Tarzan plays final performance on Broadway

Disney's Broadway musical Tarzan plays its final performance on Broadway on 8 Jul 2007. The show had been booking through to 16 Dec 2007.

Tarzan opened at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on 10 May 2006, following previews from 24 Mar 2006. When the show closes it will have played 35 previews and 486 performances.

The musical opened to mostly poor to luke-warm reviews: "Almost everybody and everything swings in 'Tarzan.' Which is odd, since the show itself definitely ain't got that swing.� (New York Times), "Wouldn't make the grade as a ride at Disney World." (New York Daily News), "The show is emotionally and musically lightweight � almost as skimpy as Tarzan's leather loincloth" (Associated Press). "If you're looking for a musical that'll please kids of a wide age range, and one the adults will enjoy as well, this is it."
(New York Theatre Guide).

The show has been slow at the box office, with most weeks receiving just over 70% house capacity, which is low for a Disney musical.

When the closure was first announced, Disney Theatrical producer Thomas Schumacher said, "I am disappointed that the Broadway production of Tarzan will close earlier than any of us had hoped, and I would have loved for it to have been as successful in New York as it is now in Holland. Despite this, Tarzan was the Broadway debut for two artists I have long admired and respected, and for this I am extremely proud. The opportunity to work again with the legendary Phil Collins, who expanded his film score for the stage production, and with Bob Crowley in his Broadway directorial debut has been hugely gratifying."

The production featured Josh Strickland as Tarzan, Jenn Gambatese as Jane, Merle Dandridge as Kala, Rob Evans as Kerchak, Chester Gregory II as Terk, Timothy Jerome as Professor Porter and Donnie Keshawarz as Clayton. Dylan Riley Snyder and Alex Rutherford alternate in the role of Young Tarzan.

Directed and designed by Tony Award winner Bob Crowley, Tarzan has a book by David Henry Hwang and a score by Phil Collins.

Choreography was by Meryl Tankard, with aerial movement by Pich�n Baldinu (De La Guarda). Lighting design was by Natasha Katz (Aida), with sound design by John Shivers.

In Tarzan, a shipwreck leave an infant orphaned on the West African shore. The helpless baby is taken under the protection of a gorilla tribe and becomes part of their family. When he eventually encounters his first human - Jane Porter, a curious young explorer - both their worlds are transformed forever.