Stage Door Fine Arts' production promises high-energy enjoyment for all ages
In her ten years of musical theater, Caroline Walsh has played villains, heroes, mean girls and even starfish. Now, she's adding gorilla to her theater resume as part of Stage Door Fine Arts' production of "Tarzan: The Musical."
"It's a different experience," Walsh said of the motions and postures required to look like a gorilla. "It's muscles you aren't typically using in everyday life."
Based on the Disney animated film and Edgar Rice Burroughs' story, "Tarzan: The Musical" is described as a heart-warming story told through powerful music and high-energy choreography.
"Monkeys don't do pirouettes," said Walsh, a featured dancer in the show that runs July 26-28 at The Community House in Hinsdale.
Including Walsh, the production features several actors making their final appearances with Stage Door. Maddie Miller will appear as Jane in the "Mau" cast of the two-cast show, and
Logan Baffico plays Tarzan in all four performances. All three are recent high school graduates who will leave for college in the weeks following the show.
The Stage Door program is open to students in second grade through high school, but "Tarzan" director Madi Moran is proof that graduation doesn't have to be the end of an actor's relationship with the Hinsdale theater company. Moran made her last on-stage appearance with Stage Door in 2013 as part of the "Tarzan: the Musical" cast.
"It's a really cool full-circle moment," said Moran, who spent time working in New York and touring with the national touring cast of "A Charlie Brown Christmas: the Musical" before returning to Stage Door.
Moran said some of the set pieces and costumes in the current production were also part of the 2013 show. But this won't be a reproduction of her Stage Door finale. Most notably, Moran said, the lighting and technology used in this production far surpass what was available more than a decade ago.
Teaching dozens of kids to act and move like apes is a challenge, Moran said, but one that is sure to pay off on opening night. For Miller, cast as one of the few humans in the show, the biggest challenge isn't moving like an ape, but speaking like a Brit. Despite the fact that she moved to Hinsdale from London several years ago, a British accent does not come naturally for Miller. Singing, on the other hand, does.
Miller is featured in several key songs, including "Waiting For This Moment" and "Like No Man I've Ever Seen." Told through a soundtrack by Phil Collins and a book by David Henry Hwang, "Tarzan: the Musical" retells Edgar Rice Burroughs' story of Tarzan, who is raised by gorillas in West Africa.
He meets Jane, a young English naturalist, and falls in love, unaware that Jane's entourage plans to kill the gorillas who are Tarzan's friends.
The Stage Door casts include 60 students from second grade through high school.
Artistic director and co-founder Don Smith said the Stage Door production promises elaborate sets, vibrant costumes and unforgettable performances.
"We are so excited to bring 'Tarzan: The Musical' back to The Community House," Smith said. "This production is a celebration of the strength of family, the beauty of nature, and the power of love. We can't wait to share this incredible story with our community."
"Tarzan: The Musical" will be performed at 7 p.m. Friday, July 26, 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday, July 27, and 2 p.m. Sunday, July 28. To purchase tickets, visit http://www.stagedoorfinearts.com/tickets.
