Broadway Watch - Tarzan

Tarzan Music & Lyrics by Phil Collins; Book by David Henry Hwang. Based on the story by Edgar Rice Burroughd and the Disney film Directed by Bon Crowley Choreography by Meryl Tankard Richard Rodgers Theatre Opened 10th May 2006 Extracts from various reviewers: “…[David Henry] Hwang and director Bob Crowley… [have] worked tirelessly to make this adaptation of Tab Murphy, Bob Tzudiker, and Noni White's Disney screenplay and Edgar Rice Burroughs's original story as offensive to serious theatregoers as it is inoffensive to mass audiences.” “Julie Taymor successfully courted both groups with her direction for Disney's stage adaptation of The Lion King, using tried-and-true techniques to deliver sumptuous visuals while serving the story. And during the isolated times that happens in Tarzan, the results are as close to impressive as anything is here: The harrowing opening sequence, depicting the storm, shipwreck, and fateful Africa landfall of Tarzan's parents, suggests Crowley is following Taymor's visionary example in creating a spectacular, kinetic theatrical event.” “But as soon as it's time to focus on the titular ape man, Tarzan becomes a huge, vine-entangled mess.” “Crowley's costumes are half-hearted Victorian knock-offs for the humans, and for the ape chorus resemble a leather bar on caveman theme night.” “Phil Collins… has retained his songs for the film… and penned new ones every bit as forgettable. His lyrics are better than those Bernie Taupin gave this season's other pop-schlock score, Lestat, but are too droning, repetitive, and nonspecific to be even decent theatre music.” “…if you must pity someone, make it Gambatese. An adept singer and game young actress constantly misused by Broadway… How can you help but feel for someone whose introductory number requires her to marvel at Africa's native flora and fauna (which resemble an LSD-fueled Little Shop of Horrors) while rattling off their scientific names in all their incomprehensible glory?” “The rest of the lyrics and dialogue could just as well be in Latin, too, for all the difference it would make. But then you'd likely miss timeless lines like Gregory's "Should I be punished for my intelligence?" No, Terk. But Hwang, Crowley, Collins, and the rest should be punished for their lack of it in bringing this fur-trimmed fiasco to Broadway.” Talkin’ Broadway – Matthew Murray “You Tarzan, me disgruntled -- but not as disgruntled as someone else would be if he were still alive. A chronology contained in a 2006 edition of Edgar Rice Burroughs's Tarzan and the Apes notes that, when the first films adapted from Burroughs's books were released in 1918, the author was "frustrated by the simplistic way Hollywood treats Tarzan." Well, if he was irked by those flicks, he'd throw spears at the new musical that has been perpetrated in his name -- or sort of in his name, since "Edgar Rice Burroughs" appears only in minuscule type on the program's title page.” “…a libretto that, if it has any message at all, wants to say something about so-called civilized conduct as differentiated from so-called savage behavior. We live in a time when the peace-loving protagonist is favored over the jingoistic warrior, and this Tarzan reflects that mentality, which is probably the right commercial choice on Disney's part. The loose-adaptation is much more of a problem in terms of the musical's helter-skelter storytelling, stock characterizations, and scatterbrained dialogue.” Disney's Tarzan movie works fairly well as a cartoon; Phil Collins sings most of the songs he wrote as voice-overs, and he knows exactly how to put them across… Now that the property has been transferred to the stage, Collins has supplemented his Oscar-winning "You'll Be in My Heart" and four other songs from the film with nine new numbers; unfortunately, he has not come up with the kind of character songs that a stage musical requires.” “If spectacle alone were enough to make a good musical, as many producers mistakenly believe nowadays, this Cirque du Soleil-influenced entry would be a great one. But spectacle doesn't, and this isn't. Disney's Tarzan will leave many audience members wondering: Where's Johnny Weissmuller when you need him?” Theater Mania – David Finkle Final Musical of the Season Next Broadway Musical opening – A Chorus Line – 5th October