Photo by Deb Gau
In a scene from the Lake Benton Opera House’s summer musical, Tarzan, played by Connor Klimek (at top), shows Terk, played by Ben Kulm, and the rest of the gorilla troop a spear that Tarzan created.

LAKE BENTON — Things will get a little wild at the Lake Benton Opera House’s summer musical — after all, it’s set in the jungle.

“Tarzan” opens at the Opera House this week, bringing to life the story of the man raised by apes. Performances will be July 17-21, and July 24-28.

“It’s a super fun show,” said cast member Katherine Kulm.

The stage version of “Tarzan” follows the same story as the Disney animated movie. It has a mix of both songs audiences may be familiar with from the movie, and new ones that flesh out the story. Young Tarzan is orphaned and taken in by a family of gorillas, although he struggles to fit in with them. When a group of human explorers arrive in the jungle, Tarzan’s world changes forever.

Crew members for the show worked to turn the stage at the Opera House into a jungle, complete with mist and swinging vines. To portray the gorilla family, cast members moved in crouched postures, and put on fringed costumes to represent fur.

Cast member Ellie Fedde said she enjoyed “all of the fun experiences” of being part of the play. Fedde plays young Terk, a gorilla friend of Tarzan’s who teaches him about being an ape. For part of one scene, she got to swing on a vine on stage.

It wasn’t too hard to get the hang of swinging, she said.

“The more you practice, the more it helps,” she said.

Cast member Connor Klimek said there were some unique aspects of playing the part of the adult Tarzan.

“It’s very fun, as soon as I got the songs down,” he said. While Tarzan doesn’t have the most spoken lines, Klimek said he did have to learn “ape language,” and incorporate a lot of physical acting into his performance.

Tarzan has some humorous moments when he tries to imitate other human characters, Klimek said.

“When I repeat words, I do more with my face,” he said.

In contrast to Tarzan, naturalist Jane Porter is “always talking to herself,” Katherine Kulm said. Jane’s personality and love of nature shows in one of Kulm’s favorite songs in the play, “Waiting for This Moment.”

“There’s lots of Latin plant names” in the lyrics, she said. They made the song both tricky and fun to sing.

“This is the biggest part I’ve played,” Kulm said of taking on the role of Jane. “It’s super exciting.”

Klimek said it was his friend Ben Kulm, who plays adult Terk, who got him involved with this summer’s musical at the Opera House. Spending time and acting together with fellow cast members was one of the great parts of being in the show, cast members said.

“I have two kids in the play. It’s fun to do this with them,” said Ted Kulm, who plays Jane’s father Porter.

Performances of “Tarzan” will be at 7:30 p.m. July 17-20 and 24-26, and at 2 p.m. July 21, 27 and 28. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for kids age 12 and under. Tickets are available online at lboh.org, or by calling the box office at 507-368-4620.