Book & Lyrics by Karen Zacarías
Music by Deborah Wicks La Puma
Published by the Dramatic Publishing.
Upcoming Productions
Synopsis
Jane is an ordinary suburban girl, complete with a really nice mom and a bratty little brother. But Jane is on the verge of some big changes. Middle school is looming, and that’s both exciting and a little scary. And yet nothing compares with the jolt she gets when she wakes up one morning to discover she has acquired spots, furry ears and a tail! Not only that, but her neighborhood seems to be turning into a jungle! This delightfully inventive new musical takes a wild and wonderful approach to everything kids have to go through before they’re truly “grown up.”
History
Jane of the Jungle was commissioned and premiered at South Coast Repertory Theatre, Costa Mesa, CA in 2012 under the director of Juliette Carrillo. It received its youth cast premiere in 2013 at Palos Verdes Intermediate School in Palos Verdes, California, produced by Chauntelle O’Loughlin.
Musical Numbers
Buy the demo from Bandcamp.
Featuring Eymard Cabling (Milo), Jamey Hood (Mom/Joanne/Samantha), Renée Brna (Jane), Derek Manson (Steve), Ella Saldana North (Kayla), and Erika Whalen Schindele (Pat/Kelly/Nicolette).
Production Elements
Cast: 4 women, 2 men
(Youth Cast version expandable up to 8 women, 3 men and Chorus)
Female:
JANE – A girl about to start middle school (Alto)
KAYLA – JANE’s best friend. (Mezzo with Belt)
MOM – JANE’s Mother. Also plays JOANNE and SAMANTHA (Alto)
PAT- Also plays KELLY and NICOLETTE MILLER, the most popular girl (Mezzo)
Male:
MILO – JANE’s younger brother (Tenor)
STEVE COLLINS – The cute boy. Also plays KAYLA’S DAD (Bari-Tenor)
Music: Pop musical theatre score with “world music” influences. Accompaniment tracks available.
Musical Difficulty: Moderate
Technical Requirements: Minimal Set, some special “jungle” effects suggested
Suggested Audience: Upper Elementary School/Families
Authors
KAREN ZACARÍAS (Book & Lyrics) is hailed by American Theater Magazine as one of the ten most produced playwrights in the U.S. and the most produced Latina playwright in the nation. Her comedy Native Gardens, about race, class, plants, and fences, hit a political zeitgeist and was one of the top produced plays of 2019. Her musical homage to the telenovela Destiny of Desire, “a terrifically entertaining theatrical roller coaster”(Charles McNulty, LA Times) has sold-out the largest regional theaters from East to West (Arena Stage, The Goodman, Oregon Shakespeare Festival) and is now heading to Broadway. Her gripping drama The Copper Children, about a controversial child separation case in 1905, just had an acclaimed world premiere at Oregon Shakespeare Festival and her bilingual translation of Romeo y Juliet will premiere at California Shakespeare Festival in September of 2021. Other award-winning plays include The Book Club Play, Legacy of Light, Mariela in the Desert, The Sins of Sor Juana, and the adaptations of Just Like Us, Into the Beautiful North, and How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent. Her work has also been produced at The Kennedy Center, The Guthrie, Cincinnati Playhouse, The Goodman, South Coast Rep, and many more.
Karen is also one of the most produced children’s theater playwrights in the country. She is the author of ten renowned TYA musicals with composer Deborah Wicks La Puma including Ella Enchanted, Einstein is a Dummy, Ferdinand the Bull, Looking for Roberto Clemente, Chasing George Washington, Jane of the Jungle, and Frida Libre. Karen is also the author of the Marvel play Squirrel Girl Goes to College, and the librettist of several Ballets. She is one of the inaugural resident playwrights at Arena Stage, a core founder of the Latinx Theatre Commons – a large national organization of artists seeking to update the American narrative with the stories of Latinos – and she is the founder of the award-winning Young Playwrights’ Theater (YPT). YPT was cited by the Obama administration as one of the best arts-education programs on the nation.
Karen was voted 2019 Washingtonian of the Year by Washingtonian Magazine for her advocacy work involving the arts. She is an inaugural 2019 Sine Fellow for Policy Innovation at American University for advocating for the intersectionality of art and policy and was selected by The League of Professional Theatre Women to receive the 2019 Lee Reynolds Award given annually to a woman in theater who has helped illuminate the possibilities for social, cultural, or political change. She was awarded the 2019 Medallion by the Children’s Theater Foundation of America for excellence and craft and a 2019 speaker at TEDEX Broadway. A graduate of Stanford University and Boston University, Karen lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband and three children. She is represented by the Gersh Agency. www.KarenZacarias.com
Purchase
Buy the script from Dramatic Publishing.
Buy the demo from Bandcamp.
Featuring Eymard Cabling (Milo), Jamey Hood (Mom/Joanne/Samantha), Renée Brna (Jane), Derek Manson (Steve), Ella Saldana North (Kayla), and Erika Whalen Schindele (Pat/Kelly/Nicolette).