Tony Winner Shuler Hensley Tapped for Tarzan Musical
Hensley is best known for his portrayal of the sinister farmhand Jud Fry in Oklahoma!. He also appeared on Broadway as Javert in Les Miserables. Hensley's other stage credits include the title role in the German production of The Phantom of the Opera, The Most Happy Fella, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and leading roles in the operas Don Giovanni, La Boheme and Carmen. Hensley recently appeared in two films. He played the Frankenstein Monster in Van Helsing and has the role of Pike in The Legend of Zorro which will be released on October 28. Before Tarzan, Hensley will play Norbert, a toll collector with a taste for infidelity, in the off-Broadway tuner The Great American Trailer Park Musical.
Tarzan will feature a book by David Henry Hwang adapted from the film's screenplay by Tab Murphy, Bob Tzudiker and Noni White and based on the novel, Tarzan of the Apes, by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Phil Collins, who provided songs for the film, will write the score for the stage Tarzan. In the story, Kerchak is a father figure to Tarzan and one of the leaders of the jungle creatures.