From throughout the theater, members of an African chorus respond and a great, restless stirring begins.
Several giraffes amble onto the stage, stepping with loose-jointed grace.
In the moment it takes to realize that the lanky beasts are actors in body puppets, their hands and feet perched upon stilts and their faces peering from the base of long, swaying necks, the aisles have filled with all manner of fabulous creatures. When Disney hired director Julie Taymor to bring its most successful animated film to the Broadway stage, it seemed an unlikely choice. Taymor was more avant-garde than mainstream, known for Shakespeare and opera as well as original works that are blackly comic, violent, even lewd. Disney had already made millions on Broadway with Beauty and the Beast by hiring a theme park veteran to do a literal re-creation. The risk seems low.