Tonight I attended the sales presentation for the upcoming Broadway production of Tarzan. Going in, I had doubts that it would work on Broadway, but after the presentation, I have no doubts that this is going to be HUGE.
Here's a rundown of what happened.
The show opened with four performers singing "Son of Man." An awesome rendition full of energy and great harmonies. It was rockin!
Then Thomas Schumacker (head of Disney Theatricals) came out and discussed a little about the history of Tarzan. From the animated feature to getting Phil Collins involved, to deciding to take it to the stage. And how the main story they are trying to tell with it is the idea of "What is a family? What defines what a family is? Who am I? Where do I belong?"
Then there was a performance of a new song written for the stage show. A duet called "For the First Time" which is sung by Tarzan and Jane. And it is honestly one of the most beautiful love duets I've heard in quite some time. It was gorgeous.
Then Bob Crowley (director, scenic designer, and costume designer) came out and joined in the discussion and talked about the set for the show. They showed pictures and it all looked quite impressive. Very minimal and more suggestive as opposed to naturalistic. Perhaps the coolest part was the scene in which the shipwreck leaves the family washed up on the shore. The entire scene takes place with the actors harnessed and standing on the rear wall of the theatre as opposed to on the stage. Giving the audience an aerial view of the scene. It looks very cool.
They then showed some costumes. The ape costumes look great. Not monkey suits, but more...abstract and suggestive of monkeys.
Then, the big surprise came.
Phil Collins came out and performed songs from the show. Both old and new songs. Some of the new ones included a song sung by Jane when she first arrives in the jungle. A song sung by the father ape as he leaves Tarzan behind. And a song sung by Tarzan when he is a child all alone on the beach. It was gorgeous.
After that, they discussed the aerial stunts. And showed video clips of the creative team behind the stunts and choreographing kinda workshopping their ideas. We saw bits and pieces of the shipwreck scene I mentioned above being performed on the wall. It was all very cool.
The scene between Tarzan and Jane (Strangers Like Me) takes place above the canopy of the jungle, which implied more aerial stunts there as well. Should be quite exciting.
And then at the very end, Phil sang a GORGEOUS rendition of "You'll Be In My Heart." It was almost more of a lullabye than any version I had ever heard before, complete with four part harmony backing him up.
This show is gonna be HUGE.
Here's a rundown of what happened.
The show opened with four performers singing "Son of Man." An awesome rendition full of energy and great harmonies. It was rockin!
Then Thomas Schumacker (head of Disney Theatricals) came out and discussed a little about the history of Tarzan. From the animated feature to getting Phil Collins involved, to deciding to take it to the stage. And how the main story they are trying to tell with it is the idea of "What is a family? What defines what a family is? Who am I? Where do I belong?"
Then there was a performance of a new song written for the stage show. A duet called "For the First Time" which is sung by Tarzan and Jane. And it is honestly one of the most beautiful love duets I've heard in quite some time. It was gorgeous.
Then Bob Crowley (director, scenic designer, and costume designer) came out and joined in the discussion and talked about the set for the show. They showed pictures and it all looked quite impressive. Very minimal and more suggestive as opposed to naturalistic. Perhaps the coolest part was the scene in which the shipwreck leaves the family washed up on the shore. The entire scene takes place with the actors harnessed and standing on the rear wall of the theatre as opposed to on the stage. Giving the audience an aerial view of the scene. It looks very cool.
They then showed some costumes. The ape costumes look great. Not monkey suits, but more...abstract and suggestive of monkeys.
Then, the big surprise came.
Phil Collins came out and performed songs from the show. Both old and new songs. Some of the new ones included a song sung by Jane when she first arrives in the jungle. A song sung by the father ape as he leaves Tarzan behind. And a song sung by Tarzan when he is a child all alone on the beach. It was gorgeous.
After that, they discussed the aerial stunts. And showed video clips of the creative team behind the stunts and choreographing kinda workshopping their ideas. We saw bits and pieces of the shipwreck scene I mentioned above being performed on the wall. It was all very cool.
The scene between Tarzan and Jane (Strangers Like Me) takes place above the canopy of the jungle, which implied more aerial stunts there as well. Should be quite exciting.
And then at the very end, Phil sang a GORGEOUS rendition of "You'll Be In My Heart." It was almost more of a lullabye than any version I had ever heard before, complete with four part harmony backing him up.
This show is gonna be HUGE.
. Can't wait to see it anyways, oh, I am so excited
I'm not a big fan of Equity. I'd have thought you would have racked up enough performance experience to be granted a precious Equity ticket.
