'Tarzan the Musical' swings into Whitefish
Daily Inter-Lake | UPDATED 7 years, 3 months AGO
Gabby Pickert, 13, and Gardner Dominick, 14, create a silhouette for the Alpine Theatre Kids production of Tarzan the Musical. There are two full casts for the show and there will be four performances over two days. The shows will run this Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.(Brenda Ahearn/Daily Inter Lake)
Selah Hagler, 12, prepares to fly across the stage as they rehearse the leopard fight scene. (Brenda Ahearn/This Week in the Flathead)
Luke Walrath directs a group of kids in the “Trashing the Camp” scene for the Alpine Theatre Project Kids production of “Tarzan the Musical.” There are 135 students in the two casts of the show. (Brenda Ahearn/This Week in the Flathead)
Gabby Pickert, 13, and Gardner Dominick, 14, will play Jane and Tarzan for the Alpine Theatre Project Kids production of “Tarzan the Musical.” (Brenda Ahearn photos/This Week in the Flathead)
Eden Harnar, 13, looks up at Vivian Schmidt, 8, as they rehearse the “Trashing the Camp” scene. (Brenda Ahearn/Daily Inter Lake)
Shad Ramsey, standing, and Bryan Reilly, crouching, help cast members of the Alpine Theatre Project Kids production of “Tarzan the Musical” into harnesses for rehearsal. Ramsey and Reilly are the flying directors from ZFX Inc., the company hired to do the flying in the show. (Brenda Ahearn/This Week in the Flathead)
Gabby Pickert, 13, playing the part of Jane for the Alpine Theatre Kids production of Tarzan the Musical. There are two full casts for the show and there will be four performances over two days. The shows will run this Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.(Brenda Ahearn/Daily Inter Lake)
Gardner Dominick, 14, playing the part of Tarzan for the Alpine Theatre Kids production of Tarzan the Musical. There are two full casts for the show and there will be four performances over two days. The shows will run this Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.(Brenda Ahearn/Daily Inter Lake)
The adventurous, high-flying legend of Tarzan comes to life on stage this weekend in the upcoming production of “Tarzan the Musical,” presented by ATP Kids, Alpine Theatre Project’s theater education program.
More than 135 local students from schools across the Flathead Valley are participating in the productions, split into two casts for four shows. Performances will be at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 21, and 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 22. All performances will be given at the Whitefish Performing Arts Center, 600 E. Second St., Whitefish.
“Tarzan the Musical” marks the ninth year of the ATP Kids program, dedicated to empowering and inspiring students through theater education.
Based on Disney’s animated musical adventure and Edgar Rice Burrough’s “Tarzan of the Apes,” “Tarzan the Musical” features music by Phil Collins and book by Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang, and features the Academy Award-winning song “You’ll Be in My Heart.”
Washed up on the shores of West Africa, an infant boy is taken in and raised by gorillas who name him Tarzan. Apart from striving for acceptance from his ape father, Tarzan’s life is mostly monkey business until a human expedition treks into his tribe’s territory and he encounters creatures like himself for the first time. Tarzan struggles to navigate a jungle, thick with emotion, as he discovers his animal upbringing clashing with his human instincts.
“It’s a thrilling show that has everything: action, suspense, romance, rock music and a beautiful message about the power of love that binds us all together,” Director Betsi Morrison said.
The stage production makes ample use of Tarzan and the apes swinging and flying through the air. To create those effects, Alpine Theatre Project has contracted the help of ZFX Inc., the nation’s premier flying-effects company. They have been holding a raffle to help raise funds to cover the cost.
The ATP Kids program is the cornerstone of Alpine Theatre Project’s educational programming, which include programs for elementary, middle and high school students along with professional internships and a summer Broadway training camp. No student is ever turned away. More than 1,100 students have taken part in ATP’s educational programs since 2008. This session is being taught by Morrison and professional local actors Luke Walrath and Rebecca Spear.
This session of ATP Kids is presented by Kalispell KiDDS and sponsored by the Foley Family Charitable Foundation, Freedom Bank, Glacier Bank and the Whitefish Credit Union, with assistance from the Firebrand Hotel, Flathead Urology, Phil and Donna Harris, Weyerhaeuser, Soroptimist International of Whitefish, Rocky Mountain Images, Stebbins Orthodontics and First Interstate Bank. Flying effects in the production were sponsored through the annual ATP Kids raffle.
Tickets for “Tarzan the Musical” are $18 for adults and $10 for children 12 and younger.
For tickets or more information, call 406-862-SHOW (7469) or visit http://www.atpwhitefish.org.
