Tarzan: quick links
In the early noughties, Disney was having a dream run on Broadway. After the smashing success of Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King, the House of the Mouse continued to mine its vast back catalogue of animated classics, opening stage adaptations of Mary Poppins and The Little Mermaid in swift succession.
However, when Tarzan opened cold with no out of town tryout in New York in May 2006 that momentum came to a screeching halt.
Critics and audiences reacted to the technically ambitious show with a collective meh and the production closed after about a year. This must have spooked Disney as they didn’t open another musical on Broadway until Aladdin almost ten years later.
Tarzan did fare better internationally, particularly in Germany where it played for a decade, and now the ‘King of the Apes’ swings into Melbourne in a new production at the National Theatre.
Tarzan: challenges
Any stage adaptation of this classic adventure story comes with many challenges. How do you recreate the jungle setting, depict the gorillas and make Tarzan swing through the trees? This production, presented by James Terry and directed by Alister Smith, meets these challenges head on and mostly succeeds.
The set looks fantastic, with a large wooden proscenium framing the stage to echo the fatal shipwreck from the opening scene, and large curtains covered in strips of material of all shades of green sweep us into the jungle world.
The physicality of the gorilla tribe is convincing and Michael Ralph’s impressive choreography shines in their ensemble numbers such as Son of Man and the riotous Trashin’ the Camp. The costumes for the gorillas are a weird cross between slashed up garbage bags and big-hair rock bands from the 80s, but they help create a sense of community and movement during dance segments.
Tarzan: choreography
With regards to the swinging, disappointingly there isn’t a whole lot of it. There are a few impressive moments of areal choreography with the gorillas, but whenever Tarzan (Joshua Russell) descends from his rope there are awkward moments where he has to unhook himself from the cumbersome, though obviously necessary, locking mechanism and unfortunately this diminishes the impact of the illusion and slows the pace of the show.
Regardless, what the creative and technical teams have achieved with what must be a somewhat modest budget is rather impressive.
Where the show truly excels is in the calibre of its cast and the dynamic presentation of Phil Collins’ score. The material itself has issues; the book scenes are too brief, the pace is uneven, and the added songs are rather generic.
However, the cast and band, greatly aided by an accomplished sound design, make this Tarzan rise above. Joshua Russell is fabulous in the titular role; his physicality is impressive, and he gives a passionate and complex performance.
Emily Robinson plays plucky explorer Jane with a fabulous combination of wonder, eccentricity and playfulness. Her voice is stunningly clear and powerful, perfectly capturing that classic Disney musical style. There is strong support from Sarah Murr’s soulful Kala, Trent Owers’ comedic Terk and Devon Braithwaite’s powerful Kerchak.
Tarzan: how it sounds
The small band sound impressively lush and full under Claire Healy’s musical direction and Marcello Lo Ricco’s crisp sound design ensures we hear and feel every powerful drumbeat and blast of brass in the orchestration. This Tarzan sounds fantastic and there are several musical highlights throughout, including the gorgeous Academy Award winning ballad You’ll Be in My Heart and the propulsive Strangers Like Me.
The story of Tarzan is a challenging conceit to buy into and adapting it into a stage musical doesn’t help matters; the suspension of disbelief is tricky to achieve.
So, whilst this production may not make you believe that a man can swing through the jungle canopy, befriend a tribe of gorillas and battle leopards, fans of the Disney film and curious music theatre enthusiasts should check it out.
