Fox Valley Park District Winter Stage production: Tarzan

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Cast members of the Fox Valley Park District’s Winter Stage rehearse their adaptation of Tarzan, which will be performed January 31 through February 2 at the Prisco Community Center in Aurora. Fox Valley Park District photo

The Fox Valley Park District’s Winter Stage production of Tarzan will be performed at the Prisco Community Center, 150 W. Illinois Avenue, in Aurora.

Show times will be 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 31; 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 1; and 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 2. Tickets are $10 in advance, or $12 at the door. To reserve specific seating, go to www.foxvalleyparkdistrict.org or visit the Prisco Community Center.

Based on the story of Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Disney’s Tarzan in 1999 was the first animated major motion picture version of the story, set to the iconic music of Phil Collins. Tarzan is a feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes and later experiences civilization only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer.

“First, Tarzan is a family show for all ages, roles for all types of performers, which is always the first thing I think of when choosing a show for the performing arts department,” said Nick Sargis, the FVPD’s performing arts coordinator and technical director. “Second, the morals and life lessons you can learn from Tarzan are those which I believe to be lessons all of us should be either reminded of or taught.”

Auditions for Tarzan were held the second week of November 2019 and 60 cast members, ranging in age from four to 58, will comprise the performance.

“When you look at the Tarzan characters, they’re apes, they’re jungle animals, not humans,” Sargis said. “The actors embody something they’re not and it’s amazing to see how believable they become. Theatergoers can look forward to the incredible character work that’s been developed over the last couple of weeks.”

Tarzan features one of the biggest sets Park District performing arts officials have built to date. Per usual, Winter Stage has drawn from the talent of students at several area schools, before auditions for high school spring performances are held in February.

Prisco Community Center can accommodate up to 300 guests.

“Commonly, you go to a theater to watch the show on stage, but we’re bringing the show right into the audience to pull them into the story,” Sargis said. “There is not one part of the stage or audience we will not touch.”

—Fox Valley Park District

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