Disney's JUNGLE BOOK Broadway Engagement??- Page 5

[finebydesign]

Posted: 6/18/13 at 12:37am

Well I like the Bagheera costume very much. I love his spots. Both costumes for Shere Kahn and this one are really interesting. You can see part of the set here. The stage floor is tiled in a beautiful green pattern.

You notice the floral print on the riser? Those flowers and vines are what makes up the jungle set except they are huge illustrations.

De Shields notes about costumes are similar to what I mentioned earlier;

"How will the animals be represented from a visual standpoint?

We’re not wearing masks. You’ll see the human in the animal, which is all part of the allegory because the way we teach is to use this idea of anthropomorphism, so that’s the trade that we’ve made in the animal kingdom in the jungle book, and Mary Zimmerman has heightened it even more by making the company totally multicultural. It’s totally ethnically diverse, so it’s very difficult to make any racial generalizations because you see someone from India playing in the show, you see someone from Pakistan, you see someone from Egypt; of course you see White Americans, you see Black Americans, you see children and other Asian ethnicities, so you have to stop for a moment and take this all in and attempt to understand what is the message of this gumbo of cultures and all of that diversity is reflected in the design of the show. The costumes are gorgeous and the set of course is lush and colorful, so it really serves to transport you to a place that hopefully you can let go of your predispositions, your biases, your prejudices and let this wash over you and come away with again—allegories always have morals—they’re tales of caution, and come away with what I’m now understanding one of the messages is evaluating yourself, not judging other people by what’s on the exterior because our real value is interior. So that’s one of the morals of The Jungle Book."




Really great interview with Andre De Shields here. He talks at length about the production. Updated On: 6/18/13 at 12:37 AM

[finebydesign]

Posted: 6/18/13 at 9:11pm

These costumes ARE beautiful!!! Updated On: 6/18/13 at 09:11 PM

[finebydesign]

Posted: 6/18/13 at 9:16pm

[finebydesign]

Posted: 6/18/13 at 9:17pm

[finebydesign]

Posted: 6/18/13 at 9:17pm

[finebydesign]

Posted: 6/18/13 at 9:18pm

[finebydesign]

Posted: 6/18/13 at 9:20pm

Also in the Peacock image you can make out some of the scenery. Those giant flowers/vines fill the wings of the stage and hang from above.

Gosh I'm really impressed!

[Brave Sir Robin2]

Posted: 6/19/13 at 12:34am

This looks really incredible. If it doesn't go right to Broadway I really hope it goes to the Mark Taper Forum here in L.A!

[blaxx]

Posted: 6/19/13 at 12:45am

Amazing! Bagheera's tail is a bit much though.

[finebydesign]

Posted: 6/19/13 at 10:57am

Hmm I did wonder about the tail myself. I wonder what it moves like.. So far though, these are leaps and bounds more tasteful than the Aladdin ho-hum and the Mermaid mess.

[finebydesign]

Posted: 6/19/13 at 10:59am

Oh and the Tarzan disaster! How soon we forget.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 6/19/13 at 3:58pm

They just extended this again at the Goodman due to ticket demand through August 11. I wonder if it's popular at the Huntington Theater if it can extend and possibly how long until Disney will wait before bringing it to Broadway.

[Brave Sir Robin2]

Posted: 6/19/13 at 4:22pm

If they need enough revisions, I could see another regional production after the mini-tour. Probably in the fall or winter. I could see this land on Broadway by fall 2014.

[finebydesign]

Posted: 6/20/13 at 1:20pm

I guess Broadwayworld isn't really interested in covering this production outside of announcing dates lol.
From the times.

[Wildcard]

Posted: 6/20/13 at 1:49pm

Have you looked in the BWW Chicago home page?

[finebydesign]

Posted: 6/20/13 at 2:25pm

yea unimpressed

[Wildcard]

Posted: 6/20/13 at 2:34pm

I think it's good that there's hardly any coverage. This is a show still in development. Give them the time and space to get things right rather than have it nitpicked to death by the media.

[finebydesign]

Posted: 6/20/13 at 2:42pm

Well I mean there have been pieces in Times and the Suntimes but not on here.