HOLLYWOOD AND VINES : Children’s Theatre Company’s Take on ‘Jungle Book’ Isn’t Quite Like Disney’s

Among the dozens of fairy princesses and super heroes that roamed our neighborhood last Halloween, one character sticks in my mind. Barely 2, she was decked out in cocoa-colored sweats with a scrap of tiger-striped fabric stretched around her ample midsection.

Clearly a woman with a mission, she wasted no words when she hit the doorstep.

“I Mowgli,” she announced, thrusting our her bag. “Twikkertweat.”

She probably didn’t know it, but this pint-sized masquerader was a good front-runner for the Children’s Theatre Company of Minneapolis and its upcoming production of “The Jungle Book.” Although it’s safe to say that her acquaintance with Mowgli had more to do with Walt Disney than Rudyard Kipling, by taking her man-cub interpretation to the streets, she was demonstrating one of CTC’s primary goals: to introduce a large number of people to the characters of classic literature through drama. (Unlike her, however, CTC’s actors won’t demand a Snickers for their trouble.)

CTC’s touring production of “The Jungle Book,” adapted for the stage by Thomas W. Olson and directed by Wendy Lehr, runs Monday and Tuesday at the Irvine Barclay Theatre.

Published in 1894, “The Jungle Book” is one of Kipling’s best-known tales, thanks in part to the ministering of Mr. Disney, who released his animated version in 1967. But, according to CTC spokeswoman Beth Pesonen, although their take does share some of the story line and characters with Disney’s movie, CTC’s “Jungle Book” is a tiger of an entirely different stripe.

“I don’t want to put down Disney, because (the film) did introduce Kipling’s story to so many people,” noted Pesonen, “but in our version, there is much more of an emphasis on the source material.

“This is not a musical,” she cautioned. “You’re not going to see any dancing bears.”

What audiences can expect, Pesonen said, is a vivid, more authentic retelling of Kipling’s tale, which not only introduces children and adults to the text, but exposes them to the cultures and traditions of Asia.

Blending elements of “The Jungle Book” with Kipling’s “Just So Stories,” CTC’s version is presented as a play within a play acted by characters attending Diwali, the Indian festival of the new year. To set the stage, a narrator tells the tale of “How Fear Came to the Jungle,” which explains how, in more innocent times, a tiger killed a deer in play and was forever marked with stripes to warn other creatures of his predatory nature. This leads into the tale of Mowgli, a child raised by wolves in the jungle after his father is killed by the tiger Shere Khan.

With the guidance of Bagheera the panther and Kaa the snake (Baloo the bear doesn’t put in an appearance), the boy grows toward manhood. As he matures, the line between him and his animal companions becomes more distinct, until his killing of Shere Khan in self-defense brands him as an outsider and he decides to return to his own kind.

Kathak, a traditional style of Indian storytelling that combines stylized hand gestures and dance, is blended with contemporary dance styles at several points in the play, Pesonen said. Musical compositions by Roberta Carlson that mix traditional Indian rhythms and instruments with “a kind of New-Age sound” add to the authenticity, as do Maggie Belle Calin’s costumes and scenic design, Pesonen said.

“The costumes are very representational . . . we’re not trying to hide the fact that these are people playing these parts,” explained Pesonen, who added that cast members use movement and masks to help define their characters. “For example, you wouldn’t look at Bagheera and say, ‘What a cool panther.’ It’s more the idea of the animal that comes across.”

The set, a once-imposing but now crumbling temple that the jungle has reclaimed, illustrates Kipling’s views on the interaction between man and nature and contributes to the show’s “very mystical feeling,” she said.

Children’s Theatre Company, founded in 1956, is considered the largest group of its kind in the United States. In addition to full seasons at theaters in Minneapolis-St. Paul and a popular theater training program for children, CTC produces a different touring adaptation of a classic story each year. Recent productions have included versions of “Pippi Longstocking” and “The Canterville Ghost,” which visited the Barclay in 1992 and ‘91, respectively.

“The Jungle Book,” which cost approximately $650,000 to mount and will visit 21 states during its five-month run, is the company’s most ambitious touring show to date, Pesonen said. And, despite aspects that are foreign to some, she expects the show to appeal to a broader range than others in the CTC repertoire. (The company’s formal age recommendation for the show is 7 and up.)

“It’s an adventure tale that, on a base level, the younger children will enjoy,” she said. “Older children will pick up more of the nuance; they’ll be able to follow the struggle that Mowgli has of ‘Am I a man or am I an animal?’ ”

Pesonen says that the real payoff will come after the show, when youngsters head to their local library.

“If a child leaves this production and says to his parents, ‘I really want to read this book’ and seeks out Kipling’s writings, that would be just great.”

What: Children’s Theatre Company of Minneapolis presents “The Jungle Book.”

When: Monday and Tuesday, Jan. 25 and 26, at 7 p.m.

Where: Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive, Irvine.

Whereabouts: From the San Diego (I-405) Freeway, exit at Jamboree Road and drive south. Turn left on Campus.

Wherewithal: Tickets are $12 to $14. Parking is $2. (Note: The Barclay’s student discount program applies to this production. Between 5 and 6 p.m. on performance days, those with a valid student I.D. may purchase tickets at half price.)

Where to call: Box office (714) 854-4646, or Ticketmaster (714) 740-2000.