The original Broadway production opened in 2006, directed and designed by Bob Crowley with choreography by Meryl Tankard.

The original production began previews on Broadway on March 24, 2006, and officially opened at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on May 10.

Some alterations include the female gorilla Terk being changed to male for the musical, while Tantor the elephant is absent completely.

Off the West African coast, a young English couple and their newborn son barely survive a shipwreck and land in Africa.

In the African Jungle, Kerchak, the leader of a tribe of gorillas admires his new infant son with his mate, Kala ("Two Worlds").

However, Kerchak finds Tarzan constructing a spear, and assuming he intends to hurt the gorillas, he holds Kala accountable ("No Other Way").

Kerchak won't change his mind until Tarzan kills Sabor to avenge his parents and prevent him from terrorizing the tribe any longer.

Suddenly, gunshots are heard throughout the jungle, causing the tribe to scatter while Tarzan investigates what scared them away.

Jane tries to convince her father, Professor Porter, and their guide, Clayton, that she discovered a wild man and a tribe of apes.

Realizing her son is torn between his loyalty to his gorilla family and his need to be with humans, Kala shows Tarzan the treehouse his parents built and he discovers all of their belongings ("Everything That I Am").

[5] Tarzan opened on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on May 10, 2006, after starting previews on March 24, making it the only Disney Theatrical production without an out-of-town tryout.

[10] The cast starred Josh Strickland as Tarzan, Jennifer Gambatese as Jane Porter, Shuler Hensley as Kerchak, Merle Dandridge as Kala, Chester Gregory II as Terk, Tim Jerome as Professor Porter, and Donnie Keshawarz as Clayton.

Dylan Riley Snyder replaced Daniel Manche as first alternate Young Tarzan on September 15, 2006.

The first international production of the show opened on April 15, 2007, at the Fortis Circustheater in Scheveningen, Netherlands and was produced by Disney and Joop van den Ende Theaterproducties/Stage Entertainment.

[citation needed] A Philippine production of the show, licensed by Viva Atlantic Theatricals, ran from June 14 – July 7, 2013, at the Meralco Theater in Manila.

[14][15] The third international production opened in Hamburg, Germany, at the Neue Flora Theater on October 19, 2008, and was produced by Disney and Stage Entertainment.

[16] The Production moved to Stuttgart after closing in Hamburg, where it opened in November 2013 in the Stage Apollo Theater.

[23] The Tuacahn Center for the Arts in Ivins, Utah, presented the regional premiere from June 7 – October 15, 2010, playing three shows a week.

Other cast members included Quentin Earl Darrington as Kerchak, Katie Thompson as Kala, Gregory Haney as Terk, Ken Page as Porter, Michael James Reed as Clayton, Spencer Jones as Young Tarzan and Nathaniel Mahone as Young Terk.

[25] After its huge previous success in Germany, where the musical already ran for nearly ten years in different locations, Stage Entertainment announced on September 20, 2022, that they would once again produce Tarzan in their German theatres.

"[27] The New York Times described Tarzan as "insistently kinetic ... fidgety and attention-deficient", noting that though "momentous events occur regularly ... any tension or excitement is routinely sabotaged by overkill and diffuseness".

It notes that despite "much money ... and international research" being invested into the show, "we now have conclusive evidence that the Disneyfied Tarzan does indeed flatten perversely when translated from two dimensions into three.