IVINS, Utah (March 22, 2023) — After months of hoping the details would align in their favor, Tuacahn is thrilled to announce the actor who originated the role of Tarzan on Broadway will be joining the Tuacahn cast to reprise the role when this popular musical swings across the stage this summer.
Among the most excited is actor Josh Strickland, who originated the role of Tarzan on Broadway.
“It’s going to be an incredible experience to come back to the role after all these years, but especially to do it in a place I love as much as Tuacahn,” Strickland said.
Based on the popular Disney animated story and Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan of the Apes, the production comes to life with music and lyrics by Phil Collins and book by David Henry Hwang. The heart-pumping music, and heart-warming story still bring a wide range of emotions to Strickland when he considers the journey he has taken with Tarzan.
It was nearly 17 years ago that Strickland took on his first Broadway role and brought the mysterious, sweet, engaging man-ape to life on stage. Since then, Strickland has delved even deeper into the role during the German production of Tarzan. In between, he’s spent a lot of time at Tuacahn as well, tackling well known roles like Prince Eric in Disney’s The Little Mermaid, standby of the title role in The Count of Monte Cristo and most recently, starring as the White Knight in Frank Wildhorn‘s newly imagined Wonderland as well as taking over for David Archuleta during the latter part of the last season’s, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
“Tuacahn is such a special place,” Strickland said. “They’re able to do so many things with their productions that you just can’t do anywhere else. The audiences will truly feel like they are in the jungle on this journey with Tarzan.”
Tuacahn Artistic Director Scott Anderson will direct the show and he is possibly even more excited than Strickland about how it all worked out.
“I remember seeing Josh as Tarzan on Broadway and it was incredible,” Anderson said. “I don’t think I ever caught him out of character, and his movements as a man living as an ape are so disciplined, it’s just unbelievable.”
While a big part of the story of Tarzan relies on things like a jungle setting and believable ape-moves, at its core, this is a story filled with heart, love and finding a place to belong. The latter is where Strickland said he is able to connect on an even deeper level than he did on Broadway 17 years ago.
“I still want to bring that naïve, youthful side of Tarzan to the stage, but as I have grown and matured, and lived more of life, I feel like I am really able to play the whole character of Tarzan in a more complete way,” Strickland said.
Strickland’s own journey of self-discovery as an adopted child had a lot to do with that change.
“A lot of the questions Tarzan asks himself in the beautiful song ‘Everything That I Am’ at the end of the show are questions I had as a younger person,” Strickland said. “I have since met my birth mother and feel some of that closure. I am now able to say, with Tarzan, ‘I know where I belong.’”
For the next several months, Strickland belongs on the Tuacahn stage, sharing those poignant words and more with audiences from around the globe.
“It doesn’t matter who you are, what you look like, or where you come from, you are loved,” Strickland said. “That’s the message of Tarzan.”
Get your tickets to see Tarzan along with Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Beautiful: the Carole King Musical and Irving Berlin’s White Christmas online at www.tuacahn.org or by calling 435-652-3300.
– Tuacahn
