Tarzan Review!

[bigrab1018]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 12:06am

YAY! we can always count on liotte...

Updated On: 3/31/06 at 12:06 AM

[zoomzoom]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 12:07am

I'm waiting for hours to read the review. I'm so exciting.

[YankeeGal#24]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 12:07am

HURRY!!!!!!

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 12:07am

lookin' at my watch
tick.... tick....

[mizzairee]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 12:09am

*refreshes this page every 5 seconds*

[liotte]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 12:11am

Just got home from the first preview of Tarzan. The show started late (around 8:15), very long intermission, and ended around 11:05. Stage doored after, hence why I'm so late.

So before the show started, a Disney representative (I can't remember his name) came out to talk to the audience- wanted us to know that there will be some technical glitches, we might see some crew members on stage making sure things are going well, we might hear the conductor speaking, etc. Well, considering this was the first time ever that the show has been done all the way through without stopping, it went very well!

SPOILERS GALORE!!!!!!!!

The curtain is a blue map of the ocean and Africa, and has a captain's log on the left bottom from 1888 (when the story takes place), and it changes every minute or so.

The first act opened with a complete blackout, thunder and lightning, and a screen between the audience and the stage. You see the outline of a boat (all in white), and a light lets you see the mom, dad, and baby tarzan battling the storm. There are waves rolling at the bottom, the people are swaying, and suddenly, you hear the ship break. The people are on harnesses, they are pulled into the air, which is meant to look like water, and they "swim" up to the top of the stage (literally, up on a rope). They end up on a beach, and the audience has a bird's eye view of the set- the ocean, a sandy beach, and trees on the side. They stand so they are parallel with the stage below, and walk up the beach (so lowering down on the ropes and walking down the wall), and start building a shelter. The completed shelter is then, along with the people, pulled up so it is suspended in the air amongst the trees of the forest.

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 12:13am

I remember that effect being discussed at the preview back in November.

[bigrab1018]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 12:13am

ahhhh keep going!...sounds awesome...what a spectacle

[liotte]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 12:17am

During the opening act, the song "Two Worlds" was playing in the background, I should mention that.

Ok, next. All 3 walls have green vines hanging down, and there are numerous holes and openings throughout. So the tarzan family are in their treehouse shelter, and you see gorillas coming out of the walls from these holes- walking (like apes), flying on ropes over the audience, swinging around onstage, etc. Merle Dandridge, who plays ape mother Kala, makes her way to the front of the stage with a baby gorilla. I think Kerchak, the father (Shuler Hensley) was there as well. You see a leopard climbing around and growling. Suddenly, the leopard flies (as in, on a rope so quickly) across the stage and takes the baby gorilla. The apes leave, and Kala goes off crying.

Then the shelter in the middle of the stage with the Tarzan family is lit up, and the leopard is climbing on the ropes towards the family. The mother and father are both pushed off ("killed"), leaving baby Tarzan. Leopard leaves, and Kala hears the crying baby and goes to investigate. She finds the baby, who pees all over her, fights the leopard who came back for more, and then she goes off with the baby to the rest of the tribe. She fights with Kerchak (father ape, head of the tribe) about keeping him, and sings "You'll be in my heart".

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 12:19am

is this going scene by scene?
I'm gettin' a Botttle of Wine

[YankeeGal#24]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 12:20am

This is great.....keep going!

[Qfan2.0]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 12:21am

ahhhh sounds friggin hardcore

[Me2]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 12:21am

more!!

How were the costumes?? How was Merle?

[chinkie azn jai]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 12:22am

Yeah, what did the ape costumes look like?

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 12:22am

This sounds AMAZING! GO MORE MORE

[YankeeGal#24]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 12:23am

YES! How were Merle, Jenn, Chester, Josh, Shuler!! The singing? Acting? Script!! MORE!!!

Updated On: 3/25/06 at 12:23 AM

[zoomzoom]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 12:25am

While waiting for liotte's reviews, I'm listening to Tarzan's soundtrack. I can't imagine how amazing Tarzan on stage's going to be.

[liotte]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 12:26am

Ok, I don't want to go through this every single thing. I'm summarizing now. To get the story, watch the movie.

The lighting was great, the costumes were great, the choregraphy- wow, so much dancing, running around, gymnastics, balancing on ropes in the air, all the flying in harnesses, etc. It was pretty cool to see.

Daniel Manche, who played Young Tarzan tonight, was great. He can sing, dance, flip, this kid was incredible. His entrance was fun too, he popped out of a tiny hole on the stage without people noticing- suddenly he appeared out of nowhere.
Josh Strickland as Tarzan was great. He looked fantastic, sings wonderfully, and had a great entrance. The stage had a sheet covering the front with a light shining through in the middle which resembled a sun. You see different shapes, hand puppets, young Tarzan showing his muscles, basically a progression of getting older. Suddenly, Josh (Tarzan) comes flying down from the top of the mezzanine, over the audience, and onto the stage. Wow, it was cool.

Chester Gregory as Terk (Tarzan's ape friend) has a fantastic voice, he can dance, he's funny, and he did a great job as a gorilla. The gorilla costumes were mainly dark blue, black, and the females (Kala in particular) had some dark red. Their arms and legs and midriffs showed through, and they had the gorilla hair hanging off from all over their bodies. The exposed parts had black and blue paint on them.

[FosseBoi]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 12:27am

How different was "You'll Be in My Heart" in the show, compared to Phil Collins' version?

Updated On: 3/25/06 at 12:27 AM

[Princeton78]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 12:27am

What about their faces?
Masks?
Makeup?

[Qfan2.0]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 12:27am

how was jenn?

[Me2]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 12:28am

Its like christmas!

[ScottInLA]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 12:31am

> Suddenly, Josh (Tarzan) comes flying down from the top of the
> mezzanine, over the audience, and onto the stage. Wow, it was
> cool.

This line made me wonder...how theme-park/gimmicky was the show? I'm not trying to nitpick--heck, the thing's had one preview--but this sounds like the kind of thing they'd do at the Tarzan show they had in WDW's Animal Kingdom.

Obviously, much of the rest of what you said sounded in no way like that--just curious. Thanks...

[mizzairee]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 12:31am

Wow, it sounds awesome!

[TheOneAndOnly]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 12:32am

No masks....there were cheetahs and butterflys and flowers and spiders and catepillars that all had masks...(how's that for a teaser?!!), but the gorillas just have wigs, super flowy/shaggy almost shredded loose material as 'fur', and some contouring on their faces.