With some updates and tweaks, Modern Theatricals’ production of “The Jungle Book” is back at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts after last year’s debut. It’s not the story you probably know but a sequel featuring the characters made famous by Rudyard Kipling’s book and, of course, Walt Disney’s animated film.

Writer-director-designer Donald Spencer devised the show, which features Baloo the Bear, Shere Khan the tiger and Bagheera the panther, along with their human “man cub” friend Mowgli, now an adult and engagingly portrayed by Daniel Martinez. You’ll also find Kaa the python, the center of a gorgeous scene full of shadows, smoke and flickering lanterns, and brought to life by Chase Shellée, who deliciously squeezes the life out of every line with her overly sibilant s-sounds.

Spencer knows his way around spectacle: You may have seen his work in “Dragons & Fairies” at Orlando’s Leu Gardens, or the “Alice in Wonderland”-themed “Down the Rabbit Hole” show at Mead Garden in Winter Park.

Adrian Mancinelli gives voice to Shere Khan, while Lindsay Diaz, in the belly of the beast, brings the tiger’s movement to life in Modern Theatricals’ production of “The Jungle Book,” onstage at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Orlando. (Courtesy Pauly Kramer Photography)

For the latter, Spencer won the 2021 Critic’s Pick for best costume design in the Sentinel’s year-end theater honors. His design skills are gorgeously on view once again throughout “The Jungle Book,” which I saw at a dress rehearsal.

The show, performed in the arts center’s Pugh Theater so everyone feels up close and personal, is a visual treat. Sumptuous costumes, eye-popping wigs and headgear by John Murphy, flower petals floating in the air, did mention the gorgeous costumes? Oh, and the puppets: Fascinating and fantastical, they were co-designed by Spencer and Scott Huhn.

These are the kind of puppets in which you see the performer’s face, as well as the puppet’s, adding another layer of emotion. Some are complicated enough to require two or three puppeteers.

Bagheera (voiced by Chyan Etheredge, puppeteered by Kellie Schreiber), Mora (Helen Tom) and Baloo (Christian Inirio) are on a mission in Modern Theatricals’ production of “The Jungle Book,” onstage at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Orlando. (Courtesy Pauly Kramer Photography)

The story picks up years after Shere Khan’s banishment from the jungle for his misdeeds. A rare white peacock named Mora (regal Helen Tom), fresh from the London Zoo, is shipwrecked on the shore of the jungle — the roiling ocean waves, done with lighting and projections, create a particularly nifty effect.

She has to learn about her new surroundings, with help from still-jovial Baloo (laid-back Christian Inirio) and still-serene Bagheera (cool and commanding Chyan Etheredge). But as she acquires knowledge, she begins to question the status quo — especially in regards to the status of Shere Khan.

This “Jungle Book” jumps on the current trend of reframing a villain’s actions by adding back story that attempts to explain why the villain is the way he or she is. And there’s certainly a nice moral in there for children that people who make mistakes can change their ways, and if you have been hurt it’s possible to show kindness and practice forgiveness. (Adults, you can pay attention to this message, too. Please.)

Donald Spencer’s costumes give the monkeys, including the cube-juggling Blake Borders, a golden glow in Modern Theatricals’ production of “The Jungle Book,” onstage at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Orlando. (Courtesy Pauly Kramer Photography)

It might be harder to convince purists who remember the film or book from the days of their youth that the ferocious Shere Khan — a villain that terrified me as a child — is a misunderstood pussycat. But Adrian Mancinelli, with a rasp of a roar, goes some way toward, um, humanizing? the beast.

Adults will be busy admiring Disney choreographer Cindy Wilson’s engaging dance numbers (with a fun Bollywood-esque finale), the singing and the music — a mix of recorded sounds with impassioned singer Erica Appel performing live, along with percussionist Christian Snedeker.

This is definitely child-friendly — there’s a lot of action, and the show is presented in two short bursts. In addition to the dancing, there’s cube juggling and pole work and contortions. The pace only really slows too much toward the end of the first act, when there’s an extended period of talking that could be trimmed or jazzed up visually.

KJ Sales’ lighting design adds to the energy of Modern Theatricals’ production of “The Jungle Book,” onstage at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Orlando. (Courtesy Pauly Kramer Photography)

And while I admire a show that doesn’t talk down to children, some of the writing — “the veils of misconception were torn” — feels a little highfalutin for a family show.

But kids will get a kick out of the nicknames Baloo bestows on the other characters, “Feathers” and “Stripes,” and for us adults, it’s good to know that Mowgli grew up to become “a legend in the jungle.”

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‘The Jungle Book’

Length: 90 minutes, including intermission
Where: Pugh Theater at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, 445 S. Magnolia Ave. in Orlando
When: 8 p.m. Sept. 5, 2 and 8 p.m. Sept. 6
Cost: $56.17 and up
Info: drphillipscenter.org

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/09/05/jungle-book-review-dr-phillips-center/