 Raised by wolves in the jungles of India since as far back
as he ran remember, Mowgli feels more like a wolf, or even a bear, than he does
a human. But Shere Kahn the tiger doesn’t see him that way. Shere Kahn sees a
potential predator, and he wants to get rid of Mowgli before the boy is old
enough to wield a gun. Mowgli’s sensible panther friend Bagheera wants to get
the boy to a man-village where he’ll be safe, Mowgli’s new and sometimes
less-than-sensible friend Baloo thinks they’ll be just fine, and a variety of
other animals either want to play with him, protect him, or eat him. Will the Bare
Necessities of life be enough to get Mowgli through it all?
Yes, this is Disney’s The Jungle Book – not the
animated film but the stage version of it, with all the beloved characters and
songs, and a few new songs with similar melodies. And Director Will Neblett
recently led the cast and crew of San Diego Junior Theatre in a fun, little
production of it at their small theatre in La Jolla.
Alec Ruiz de Castilla is young Mowgli, just wanting
to have fun, brave but naïve. Ben Sutton is the pragmatic Bagheera. Carmen
Quinones is amusing as the laidback, easygoing Baloo. He also has a pretty
mean roar that he tries to pass on to Mowgli. Theoretically. A sound glitch
didn’t play the ferocious roar on cue, so after his silent growl, Carmen
adlibbed nicely explaining, “Well, you get what I mean.”
Tracy Warren monopolizes the roles of jungle animals
who would do Mowgli harm – both as a hungry, hypnotic snake named Kaa, and as
the calmly ruthless kitty Shere Kahn. While on the lighter and more humorous
side of the jungle, Max Oilman-Williams is the crazy leader of the
monkeys, King Louie, who “wants to be like you.” Alden Phinney leads a
hardy bunch of pachyderms in marching drills, with Sierra Ottilie-Kovelman
as the cute and friendly Baby Elephant. But they are too big for the small
stage. When the proud, never-forgetting Colonel Hathi “forgets” an order and
all the elephants crash together, it occurs off stage, which doesn’t really
work and should probably be restaged or cut.
The show saves the best scenes for last. First, a
quartet of goofy vultures (Cassidy Lutosky, Caroline Peck, Casey
Purlia Johnson, and Mashun Tucker) with cockney accents who don’t
know what to do, plus one “Doo-Wop Vulture” soloist (Gabriella Garcia),
end up being the unlikely friends of Mowgli as the inevitable showdown with
Shere Kahn looms. Later, the adorable Ruby Ross coyly tempts Mowgli
towards a life in a man-village in a nicely done closing chapter of The
Jungle Book.
Performs September 14 - 23, 2007.
Rob Hopper
National Youth Theatre
~ Cast ~
Bagheera: Ben Sutton
Mowgli: Alec Ruiz de Castilla
Baloo: Carmen Quinones
Shere Kahn/Kaa/Elephant/Water: Tracy Warren
King Louie: Max Oilman-Williams
Akela/Colonel Hathi/Tree: Alden Phinney
Wolf/Winifred/Tree: Althea Aggson
Raksha/Elephant/Water: Olivia Peck
Coil/Flaps/Rock/Monkey: Cassidy Lutosky
Coil/Flower/Monkey/Shanti: Ruby Ross
Buzzy/Flower/Monkey: Caroline Peck
Ziggy/Rock/Monkey: Casey Purlia Johnson
Dizzy/Rock/Monkey: Mashun Tucker
Young Wolf/Vine/Monkey: McKenna Allard
Young Wolf/Vine/Monkey: Madeline Ottilie
Young Wolf/Monkey: Anna George
Young Wolf/Monkey: Paige Solomon
Baby Elephant/Flower/Monkey: Sierra Ottilie-Kovelman
Monkey/Elephant: Trenton Austin
Plant/Elephant/Monkey: Roberto Quinones
Plant/Elephant/Monkey: Danny Helms
Plant/Elephant/Monkey/Doo-Wop Vulture: Gabriella Garcia
Director: Will Neblett
Choreographer: Jennifer Winspear
Music Director: Angie Serrano
Costume Design: Lynn Jennings, Cynthia Carvajal
Technical Director/Set Design/Lighting Design: Cynthia Bloodgood
Stage Manager: Rebecca Knell
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