BWW Reviews: Pearland Thatre Guild's TARZAN is Wholly Entertaining

The stage musical of TARZAN may be Disney's biggest Broadway flop. The company reportedly sunk anywhere between $12 million to $15 million into the overinflated musical. The problem that may reviewers and audiences had with the show was that the often-repeated stunning visuals ceased to be astounding after about the first 10 minutes of the production. When I saw that the Pearland Theatre Guild was producing the musical, I initially thought that the community theater group must have been completely out of their minds to program such an ambitious and notoriously unsuccessful musical. With the allure of the macabre, I was drawn to the production thinking I'd see a train crash into a sinking ship. To my surprise, the Houston premiere production was rather buoyant and wholly entertaining.

The stage musical is a retelling of the popular 1999 hit Disney film. After surviving a shipwreck, a young boy is orphaned in the African Congo when a leopard kills his parents. Kala, a female gorilla that recently lost her own baby, discovers the crying infant, whom she names Tarzan. She adopts and raises the boy as one of her own despite the disapproval of Kerchak, the leader of the gorilla tribe. Tarzan constantly struggles to earn Kerchak's approval, and as a grown man encounters strangers like himself for the first time. The show utilizes all of Phil Collins' hit songs from the film, incorporates a few new ones, and features a book written by David Henry Hwang (CHINGLISH, Disney's AIDA, M. BUTTERFLY).

With the limitations of a respectable community theater budget, Nathan C. Hand has stripped away the layers of fanciful visual trickery, preserving and presenting the relational center of the production. He emphasizes the universal quests for belonging and acceptance that drives the plot forward in TARZAN. He develops the relationships between each of the major characters, giving the show a generously relatable and touching heart. Sadly, the book is David Henry Hwang at his weakest. It's not really thought provoking or deep. It's not as clever as CHINGLISH. It's not as sophisticated as AIDA. It exists as entertainment for entertainment's sake. But, Nathan C. Hand still finds a way to have the finale resonate within us, making even my eyes slightly mist over. Also, he deftly utilizes the space and his set to provide some nice theatrical illusions, especially in the reveal of adult Tarzan (which earned cheers from the audience I saw the production with).

Nathan C. Hand's cast is committed to their roles and seems to have a lot of fun bringing their characters to life. As Tarzan, Kiefer Slaton charms the audience with his smooth tenor voice, especially on "Strangers Like Me," and his relatable portrayal of Tarzan's struggle to fit in and find acceptance. Haley Landers' Jane Potter is sweet, kind, and imbued with a naivety that earns some hearty chuckles. Stephanie Politte's Kala is wonderfully nurturing. Her earthy alto voice sounds great on the score, giving it some notable richness and depth. The stubborn and stoic Kerchak is given interesting life by Daniel Ewetuya. Renee Hinojosa's Terk is charismatic, heartwarming, and hilarious. Her powerful alto instrument and well-placed belt offer some of the evening's best vocals and her energy and presence on stage is always fantastic and appreciated. Renee Hinojosa's soulful performances of "Son Of Man" and "Trashin' the Camp" standout as the most fascinating moments of the musical.

The remainder of the cast does well with their assigned roles as well. Neil Kirkpatrick's Professor Porter is amiable. Nathan C. Hand's Mr. Clayton is villainous without being imposing or scary. Andrew Sackett's Young Tarzan and Duke Bartholomae's Young Terk are lively and cute. The large ensemble spends a lot of time enacting ape-like mannerisms and handles that task well. Daniel Ewetuya does the best job, making his hunched over Gorilla stance appear natural.

TARZAN is not a perfect musical though. Many of David Henry Hwang's book scenes seem to only exist to get the cast and audience from one song to the next. This leaves the characters grossly underdeveloped (especially in the way that Mr. Clayton is lacking menace) and cheapens the emotional connection the audience has with them. Phil Collins' new songs for the score are not memorable; for example, Jane's "Waiting For This Moment" is a tedious prattle number with uninteresting word play in Latin.

This production has a few missteps as well. At the performance I attended, the cast was struggling to find pitches at the end of the opening number "Two Worlds." Stephanie Politte was using her strong alto instrument to give the ensemble a base to build off of, but several members just couldn't mesh and chord with her. However, by the end of "You'll Be In My Heart," this problem was corrected. Also, the make-up design for Daniel Ewetuya's Kerchak creativity recreates the look of a Greyback Gorilla's face and the design seems grounded in reality. The other ape make-ups are splashes and slashes of color that don't always make sense. Yet, the most perplexing designs were the two completely different ones for Young Terk and Adult Terk, which caused me to whip out the Playbill mid-show and try to figure out who was who during "Son Of Man."

Nathan C. Hand is extremely brave to undertake this title, but I feel his work truly pays off. He, his cast, and his crew have worked hard to develop a production that has integrity and holds the audiences' attention. Upon entering the theater, the massive and well decorated set, wonderfully designed by Ed and Robyn LeGris impresses. Once the solid cast starts using it, magic happens and the audience gets swept up in the simplistic but intriguing plot.

Running Time: Approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes with one 15 minute intermission.

TARZAN, produced by Pearland Theatre Guild, plays at the Pearl Theater, 14803 Park Almeda Drive, Houston, 77047 through September 8, 2013. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm and Sundays at 3:00pm. For more information and tickets, please visit http://www.pearlandtheatreguild.com or call (713) 340-2540.

Photos courtesy of Nathan C. Hand.

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