In the end, it was this show's viewers (Who voted via the Internet) who selected Ron Link to play the title role in the first international production of "Tarzan." FYI: Just like Josh Strickland, Link had once been a finalist on Holland's version of "American Idol."
Anyway ... Thanks to "Wie Wordt Tarzan ?," Dutch theater fans were now well aware of this new Disney musical months prior to its official premiere at Circustheatre. Which really helped boost advance ticket sales for "Tarzan" 's first international production.
Of course, by this time, the Broadway version of "Tarzan" had been open for several months. And Joop's creative team were well aware of all of the underwhelming reviews that Disney's newest musical had received stateside.
Now, this news might have discouraged a lesser group of showmen. But not Joop van den Ende's staff. Working directly with "Tarzan" 's original creative team (Who actually welcomed a chance to revisit the show), Joop's troupe identified many ways that this show could be improved and plussed.
Chief among these was bringing Sergio Trujillo to redo much the show's choreography. Best known these days for that he recently did on the Broadway smash, "Jersey Boys," Sergio reworked many of the numbers that Australian contemporary ballet star Meryl Tankard had originally done for "Tarzan."
Joop's group also insisted that -- in order to make the most of the Circustheatre's performance space -- that more Cirque de Soleil moments be folded into the show. Take -- for example -- how Jane makes her entrance in the Dutch production. Instead of just walking out on stage, Miss Porter now enters from the back of the hall and walks through the audience.
Mind you, what adds to the fun of this moment in the show is -- as Jane comes down the aisle -- Tarzan suddenly appears high above the floor of Circustheatre's auditorium. Literally hanging above the audience seated in the hall, the ape man then observes this beautiful creature as she carefully makes her way through the jungle.
Let me stress here that we're not talking about radical surgery here. This was refining, not retooling. Just a few nips and tucks. A re-choreographed scene here, a new lyric (Provided by Phil Collins himself, by the way) there. Now add in van den Ende's truly inspired promotion of the first international production of "Tarzan" coupled with the fact that this new Disney musical is now being staged inside a theater that actually lends itself to all of Pichon Baldinu's flying & bungee-ing ... And Disney Theatrical (And Stage Entertainment, of course) now has a hit musical on its hands. In Holland, anyway.
So the big question now becomes ... Will any of these changes be incorporated into the Broadway version of "Tarzan" ? Well, Disney Theatrical did make changes to the Broadway version of "The Lion King" after the London production of that show opened in 1999. Why For? Because Julie Taymor restaged some of the numbers for this Tony Award winning musical so that they'd then better fit the performance space at the Lyceum. And Taymor was so pleased with these changes that she had them folded into the Broadway version of "The Lion King."
Similarly, new bits of stage business that proved to be successful in the road companies of this Broadway smash eventually found their way into the original version of "The Lion King." So it's not like Disney Theatrical hasn't done something like this before.
The only problem is ... Given the physical set-up of the Richard Rodgers Theatre, it's going to be extremely hard to incorporate many of the changes that have been made for "Tarzan" 's first international production into the Broadway version of the show. But -- that said -- that still doesn't mean that the folks at Disney Theatrical won't fold these pluses & improvements into any future productions of their newest musical.
You know what's ironic about all this? Disney Theatrical fixed "Tarzan" the way that Broadway producers have been fixing troubled shows for more than a century now. By taking it on the road. Way, way, way on the road, admittedly. All the way to Holland. But -- in the end -- the critics agree. "Tarzan" is now a much better show for having made that journey
Well, here's hoping that Disney Theatrical's next production -- "The Little Mermaid" (Which begins its out-of-town try-out on July 26th in the Ellie Caulkins Opera House at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts ) -- really benefits from its time on the road.
