The Jungle Book fulfils only the bare necessities
by Philippa Cross who would rather be outdoors than in, alone than in a crowd. She prefers dogs to cats, with a major leaning towards bulldogs. She hopes to win the Pulitzer prize for her yet unpublished novel. She started Thumb Media with a partner in June 2009. Visit her blog
The Jungle Book is on at the Peoples Theatre in Braamfontein until April 17th
The Jungle Book for me is as much about the fantastic soundtrack as it is about the story. What may have started as Rudyard Kipling’s tale is now, in my mind, firmly the property of Disney, and with that comes the wonderful Disney soundtrack.
The latest production at the People’s Theatre obviously encountered music usage rights issues when planning the production, because none of the music from the Disney version of the Jungle Book was included in the Show. The production staged at the People’s Theatre is based on the novel by Rudyard Kipling and not on the movie by Walt Disney. Big Big difference.
Jungle book without the music is like spaghetti without the bolognaise or vanilla ice-cream without chocolate sauce. It’s still Jungle Book, but not quite as delicious, not nearly as satisfying.
In keeping with the jungle theme, we went armed with banana leaves to wave at the stage at appropriate times. The excitement amongst the children in 
the audience was tangible, and my children have been talking about it for 3 days since we saw the show. For me it is always less about what is showing, and more about the whole experience. Usually, the show is brilliant. This time I am falling back on the experience.
Perhaps it’s a bit of an unfair criticism, but it’s based on the fact that my expectations were not met. I was expecting to sing along to the old favourites, and nothing suggested that the music from this wonderful production was not part of the show.
For my family, The Jungle Book story is undoubtedly the Jungle Book of Walt Disney Studios, music and all. Disney’s soundtrack has made Rudyard Kipling’s novel magical, beautiful and memorable. Doing a Jungle Book musical without it just didn’t work for me.
There were many good points. The cast were great. The music that was used wasn’t bad. The audience did enjoy themselves. I remain a fan of the theatre, especially the children’s theatre. Going to a live production is an experience in itself, regardless of what you see. The atmosphere is wonderful. It is, in my opinion, a perfect family outing. The Jungle Book experience is no difference. It’s worth going purely for the pleasure of watching a live production with your children.
But overall, as much as I hate to say it, the show fell short for this disappointed Disney Fan.
I absolutely loved the show. I thought the acting was great, the flow of the show was wonderful and they captivated the entire audience (including my two-year old whom I love dearly but who usually has an attention span of 2 minutes) for the whole duration of the show ! I also loved the music (Jungle Book = the bare necessities song for us and that it had) and my daughters and I happily sang along. So, I would really recommend this show to everyone.
For me, children’s theatre should cultivate a love and respect for stage art and this show has succeeded 100% in that mission.
It is always wonderful to go to a children’s play and I make a point of ensuring that my twins attend each play launched by the People’s Theatre (usually on the opening day!). We were really looking forward to this one, as my girls are mad about anything jungle related and The Little Mermaid blew us away. I agree with Philippa, however, that the latest offering by the People’s Theatre was not in the same league (although I recognised some of the faces from previous plays and the kids enjoyed the interaction as usual). I just felt that it lacked that special magic.It was quite repetitive, had limited characters or visual effects and focused too much on the build up at the expense of the interesting scenes right at the end which were rushed. Perhaps it was opening nerves as we were there on the first day, or the inclusion of more child than adult actors that gave it a more amateur feel, but we left feeling disappointed. One more point, could someone please ask the managers/hosts there to be more people friendly? I heard two other people complaining about them in the queue so I know it is not just me!
HI Eve
I feel a bit better hearing that you too were a little disappointed. I love the children’s theatre, and will continue to see every show they produce, purely because the children love the experience, and i believe it’s important.
But i do think this show lacked something, and i agree with you on the friendliness factor. Perhaps i’ll compile a list of comments from this forum, and send it through to them for consideration. (while also gently suggesting they modernise their website a little) Or perhaps not. Perhaps just little constructive criticisms at a time.
Nevertheless, I’ll see you at the next one. Cinderella is it?