Review: The Legacy Theatre's TARZAN The Musical

Georgia’s professional premiere of “Tarzan, the Stage Musical” is being expertly performed by The Legacy Theatre in Tyrone, just off Highway 74 between Fairburn and Peachtree City. The Legacy has produced many plays over the past few years and draws talent from across the country, as well as local actors from their own Legacy Studios school.

Tarzan, strongly portrayed by loincloth-clad Jeremy Varner, and his two families (human and primate) courageously swing, climb, sing, and hang on the breath-taking suspended set - which was created by Jeremy’s father Gary. Lines are often delivered (and songs sung) while the performer is suspended upside down. In our show Tarzan also expertly dropped rose petals twenty feet down onto Jane’s head and lap.

The Ape Man’s story is told by the family of gorillas that raised him. After losing her baby Kala is delighted to name and raise Tarzan, who was orphaned in a similar attack. Katie Friedel brings warmth, compassion, and a strong singing voice to the Kala role. Her love of Tarzan is contrasted by family-group leader Kerchak, played by Daniel Burns in a wondrous (yet Willie Robertson-like) costume.    

Eean Cochran plays Tarzan’s “brother” Terk with engaging personality and even more physicality then Tarzan himself. In a cast full of personable performers, Cochran connects with the audience the most. As intermission ended Terk ambled out into the audience to beg for a snack, flouting the many “do not feed the animals” signs on display.  

Jane (Randi Garza) glides through her musical numbers with grace and ease, even when precariously perched on the tallest tower of the set.

Nicholas Crawley (Clayton) played the villain role so well that when he came out to take his bow after the show, the appreciative audience didn’t know whether to applaud or hiss.

In his professional debut, the likeable Steve Blane steps onstage and handles the role of Jane’s father (Porter) with ease.  

The aptly-named Sara Short wins hearts as Young Tarzan, bounding across the stage with a huge smile despite constant rejection from her preadolescent primate playmates. The children cast to fill out the gorilla family group added an even younger exuberance to the show. Like their older family members, the youngsters expertly moved like primates – right down to hand movements while crawling or beating a pan. A favorite child activity was picking and eating insects from their own hair – an activity performed almost to extreme. Perhaps these kids missed the pre-show meal. The adults ate much more sparingly.   

The production is wound together by the six do-it-all gorilla Storytellers, who set up the scenes (1) Musically: singing alone, with each other, the children, and the whole cast, (2) Physically: bounding about the stage and catwalks like primates, and (3) Literally: delivering and retrieving props and rearranging the sets for each scene. These Storytellers (Mary-Clayton Gilbert, Taylor Hunt, Amanii McCray, Nathan Lubeck, Kelly Methven, and Tyler Sarkis) actually play as large a role as any of the main characters.  

Legacy’s Tarzan employs the original choreography from the Broadway Show, as well as Phil Collins’ songs from the Disney animated movie. The costumes are gorgeous thanks to the hard work of Amanda McGee.

Tarzan runs through August fourth, with evening shows Tuesday through Saturday, and Saturday and Sunday matinees. It’s definitely worth the trip, so swing on down.