Jungle boogie

Photo: Phillip Hamer

What: Tarzan
When: June 25 – July 2, 2014
Where: The Muny, St. Louis

It’s doubtful that the 2006 stage adaptation of Disney’s 1999 animated film “Tarzan” will ever make anybody’s list of Great Musicals. But the Phil Collins score (expanded from the five numbers he wrote for the movie) is filled with songs that are never less the serviceable and, in the case of “You’ll Be in My Heart” and “Sure as Sun Turns to Moon,” really quite moving.

And then there’s the book by celebrated playwright David Henry Hwang. While hardly in the same league as his more famous plays, it still tells its version of the Edgar Rice Burroughs story clearly and intelligently. There’s even a nice message about the importance of family—both biological and (to quote Armistead Maupin’s Anna Madrigal) logical.

Photo: Eric Woolsey

Even so “Tarzan,” like many recent Broadway musicals, relies heavily on slick production values. You wouldn’t want to attempt a concert version of this. Happily, the Muny’s cast and design team are more than up to the task, so the result is a couple of hours of family friendly fun that, while it may not challenge, entertains without fail. Who, on a St. Louis summer evening, could ask for anything more?

You all know the story by now. Shipwrecked with his parents, the baby who will become Tarzan first becomes an orphan when the leopard that has killed the son of the ape couple Kerchak and Kala kills his parents as well. Over husband Kerchak’s objections—he has good reasons to distrust humans—Kala names him Tarzan and raises him as her own. Misfit though he is, he slowly adjusts to life in the ape clan until the arrival of botanist Jane Porter, her scientist father, and their unprincipled guide Clayton bring him into contact with humans for the first time—and forces him to ask hard questions about who he really is.

Photo: Phillip Hamer

Quentin Earl Darrington and Katie Thompson are Kerchak and Kala. He’s a commanding presence, she’s sympathetic, and together they make a believable couple. Their duet “Sure as Sun Turns to Moon” is a charming picture of a couple who have been together so long they know each other’s thoughts. I wish someone had given Ms. Thompson a dark wig or a cap to mask her flaming read hair, though; it looks odd next to the rest of the ape clan.

Nicholas Rodriguez is a funny and charming Tarzan, with the necessary buff physique. I think he tends to overdo the “scratching his head” pose to emphasize his ape upbringing, but he’s got a solid voice and the agility the role requires. Kate Rockwell, meanwhile, makes an impressive Muny debut as a wonderfully self-aware Jane. Her song of botanical discovery "Waiting For This Moment"—with the ensemble taking on the roles of exotic jungle flowers—is a highlight of the first act.

As Tarzan’s best ape friend Terk, Gregory Haney also makes a strong impression in his Muny debut, bringing all the necessary sass and attitude to the part, along with some strikingly athletic dancing in “Trashing the Camp”; you can see a bit of it in the preview video. Nathaniel Mahone’s Young Terk has that same attitude down pat, and he’s matched by an equally strong Young Tarzan in Spencer Jones—a three-season Muny veteran and with the ripe old age of nine.

Photo: Eric Woolsey

Local favorite Ken Page exudes his usual charm as Professor Porter, while Michael James Reed, who was such a dashing and vital Henry IV with Shakespeare Festival this summer, is a thoroughly reprehensible Clayton.

Timothy R. Mackabee’s jungle gym set provides lots of interesting playing areas, especially when combined with the Muny’s turntable, and gives Tarzan and the ape dance ensemble lots of places to swing and climb. Leon Dobkowski’s costumes allow them to look sufficiently simian while still permitting plenty of freedom of movement. Chris Bailey’s choreography is a nice mix of modern dance and African folk moves. Director John Targaglia keeps it all moving along nicely and creates some fine stage pictures. He has also given the adult Tarzan an impressive first entrance, gliding in over the audience on a modified zip line. The crowd loved it.

Photo: Eric Woolsey

I haven’t been to the Muny in many years, and I have to say the overall experience has improved. Lines at the concession stands are shorter and the variety of drinks is better. The new fans run nonstop (the old ones shut down during performances because they were so loud), so there’s always a breeze. And it appears that audiences are taking the instructions in the new “theatre etiquette” page in the program to heart. People aren’t constantly wandering the aisles as they used to do and most of them aren’t dashing for the parking lot before curtain call.

“Tarzan” plays the Muny nightly at 8:15 through Tuesday, July 2. Great art it ain't, but it aims to please and generally succeeds. For more information: muny.org. Transportation tip: Metro runs a shuttle between the Muny and the Forest Park/Debaliviere Metro station, starting at 7:20 PM. I recommend it as a low-stress alternative to parking and driving in Forest Park.