Video: Zoo gorillas bring 'Tarzan' rehearsal to life for Wauwatosa East students

Theater students from Wauwatosa East High School learned from primates last week at the Milwaukee County Zoo to prepare for their upcoming performance of Disney's "Tarzan" in early May.

Students learned gorilla posture, social hierarchy, behavior and movement from zoo staff and members of Kohl's Wild Theater, a zoo theater program.

They specifically studied silverback gorillas, like the ones cast in "Tarzan."

In "Tarzan," 26 students will be cast as gorillas, including Kala, Tarzan's adopted mother; Kerchak, the leader of the gorilla troop; and Terk, Tarzan's best friend and Kala's niece.

"This is one of the most challenging pieces you can bring to a high school, because you bring a character that's not human, but has human emotion," said Kate Sarner, theater director at East. "One of my desires was to give them an educational component with it."

"It made it real," said Madison Sawyer, a junior.

Getting in character

Besides gorillas, cast members will play poison dart frogs, birds, lizards and leopards. All such roles will challenge students to "emote being something out of the realm of what they are," said Sarner.

Dave McLellan, theater coordinator for Kohl's Wild Theater, demonstrated exercises for students to practice silverback gorilla movement.

One exercise, "Gorilla Cinema," required students to act a scene from a movie as gorillas, using no words or sounds. Students responded by rolling on the floor, banging their chests and using heavy breathing to communicate.

"For our performance for 'Tarzan,' it's very physical. We learned that gorillas have a big connection to the ground. It's a source of power for them," said Nick Jemison, a sophomore and assistant dance captain.

"It makes me want to try different ways I can move with my body on stage," added Jemison, who also will be in the gorilla dance corps.

McLellan invited actors to think about their stance so that mind and body is connected to the performance. He also urged them to relate to the fellow "gorillas" around them on stage.

"There's nothing better than watching actors have a great time on stage. Audiences love that," said McLellan.

Two worlds, one family

When asked how gorillas have human qualities, Trish Khan, curator of primates, rephrased the question to indicate how humans demonstrate gorilla-like behavior, such as gentleness, protection and empathy.

"There is a significant role that everyone plays, but the roles are never static," said Khan, who is the parent of Siraj Khan, a student cast in "Tarzan."

To reflect gorillas' social dynamic, Sarner organized the "Tarzan" cast into family groups, between human and animal. Gorillas live in family groups with one dominant male.

In "Tarzan," the dominant male is Kerchak. At the Milwaukee County Zoo, it's Cassius.

"The male keeps the group stable," said Khan. Her son, Siraj, described him as "the big man on campus."

Cassius is the leader of Femelle, the most senior gorilla, half-brothers Maji and Hodar, and Shalia, the dominant female who recently gave birth to Suliaman. The baby gorilla was born in November.

Jemison noticed how Shalia stayed close to her baby Suliaman, just like a human mother would. In "Tarzan," Kala adopts Tarzan after losing a child of her own and raises him as a gorilla.

Khan said a female gorilla at the zoo also recently grieved the loss of a child.

Siraj said, "You can have two different species but one family. We're all united somehow."