Disney's Jungle Book opens at Goodman Theatre in Chicago

[jon5202]

Posted: 6/21/13 at 7:23am

Disney's Jungle Book directed by Mary Zimmerman starts previews today June 21 at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. Opening night is Monday July 1 so reviews will be available July 2. I will post as they come in. I am seeing the show this Sunday, June 23 and will report back.

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/179339-The-Jungle-Book-Musical-Directed-by-Mary-Zimmerman-Begins-Goodman-Theatre-Run-June-21







Updated On: 7/2/13 at 07:23 AM

[finebydesign]

Posted: 6/21/13 at 11:41pm

Hmm all we have is a tweet from Bob Falls:

Robert Falls201 ?@RobertFalls201 1h
Intermission

The great Andre De Shields just brought down the house with
“I Want To Be Like You.”

[finebydesign]

Posted: 6/21/13 at 11:42pm

Not bad!

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 6/21/13 at 11:58pm

I like the art.

[jackieoh]

Posted: 6/22/13 at 12:28am

I really want to see the set.

[tgrabon2]

Posted: 6/22/13 at 2:27am

I Want to be Like You was great. It was for me the highlight. Random thoughts on what I saw tonight: The show on a whole was enjoyable. Visually it's wonderful and not like anything I've seen before. The movie left little impression on me 30+ years ago. That being said its more Lookingglass Theatre than Disney. The costumes and special effects are creative and sort of regal. It needs to be more humorous and silly. The kids in the audience responded to the silly antics strongly. Having the horn section on stage for most of the numbers was very effective. The orchestrations are wonderful. Many of the Indian instrument players were on stage too. The small Mowgli puppet and the way the cast manipulated it was brilliant. Shere Khan's number was a bit of a snooze. Kaa's too. The opening few minutes were really cool.

[justherehanging]

Posted: 6/22/13 at 8:43am

Are there any discount codes? I will be in Chicago this summer and want to see it

[tazber]

Posted: 6/22/13 at 9:04am

Is Mowgli a puppet through the whole show?

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/22/13 at 9:11am

Go, Andre!

[jon5202]

Posted: 6/22/13 at 9:23am

There are no discount codes that I know of as the show is a limited run and selling very well. However, Goodman has a Tix at Six program which offers half price tickets 2 hours before showtime but not sure if that is being offered. They have added a new week in August (6-11) so that would have the best seat selection.

Updated On: 6/22/13 at 09:23 AM

[jon5202]

Posted: 6/22/13 at 9:24am

I have not seen the show yet (seeing it tomorrow) but Mogli is played by a live actor beginning at some point in the show.

[tgrabon2]

Posted: 6/22/13 at 12:37pm

Mowgli is not a puppet the whole show. There was a flyer inserted in our Petterino's (the excellent restaurant attached to the theatre) with the code LOUIE for $10 off select mezzanine seats. Valid for "B" mezz seats. Expires 8/5/13.

[tgrabon2]

Posted: 6/22/13 at 12:48pm

Another thought was that Act 1 was like a play with music. Act 2 was a musical. That being said - I preferred Act 1. It seemed more organic.

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/22/13 at 1:09pm

I have to say, I like a lot about what I'm hearing. It sounds different and innovative.

It would be easy to punch up the humor a bit, especially if that's getting such a good reaction from the audience.

I have high hopes for this one.

[finebydesign]

Posted: 6/22/13 at 2:16pm

Tgra thanks sov much. Mind sharing a song list?

Also how were the elephants and snakes done? Ive seen the set pieces but am very curious.

[Visceral_Fella]

Posted: 6/22/13 at 2:20pm

If you're a student you can get a ticket for $10 through the Goodman's 10tix program.

[Jon]

Posted: 6/22/13 at 5:29pm

Andre DeShields previously played an ape in the infamous Broadway flop, "Prymate".

Larry Yando, who plays Shere Khan the tiger, previously played Scar in the Chicago company of The Lion King.

Type casting?

[finebydesign]

Posted: 6/22/13 at 10:22pm

Or character actors

Posted: 6/22/13 at 10:48pm

Larry Yando has also played Scrooge and Roy Cohn. He is a spectacular actor.

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/22/13 at 10:51pm

Or character actors

Exactly.

Andre has also played kings and rulers of Oz very successfully before. He's now playing the king of the jungle.

I would wager he's played more royalty than simians.

Updated On: 6/22/13 at 10:51 PM

[tgrabon2]

Posted: 6/22/13 at 10:53pm

There was no song list in the Playbill or insert in the Playbill on Friday. Sorry.

Updated On: 6/22/13 at 10:53 PM

[finebydesign]

Posted: 6/24/13 at 10:58am

Any update jon?

[Elke]

Posted: 6/24/13 at 1:38pm

Do they use a standard Playbill? Would anyone - who has one - be willing to scan the cover?

[finebydesign]

Posted: 6/24/13 at 1:48pm

Here's quick pic of it.

[maila]

Posted: 6/24/13 at 2:26pm

saw it last night. it's a very enjoyable show. i agree with what other people said, it's very much a lookingglass show, than a disney show. love the indian flavor in set design even though its mostly flats but very colorful and interesting. costumes are quite good too. first act , i think needs a little bit of tweeking , as what someone said here it need to up the silliness. i am sure they will find more of that as they go along with the run. choreography was really good in the king louie song which ended act one in rousing number. andrew de shields really milked the audience applause for that one and deservingly so. there is still no song list in the playbill. maybe they are planning to add more songs (i feel the opening need a big song; maybe not, since the opening is really very magical in a quiet, mysterious way). they did add a few songs ( some are rap ) to what was already in the movie version. i watched the disney movie for the first time last night too after watching the musical to compare it, and found out that a lot of the lines are directly lifted from it. the one big change is the end. zimmerman added a very indian spiritual angle to it. i am not going to spoil it though. and there's also a cool and touching surprise at the very end. i love how the whole show is a lot more indian in design and music than the disney movie. oh and there's a really good curtain call number! i hope to see it again at the end of the run to see how much it's improved.

Updated On: 6/24/13 at 02:26 PM