Off Square Theater presents The Jungle Book

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

By Ben Cannon

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-Decades before “Hakuna Matata,” a Swahili expression about forgetting one’s troubles, was made into a popular song in Disney’s “The Lion King,” there was “Bare Necessities,” which also advised living a life free of fretting. The song, from the 1967 classic Disney adaptation, “The Jungle Book,” is but one of the great songs audiences will hear next week when Off Square Theater stages the production for its annual youth musical.

Over 60 young performers divided into two casts will perform an elaborate stage version of the story on the main stage in the Center for the Arts. Along with the young jungle boy Mowgli, the central “Jungle Book” characters – trusty Baloo, maternal Bagheera, and the nefarious Shere Khan, among many others – will appear in costumes that incorporate puppetry. The costumes, developed in-house by designer Jen Blake, are evocative of the techniques Disney used in its successful “Lion King” stage adaptation.
“It’s a whole new kind of production for this company and this town,” said show director John Briggs. “It’s about perseverance and friendship. I think those ideas work as well today as they did 40 years ago.”

Last year’s youth musical, “Peter Pan,” was the first major production staged in the Center for the Arts. Tickets for that show’s six-performance run sold out and Off Square Theater encourages early ticket purchase.
The show will run March 26 to 30, with nightly shows at 7 p.m., and matinees 2 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday.

Tickets start at $25 for adults and $20 for children and seniors. Groups of 15 or more receive a discount rate. Call 733-4900 or purchase online at www.offsquare.org.
Friday marks the third annual Fur Ball. The event, now in its third year, is the biggest fundraising event for PAWS of Jackson Hole, a non-profit animal advocacy group that also promotes responsible pet ownership and will help offset animal medical costs.
Last year’s auction alone raised about $14,000 for PAWS. With a sponsor on board to fund this year’s ball, all proceeds will benefit the group.

A $75 ticket grants access to free wine and beer, complimentary food and the musical stylings of deejay Rocky “Vert-One” Vertone, all amid the rarefied air of the Four Seasons Resort.

Hors d’oeuvres and an animal fashion show will kick off the night, followed by an auction that will include, among other prizes, prime cover and centerfold real estate for professionally-shot photos of your pet in next year’s PAWS calendar.
Tickets are available at the PAWS of JH office (250 W. Pearl, in the back of Teton Tails Pet Boutique) or call 734-2441 for more.

Dancers’ Workshop is inviting the public this week to watch DW dancers work with noted choreographer Alan Sener during his week in residence in Jackson Hole. Sener, a professor of dance at the University of Iowa who performed as a principle dancer with New York City’s famed Louis Falco Dance Company, will instruct students in the Junior Repertory Dance classes and work on setting a piece with members of Contemporary Dance Wyoming.  
 
“His choreography is always very alive and he uses these big movements that are just wonderful,” said DW director Babs Case.
The public is invited to sit-in on rehearsals from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. from now through Saturday in Dancers’ Workshop Studio 1 in the Center for the Arts. Call 733-6398 for more.

Photo by ANDREW WYATT
Anna Skrabacz, Emma Sollitt and Sascha Peralta-Ramos will appear in the Off Square production of “The Jungle Book.”

PERMALINK:
Off Square Theater presents The Jungle Book | Planet JH News Article: General Music Arts and Culture

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