Ok, I'm tired, so I'll just give the cliffnotes review for now, but I just got back from the city so I figured I'd share.
Let me start off by saying that Tarzan isn't exactly my favorite Disney Movie, however, I'm pretty good when it comes to unbiased opinions, so i went in the theater starting the show off with a clean slate.
I don't know what changes have been made to it since previews started and if the problems other people addressed were, well, adressed, but I rather liked it. Is it the Lion King? No, and I didn't anticipate it would. LK is a rare combination of tasteful artistry, wonderful storytelling, compelling characters and catchy music woven to create a fabric that is beautiful in every sense of the term. Anyway, if one thing can be said about Tarzan, it's that the show is FUN. People have complained about the main set remaining the same throughout the show (with the exception of the beginning, which is exceptional, I might add. It really sucks you into the show), which it did, but while it was simple it was effective, and it only changed when it needed to, and it changed enough to keep you nterested in it. Ofcourse, I have to bring up the Spider everyone complains about. You can tell it's a spider because of the dialogue in the scene and the puppet itself, although I do admit there was something a little iffy about it (not that I hated it like many people have -- if you have any understanding of how these things works it was very intruiging and nicely done), and i established that the eyes were too high on it's body. If they were lower near the mandible it would look better. Anyway . . .
. . . Overall, I wouldn't call it outstanding, but it is fun. Many people were dancing with the music during the bows. The new songs weren't as memorable as I'd like, and I won't be buying the soundtrack,(though I did buy a T-shirt!) but while you're there it tends to be infectious. If you want to take introduce someone to Broadway, this is a good show for it. The show is full of energy and the cast really seemed to be giving their all and putting on their best performance. The coreography was very interesting (coming from someone with a gymnatics background I can tell you it must have been VERY difficult to stage, especially with that large an ensemble on the Richard Rogers theater stage.
I wouldn't say you should rush out to see the show, but if you get the opportunity to see it, take it. I think you'll be pleasantly suprised.
Yensid "All I will say for now . . . more details tomorrow" tlaw1969
