Tarzan swings into Bigfork

The Bigfork Summer Playhouse production of Tarzan is a captivating, emotional rollercoaster. And in my opinion, far more entertaining than the Disney animation based on a 1914 novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

While it would be easy for a show where most of the cast pretend to be jungle animals, to be cheesy or silly, I was quickly swept up in the world created by the playhouse.

Every detail from the acting, costuming, set, music, choreography and lighting came together in a way that drew me in and transported me to a fictional West Africa where I cried, and laughed, and pondered the question of what it means to be a family.

“I’m really surprised how moved I am by the stage show,” director Janie Wallace said. “I think it’s a little deeper than your average Disney show. There’s a lovely conversation through the show about what makes a family. It is a very fictional story but I think it represents these ideas about adoption and prejudice that are very, very real.”

The show begins rather rapidly, with a panther, played by Mallory King, killing the infant of gorillas Kala and Kerchak and then the shipwrecked parents of baby Tarzan.

I didn’t expect to feel sad so early in the show, but as Kala, played by Paige Mason, mourned the loss of her child, and then found baby Tarzan, I caught myself on the brink of tears.

The journey Kala goes through in the story is a testament to mothers of all sorts. She experiences the loss of a child, then finding a new son. She tires to help him fit in and protect him from the reality of his past. And while she deals with raising Tarzan, she struggles to get Kerchak, played by David Leppert, to accept Tarzan as a son. Her journey through adoptive parenting continues when the humans arrive and adult Tarzan, played by Nathan Cockroft, discovers he’s human, and decides to go with Jane back to England.

Kala is now faced with saying goodbye to her son, and as they sang Phil Collins “You’ll be in my Heart,” I had to cry.

There are other moments in the show that reflect motherly qualities everyone would be familiar with, some which lighten the mood. In one scene Tarzan is setting a trap for the panther, and while she is looking away looking away Kala asks Tarzan if he’s tying knots again.

“How did you know I was tying knots?” he asked.

“I’m your mother, I know everything,” she replied.

Kerchak in turn is fearful of the human species, and afraid of what Tarzan might become. When young Tarzan, played by Ben Johnson, begins to experiment and invent things Kerchak becomes fearful and takes Tarzan away, to leave him in the jungle.

Young Tarzan eagerly goes with Kerchak, looking up to him as a father figure. Kala refuses to let Tarzan stay in the jungle alone, and lives away from the rest of the“family of gorillas with him.

But after being sent away for being different by Kerchak, Tarzan questions who he is and where he belongs.

That more serious side of the story is balanced by wonderful bits of humor that were well executed by the cast.

Most interactions between Tarzan and his best gorilla friend Terk, played by Bernell Lassai, have comical moments as well as a reminder of what a strong friendship looks like. Pointing out when the other person is going to get themselves in trouble, but having their back anyway, like when Tarzan decides to take the humans to the nesting grounds in an attempt to make Jane stay in the jungle.

But some of the funniest moments were when grown Tarzan finally meets other humans.

Tarzan meets Jane played by Jillian Paige, after rescuing her from some jungle plants. He curiously examines her, like an ape would, poking her and checking under limbs. He begins to learn to speak as a human by mimicking her speech. When he meets the poacher Clayton, played by Jacob Sefcak, his mimicking had me almost doubled over with laughter, as Clayton declared he didn’t sound like that.

The Playhouse version of the show is slightly different from the Broadway production and the directing choices Wallace made worked well. In the original Broadway adaptation of Tarzan the cast swings around the stage on bungees and uses rock climbing equipment. Wallace and the cast researched the way apes move, and spent the first day of rehearsal figuring out how to imitate the apes. They spend most of the show in a squat, knuckles to the floor, or climbing on the set, which is very much like a giant jungle gym. It looks pretty accurate, but makes the show fairly physically draining for the actors.

“They’re sacrificing their thighs,” Wallace said. “I don’t know where they get the energy.”

Tarzan is an excellent show to see, for both young and old. “It certainly is a kid-friendly show, but I also think it’s a great show for grown ups too,” Wallace said.

Tarzan opened at the Bigfork Summer Playhouse Tuesday. It will join the repertory rotation with West Side Story and Thoroughly Modern Millie.

Visit www.bigforksummerplayhouse.com to view the full summer schedule of shows.