Disney's Jungle Book opens at Goodman Theatre in Chicago — Page 2

Did Mowgli have a song?

Awe, that bites. There is a really nice deleted song from the film where he sings about a dream he had called "I Knew I belonged to her"

How was "It's a Small World" used?

Thanks, for your great review.

LOL that's a relief. Can you describe how the elephants worked?

Larry Yando got his Equity card working at my theatre.

Comments on Mary Zimmerman's The Jungle Book production (watch for spoilers and this is a long post):

First the performance is in two acts, one intermission. Each act is about one hour in length. If my memory is right there are only about 4 songs in the first act including The Bare Necessities and I Want To Be Like You which closes the first act.

The second act has about 5-6 songs including character songs for Kaa and Shere Khan as well as the vultures (That's What Friends Are For). NOTE: There was no published song list in the program.) The suggested inclusion of It's A Small World has not happened at least not yet. Bagheera and Mogli have no individual songs in the show though Mogli does sing a little at times.

There is no show curtain when you enter the theatre. Just the usual non-descript stage curtain. When the performance begins, the stage curtain lifts and shows a triangular space containing a Victorian boys room. A young boy enters and picks up a book and as he opens it and begins to read, Indian music begins to play, the door to the room opens and a female peacock character on stilts enters and in effect leads him into the story. He is Mogli of course. The walls break apart and then suddenly the stage opens into a colorful and vivid jungle of tile floors and brilliant backdrops. The story begins.

The wolf pack appears as does Bagheera and Shere Khan and the stage is set for the control of the child. The sets do occasionally move, slide, lift and a flying bed like lair flies in and out for use by Bagheera and Shere Khan.

A baby puppet is initially used to represent Mogli but within 10-15 minutes he is replaced by a live child actor. Bagheera (played by Usman Ally) is the rudder that holds the story in place throughout the play and I thought his character was the most completely written.

Kaa (the snake - played by Thomas Derrah) is introduced as a two man slithering puppet but I felt it did not work too well. A later appearance by Kaa where he is seen as three sections coming up through trap doors in the stage floor worked much better.

The appearance of the elephant herd is accompanied by two large scale side scrims in the form of elephants stage left and right but the herd is represented by about 12 actors in British military uniforms with oversized elephant ears, tales and stylized movements. They perform Colonel Hathi's March live on stage with instruments.

The introduction of Baloo brings some much needed laughter into the show. Kevin Carolin is great and gets most of the laughs all night. Bare Necessities is fine but I will state that none of the choreography in any number was that memorable to me and a big missed opportunity occurs in the second act when there is a tap number by the monkey gang. (Where is Gower Champion when you need him?)

Act One ends with I Want To Be Like You and Andre De Shields certainly knows how to move around the stage and sell the character of King Louie. My only complaint there was that the number is milked for applause so long that it loses its momentum just when it should have ended and leave the audience going into the intermission wanting more.

The first act therefore is a set up to the period and style of the story introducing all the characters and their parts in this tale. Also, there is a constant reference to obtaining the "Red Flower" and I could not understand what that meant (OK I have not read the book or seen the Disney cartoon). Explanation later.

The second act works much better than the first as the humor seems more obvious, physical stick by Baloo is more apparent and Shere Kahn comes in as the dreaded villain. The aforementioned monkey tap number also occurs here as well as some interesting stage scenes involving Indian symbolism. The vultures make their comic appearance to sing That's What Friends Are For. There is a return of Colonel Hathi and the elephant herd to more comic effect and though the demise of Shere Khan (played by Larry Yando)was very anti-climatic it was interestingly staged esp if you know that The Red Flower means (manmade) fire of which Shere Khan is deathly afraid.

As the performance comes to an end and Mogli is brought to the human camp the stage closes into the Victorian room of the first scene and he picks up the book from the floor, slips back into his chair and begins to read. As indicated by another poster above, a final rather magical moment occurs which leaves you with a smile on your face as the curtain drops.

So what do we have here? I feel there is a lot to like in this Zimmermann production. Is it ready for Broadway? I would say no. It needs some more humor, better choreography, some energy in act one and one thing I haven't mentioned - taking the musicians off the stage. The premise here was to bring the musicians out of the pit and unto the stage at various times. They are costumed in similar red outfits but I would have preferred that they stay in the pit whenever possible. Perhaps it was the fact that they were not all Indian and/or Asian performers so that when they appeared it pulled me out of the story. I hope they rethink this staging concept. There are times when it makes sense but I would keep it to a minimum. Oh, and don't ask me about the dancing butterflies!! lol Finally, even more Indian stylization would be great for this concept especially in dance movements. Maybe the monkey tap number should have been a Bollywood one.

I would say that there is potential here for a small Broadway musical for children that can easily entertain them and yet satisfy adults. It is not The Lion King but it doesn't need to be. But it is a small scale show at this moment (the Goodman main stage holds 856 seats). The Booth would be a great place for this musical if it ever heads to NY.

OK. There is my twenty five cents. I just bought a ticket for the currently scheduled final performance on August 11 (only $27 in the mezzanine). I can report back then. Opening night is July 1 so I will post the Chicago reviews beginning July 2.

ps: In case you are wondering, I am 62yo and see about 100 shows per season in Chicago and New York. (I just saw 5 shows this past weekend.) I estimate I have seen over 1500 shows since I was a child of which the first show I can recall was at the Goodman Theatre in the 1950s.

Updated On: 6/25/13 at 12:32 AM

Hm. I'd be curious to know how much money Disney has in this. Maybe they're trying to go along the lines of Peter and the Starcatcher, though it does sound more like a kids show than that one was.

Hmmm Can't say I was very impressed with the "First Look" video.

I actually might end up seeing this when I am in Chicago this weekend. But from that video I can't see this being anything Broadway worthy (besides the costumes maybe).

The set is really beautiful, you can't really see much from this video. The music and performance sounds terrible ugh.

Updated On: 6/27/13 at 02:30 PM

I can't tell you how much I loved Mary Zimmerman's Arabian Nights, Metamorphoses, and Argonautika... But Mister Matt is correct. It's the same. It's always the same. Even the performances are the same... even if it's different actors playing different characters... it's all the same. Dramatically walk to the lip of the stage, gaze upward, speak grandly.

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Thanks for the recap, jon5202. But I beg you, read The Jungle Books. The Mowgli stories are particularly captivating (I re-read them every few years), and there are additional short stories, such as Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, a mongoose who saves his (human) family from a cobra.

I thought the preview video--and particularly the photos--looked very enticing. I love the costumes and the evocative, imaginative, colourful, yet non-realistic, design. The production seems to use the multi-ethic casting well and adding Indian influences to the music is a nice modern touch.

I'm trying to figure out how I can get to Chicago in time to see this. Is there any chance it might extend to to the end of August?

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A great behind-the-scenes video.
Behind the Scenes of The Jungle Book

That song featured is from Jungle Book 2, I did not know they were sourcing that material.