voiced villain who doesn’t like the youngster.  It features the spectacle of trick sets, flying on ropes, and an innovative, visual approach to the material, along with a tribal-beat influenced rock and pop score.    You probably think I am talking about Saturday night’s show, “Tarzan.”  Nope – I was talking about “The Lion King,” although “Tarzan” is exactly the same thing.  The only difference is, one youngster is a lion and the other is an ape-man and the set is a green box.  Other than that, the two shows are similar in approach, feel, theme, and the fact they their main attraction is the gimmick of the way it’s done.  While “Tarzan” is a visual wonder, I found it a rather empty show in terms of content.  There are many songs that have nothing to do with what’s happening onstage – one is even sung completely by pit singers while we see a wordless scene on stage.  The big theme is about what makes a family – but there’s no more depth than that.   “Mary Poppins”, for all IT’S spectacle of sets and special effects, is actually a more traditional and accessible musical then “Lion King” or “Tarzan,” with more depth going on thematically.

Visually, the show is quite wondrous.  One thing I can say about ALL the Disney shows is, they put the money on the stage and they are very technically splendid – the “Disney Magic” is always successful.  The pre-show scrim is already impressive – as we listen to soft jungle drums, we see a huge 3-D animated curtain (or maybe it was a projection) of a ship tossing at sea, while a projection superimposes over it a map of Africa, daily “Captain’s Log” entries,  and a lighted ship that continually moves across the sea during the half-hour before the show.  When the ship reaches the continent, the show begins abruptly and instantly – no prologue.  A bolt of lightning flashes, the entire house suddenly blacks out, and immediately we see Mom, Dad, and baby being thrown overboard during the storm.  Courtesy of flying wires, they are plunged under the sea and we see them swim to the top and wash ashore.  Then, in a stunning visual, we see them from the sky (we are looking down at the beach from up above) as they stand up and walk.  (They are actually standing on the rear wall (painted and lit as the beach), their bodies horizontal to the floor, and their wires are lowering them as they walk down the wall to the floor!).

The flying is certainly spectacular (the first time the pack of apes bursts out of the set and flings themselves out over the audience is positively thrilling).  I had a great 4^th row seat – people were flying over my head.   But the flying is used for more than just apes jumping around.  Besides the beach scene, it flies flowers, giant butterflies and insects, tree hammocks, and amazing trick panthers that appear to crawl and jump with speed and patterns that suggest real animals, not actors it cat suits (which is what they are).  There really isn’t much in the way of sets; the three walls are covered with cloth-strip vines (like a mylar curtain, only green) for the fliers to come out of, and the acting area is bare to allow for all the complex multi-cast flying.  Every now and then something will rise from the ground or track in, and these pieces will be used along with plenty of parachute cloth to create meadows, waterfalls, and other locales in a very “Lion King” set mechanics kind of way.  The pacing of the show is great but each act is less than an hour.  However they flew by, no pun intended (or maybe it was).  The second act started just as abruptly as the first.  I guess they put so much money into the sets that they couldn’t afford 10 or 12 bars of mood-setting prologue music!   First overtures went, now prologue music.  Pretty soon shows will just raise the curtain and start in the middle of a line.

I noticed something interesting on the conductor’s podium – a daily notice titled “In the Jungle Today.”  It had “Conducted by:”, “Young Tarzan played by:”, “Out:” and “In:” followed by the appropriate names.  It also had a note about tomorrow being New Year’s Eve so be sure to allow plenty of time for parking, and a rehearsal schedule for the upcoming week Jan. 1 to Jan. 7.  (I couldn’t see exactly what the rehearsal schedule was – the print was too small – but I am very curious to know what they are rehearsing eight months into the run).

I did enjoy “Tarzan” and it was quite imaginative and creative, with splendid visuals and staging, and I enjoyed it more than I did the cast recording, but I can’t say it’s one of my favorite shows and I wouldn’t rush to see it again.  In the Disney canon, “Mary Poppins” and “Beauty and the Beast” still do it best for me.

KSHO broadcasts to the Mid-Willamette Valley in Western Oregon.
Among the communities served are Albany, Corvallis, and Lebanon.