Jungle Book – The Musical
Image: PHOTO: Lorina Stacey Schwenke
If you want to entertain your kids these coming holidays, the King Street Theatre in Newtown will host a number of performances in January 2016. This includes Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, playwright Markus Weber has adapted the play to become a rock musical for children.
Weber has said it is nothing like the Disney version but children will still enjoy it since it’s adapted from the novel. He is a big fan of Kipling and finds his writing interesting so he wanted to adapt a work based on his writing, and he has always wanted to write for children so this was his chance.
“I was fascinated by Kipling’s stories, not just the ones for children but [also] The Man Who Wanted to be King,” he said.
“Come and see how good and entertaining things can be, even if it’s for children. If you give children quality theatre, when they’re older they can continue to watch theatre. Children are our audience of the future.”
Jungle Book – The Musical will feature no animal costumes, just humans portraying the animals. The characters are eccentric to keep things fresh, one of the characters is an elephant that plays the trombone and Mowgli is a blonde son of a European missionary.
Weber ensures children will have fun with this musical, as he’s been involved with over 190 musicals through writing and directing and believes they can be enjoyed universally no matter where you’re from.
He is also planning another musical called Koala Joe The Musical to be performed in the April school holidays next year. (AMal)
Jan 11–30. King Street Theatre, 644 King Street, Newtown. $20-$25. Tickets & info: kingstreettheatre.com.au
