Students are preparing for the spring musical Tarzan, a “swinging” success.

According to director Lamonte Kuskye, CHS will be among the first high schools in the nation to perform the musical. Tickets are currently on sale online. Opening night is May 16 at 7:30 p.m. Students are working after school nearly every day preparing for the production.

According to Kuskye, the cast and crew have been preparing, researching and planning for a long time. He said students are working hard preparing costumes and sets.

“There’s been a lot of preliminary work on the set because we’re literally going to create it from scratch,” Kuskye said. “It’s a huge project.”

Taylor Glickman, costume crew student co-head and senior, said the many animal characters in the show create difficulties in costume design. She said the challenge lies in allowing the actors the flexibility they need to perform while maintaining the likeness of the animal.

The costume designers have been forced to be creative with the patterns they have, according to Glickman. However, she said they have made great progress so far despite the challenges.

“It is really raising the bar one more notch. We are exploring new techniques with these animal costumes especially, and I think it just shows how versatile and ever-changing our department is.

“The CHS performing arts department is always looking to go bigger and better, and I’m really excited to help pull it off,” Glickman said.

According to Kuskye, in addition to costumes, many things onstage will also be complex and new. This includes the set, which he said will be custom-made.

Nick Metken, master carpenter and junior, said students are currently working on creating the complicated set.

“The lighting’s going in, the sound’s going in, we’re just getting ready for the first rehearsals,” Metken said. “It’s all made of wood, it’s custom-made from the ground up.”

According to Metken, the set and lighting of the show is unique because it resembles a rock concert more than a musical. Kuskye said this is also reflected in the song and dance of the production.

“There’s flying involved onstage so that’s always difficult. It’s a very, very physical show so there’s a lot of swinging, climbing, tumbling, all those kinds of things,” Kuskye said.

Kuskye said he is in love with the storyline of the production, which follows the lines of the Disney movie for the most part, although the characters are much more defined and developed.

“The story is similar but expanded,” Kuskye said. “It’s been rewritten since the Broadway production and it is so much better. There’s a lot of depth to it. People need to realize it’s not just that Disney cartoon. There’s a message, one that we want to make sure comes out, and I’m looking forward to that.”

Glickman said she hopes many people will come out to see the show and appreciate not only the incredible costume designing, but also the set, technical elements and performers.

“It just goes to show not only how highly skilled our performers are, but the talent of our technicians behind the scenes. Costumes, set design, lights, all of the technical elements will be new and different, challenging for sure, but I have no doubt all involved can pull it off to make Tarzan an unforgettable experience,” Glickman said.