Tarzan - The Broadway Musical (Original Broadway Cast)
With its rich film catalog, Disney has a natural advantage when it comes to expanding into musical theater. But 1999'sTarzanwasn't the very best choice for a stage adaptation. Unlike, say,Beauty and the Beast, whose score was written by show-tune vets,Tarzanwas associated with a musical-theater newbie, Phil Collins, who expanded his original score for the show, writing nine new numbers in addition to the five from the movie. But while he does come up with agreeable pop melodies (as, for instance, the hit "You'll Be in My Heart" and the new "Waiting for This Moment" and "For the First Time"), his greenness shows in the lyrics, which tend to spell things out way too much ("In learning you will teach/And in teaching you will learn," etc.) This CD certainly is kid-friendly, but unlike the best Disney material, it lacks that extra layer that would entice adults as well.--Elisabeth Vincentelli