Review Roundup: Disney's THE JUNGLE BOOK Opens at Chicago's Goodman Theatre

Goodman Theatre's world premiere of Disney's The Jungle Book opened tonight, July 1, and runs through August 11, 2013.

Tony Award winner Mary Zimmerman reimagines Walt Disney's 1967 animated hit into a wholly original new work for the stage, drawing from both the film as well as Rudyard Kipling's 1894 collection of stories set in the Indian jungle and featuring original Indian-inspired music and dance. 10-year-old Akash Chopra makes his Chicago debut as young "man cub" Mowgli.

The score contains seven songs from the film, plus never-before-heard pieces from the Academy and Grammy Award winners Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman. Richard Sherman collaborates with Music Director Doug Peck, who arranges and orchestrates the music. Tony Award-winning choreographer Christopher Gattelli collaborates with Chicago-based Hema Rajagopalan-founder and artistic director of Chicago's Natya Dance Theatre-to combine elements of classical Indian dance forms with jazz, tap and other types of movement to enhance the storytelling.

Let's see what the critics had to say...

Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune: In the very last scene of Mary Zimmerman's production of "The Jungle Book,"...You get a sudden lump in your throat - the craving for the lost loves and adventures of childhood that has sustained the Walt Disney Co. for decades.The main problem with Zimmerman's new show - a classy, sophisticated, visually beautiful but cool-to-the-touch affair that solves many of the inherent challenges with this episodic material but trips up when it comes to its emotional potential and its narrative trajectory - is that this is the first such moment when you've felt such a connection...Zimmerman has done her own auteur thing, eschewing Broadway comparisons and keeping her scope modest and singular, which, given the inherent pressures, is admirable in and of itself. But the piece...does not yet seem to understand that "The Jungle Book" fundamentally is a coming-of-age story - the Mowgli who exits the jungle is quite different from the kid whom the wolves find in the bassinet. Like Simba in "The Lion King," he's learned a thing or three. That's what is missing, along with the sense of the loss that invariably accompanies the changes that befall us in life.

Kris Vire, Time Out Chicago: No surprise for a Zimmerman production, the visuals are lush; scenic designer Daniel Ostling makes rich use of color, while Mara Blumenfeld's costumes cleverly remix traditional Indian and imperial English looks in creating her anthropomorphic creatures. But it's the music that reigns supreme here. Music director Doug Peck works some real alchemy in his new arrangements and orchestrations for numbers like "The Bare Necessities" and "Trust in Me," combining jazzy brass and woodwinds with traditional Indian instruments like sitar and veena for a compelling hybrid sound...But Zimmerman hasn't solved all the problems of the material she's inherited...the work's episodic nature lacks a necessary narrative drive. As it stands, Mowgli's encounters with his surroundings feel too disconnected, like fables without morals, or simply bridges between familiar songs. Zimmerman needs to find a greater urgency to make this Jungle Book a page-turner.

Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times: This ever-surprising, winningly whimsical show reinvents the tale of a child raised by animals (and reluctantly sent home to join his own species) in ways that live musical theater can do. Entirely fresh and playful, the show captures the spirit of Indian culture in authentic yet always accessible ways...Zimmerman's actors are irresistible, beginning with 10-year-old Akash Chopra whose Mowgli is so free and easy, moody and defiant, joyfully natural and musical that you just want to squeeze his adorable little body and save him from the predatory tiger, Shere Khan (Larry Yando)...Suffice it to say that Zimmerman's "The Jungle Book" can take its place on the shelf alongside her other classics, from "Metamorphoses" to "The Arabian Nights."

Steven Oxman, Variety: With a history of infusing classic tales with fresh theatricality, auteur-director Mary Zimmerman ("Metamorphoses") is both a natural choice to adapt a Disney film to the stage and a nearly impossible one. Her writing process, accomplished collaboratively in rehearsals, is always unpredictable and thus risky. So "The Jungle Book" reps a "special arrangement" between Disney and Chicago's Goodman Theater: Disney Theatrical isn't producing and thus cedes control, but also makes no promises about future life. The union results in a colorful, musically vibrant, family-friendly show, surprisingly faithful to the film but with a superb, enriched book that's recognizable as both Disney and Zimmerman.

Thom Geier, Entertainment Weekly: As you might expect from the MacArthur- and Tony-winning director Mary Zimmerman (Metamorphoses), the new stage adaptation of The Jungle Book is visually stunning...But as director/adapter, Zimmerman is also saddled with a picaresque story featuring a rotating cast of characters and a narrative arc that is not always as clear as it could be...The creative team's East-meets-West approach extends to the score, though not all of the musical mashups by arranger Doug Peck succeed...The show works best when Zimmerman brings her stylized theatrical sensibility and India-inflected authenticity to the Disney-tested story beats and musical numbers. But when the show strays too far from the film - or from the Disney impulse toward accessible, toe-tapping entertainment - you can feel the audience drifting off, like Mowgli, deeper into some savage and untamed place. Even in its occasional lulls, though, The Jungle Book conveys a thrilling sense of ambition and wonderment. B

Philip Potempa, NWI.com: My only offerings for fine-tuning is a better focus for the scenes using the beloved elephant herd, characters which need to be larger and more imposing. There is a peacock character in a minor role which for some reason, has been put on painter's stilts to tower over the rest of the cast, a staging device far better served if used for the marching elephants. And while Mara Blumenfeldhas designed a collection of beautiful and fantastical animal costumes based in Indian attire, this production also relies on a wonderful band of musicians who frequent the stage and appear in scenes. They are garbed in bright red uniforms with hearts, which distract from the animals, which should be the focus. (They did add some monkey tails to their band uniforms for one scene. But a more neutral garb would play better, or maybe even in the guise of honeybees for backing up the "Bare Necessities" number?)

Photo Credit: Liz Lauren

To post a comment, you must register and login.