Variety is Mixed to-Positive:
"Green, according to popular psychology, not only symbolizes nature and fertility but also is the easiest shade on the eye, known for its soothing, refreshing qualities. Color therapy may not be enough to quell the carping of musical theater traditionalists about the theme-park aesthetic Disney has brought to Broadway. But the dose of tranquility provided by Bob Crowley's lusciously verdant sets for "Tarzan" should prove medicinal to the naysayers as the entertainment empire's latest stage venture becomes a prosperous fixture at the Richard Rodgers.
The show may be more sophisticated in terms of its design and physical presentation than in its workmanlike musical craftsmanship, but an insipid score has not stopped other Disney tuners from finding popular acceptance in the marketplace.
Expanding on the five songs he penned for the 1999 animated movie, Phil Collins has written numbers that rarely develop or build the way good musical theater songs should, and there's no punchy act-one closer or stirring final anthem. But the pop score is tuneful, the lyrics serviceable and the pounding percussive rhythms occasionally exciting, which seems enough to ask in this vibrant package.
Drawing from Edgar Rice Burroughs' classic tale of the apeman and from the Mouse toon's screenplay, playwright David Henry Hwang, who did previous book duty on Disney's "Aida," has given the story the clean, uncomplicated lines necessary to communicate across the footlights and play to the broadest possible age range.
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Directing for the first time here after undertaking design chores for Disney on "Aida" and "Mary Poppins," Crowley doesn't rival the flourish Julie Taymor brought to "The Lion King." But as an artist whose primary currency is visual, his contribution is no less significant. Crowley's choice to box in the stage with a single dominating color creates an intimate storybook effect, enhanced by Natasha Katz's magical, multihued lighting.
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Unlike previous Disney shows "Beauty and the Beast," "The Lion King" and "Aida," or the upcoming London import "Mary Poppins," this first new Mouse HouseMouse House musical to hit Gotham in six years was not honed in an out-of-town tryout. Instead, it was finessed during workshops and an extended preview period, exposing the gestating production directly to the sniping of a community that regards itself as the artistic gatekeepers of the Broadway musical.
To the credit of the creative team and Disney Theatrical chief Thomas Schumacher, the show has come together to deliver eye-popping spectacle and unexpected emotional involvement. "Tarzan" should be seeing green at the box office for some time to come.
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117930466?categoryid=33&cs=1
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
Updated On: 5/11/06 at 11:46 PM
