Behind the Green Room
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On June 26 Disney Theatricals President Thomas Schumacher surprised the Broadway community by posting a closing notice for Disney’s TARZAN – A Broadway Musical at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. The shock was compounded by the fact that Disney opted for only a two week notice period. Disney’s TARZAN will officially shutter after the final performance this Sunday at 6:30pm.
So why is the musical closing after only sixteen months? In recent months the show’s attendance has fluctuated between 80% full and sold-out but the issue has been declining ticket prices (this past week the average price has fallen precipitously to an anemic $65 each) and a dearth of full-price advance sales. The Richard Rodgers is one of the smallest venues on the Great White Way with hit shows like Wicked, Disney’s The Lion King and Mary Poppins able to seat over three thousand more guests each week. So whilst Disney’s The Lion King is posting weekly grosses in excess of $1.2m (and a stellar average ticket price in the high $90s) Disney’s TARZAN was faltering at around half that amount. Once the show had burnt through its advance box office receipts and been devoured alive by critics the commercial realities of a failing musical meant that Disney Theatricals was left with no choice but to pull the show off life support.
So what was wrong with Disney’s TARZAN? Ultimately despite being the most creatively daring of all of the Disney Theatrical productions the show probably wasn’t daring enough. The conceit of having the characters perform on stage and aerially would have been far more compelling in a non-traditional environment. The proscenium was meant to be a barrier that could be smashed (and director Bob Crowley originally envisaged the show to be performed in the round) but the logistics and safety issues of such a feat (and the lack of available venues on Broadway) meant this was impossible. The staging (in “a big green inflatable box�? as Crowley described it) was not to everyone’s liking but the creative team had to create an abstract jungle rather than attempt a literal interpretation. However it has some breath-takingly stunning scenes such as the opening shipwreck and explosive Son of Man. Personally I found Phil Collins’ additional songs to be stronger than the originals and two were stand-out winners for me namely Jane’s Waiting For This Moment and the ballad Everything That I Am. Ultimately the biggest failing of the production was the disjointed and weak libretto by Tony Award-winner David Henry Hwang. Clayton was reinvented into an unconvincing Southerner (think Patrick Swayze in North and South) and the climax felt forced and rushed. No sooner has Kerchak been murdered Clayton is imprisoned and carted off.
Although Disney’s TARZAN will vacate Broadway from Sunday evening the show recently opened in a Circus-style theater in Amsterdam (with a new choreographer) and an additional show is likely to be added in Germany shortly. Personally I feel that with some work the show would be perfect for a US touring schedule under a Cirque du Soleil-style Grand Chapiteau. I remember seeing the musical’s aerialist Pichon Baldinu’s De La Guarda at the Roundhouse in London and being mesmerized by the activity directly above my head. I can envisage a similar show with Kerchak, Kala and Terk swinging throughout the space above the audience.
Last summer we featured an extensive interview with the creative team behind Disney’s TARZAN such as director & scenic/costume designer Bob Crowley, writer David Henry Hwang, choreographer Meryl Tankard and songwriter Phil Collins in Tales from the Laughing Place Magazine. What follows is an abridged version of that article that is still available to purchase through the Laughingplace Store: http://LaughingPlace.com/Tales