Tarzan in Hispanic and Philippine Musicals

Tarzan as a character has clearly appeared in numerous Spanish speaking musicals, with some being based on either the Weissmuller films, the Disney film or the Broadway musical. 

The most popular Tarzan musical in Spain is simply called Tarzan: The Musical, which in fact is a Castilian Spanish folk-jazz fest based on both the Disney instalments and Johnny Weissmuller films, as indicated by the addition of Tamara Agudo voicing a puppet for the ever-infamous Cheeta the chimp! It’s rather distinct in that Guillermo Pareja played its own bearded Tarzan, who is the orphaned son of enterprising castaways Mr and Mrs Smith. His girlfriend is Jeanette Bishop, played by Alba Mesa, who is simply another exclusive character with the sass of Maureen O’Sullivan’s Jane Parker and the nerdiness of Disney’s Jane Porter. 

A somewhat older companion musical was made by Rafael Brunet for regional audiences in the Balearics and mainland eastern Spain, which features its own exclusive animal characters, a gorilla named Kongo and his daughter, also named Cheeta. Tarzan and Jane are played by Catalonians and Mallorcans there, rather than by Castilians in the former. 

A girlier competitor is sometimes seen by Spanish Disney nerds and is based somewhat unofficially on the Broadway Tarzan musical. As with the former, the Uruguayan Tarzan: El Musical seems to be based semi-officially on the Broadway model. 

Like its Catalan and Castilian counterparts, the Chilean Tar: El Hombre De La Selva is based on both the Weissmuller Films and Disney instalments, thanks to the addition of Daniela Lhorente in a Cheeta the Chimp costume. Christian Riquelme is a nerdy if rather good-looking Tarzan, while Josefina Fiebelkorn has a cool looking Jane Porter portrayal in a Shorttank form. 

The Panamanian Musical was somehow inspired more by the Disney film than any other variant on this list. The clothes and creature suits are so accurate to the movie that they’re sometimes in the uncanny valley. Despite this and other flaws, it’s basically such a super excellent tribute to the movie with an all-star cast of promoted Disney fans! The ethnically mixed Panamanian actor Andres Morales is likely the best ever Tarzan actor in world theatre history, while news presenter Massiel Mas also has made an insanely excellent Jane Porter portrayal. 

The Mexican Musical Tarzan: The Legend is a rather uncommon sight even in its hometown of Monterrey, even though a pair of Tantor the elephant puppets, one young and the other an adult, do appear in it. The cast is actually pretty good, if often clunky and assembled on a low budget. 

The Philippine Tarzan Musical is another story, since it was more colourfully crafted for a Philippine audience. It starred Dan Domenech as a kooky Tarzan and Rachelle Ann Go as a sassy Jane Porter. It is also the same variant which likely has inspired an unofficial live action remake of Disney’s first Tarzan movie, in the form of an early Daig Kayo Ng Lola Ko episode. 

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