Preview: Life of Pi at Broadway at the Hobby

Prior to joining the national tour of Life of Pi, actor Toussaint Jeanlouis had never worked very much with puppets and certainly not ones that couldn’t be operated by the flick of a wrist attached to rods or stings.

But when the story of the 16-year-old boy stranded on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger for 227 days (based on a novel by Yann Martel) moved from the 2012 film directed by Ang Lee to a play adaptation by Lolita Chakrabarti, they couldn’t bring the CGI effects and real tiger along with them.

Enter the life size puppets. Now on a national tour coming to Broadway at the Hobby this week.

Three different actors are required just to move the tiger named Richard Parker — at the head, the heart and the backside, Jeanlouis said.

Those who’ve read the book or seen the movie know the story is seen through the eyes of Pi after he loses his entire family in a shipwreck as they are trying to cross the ocean for a new life in Canada. They bring along some of the animals from the zoo they own in India. Besides the tiger these include a zebra, hyena and orangutan. In addition to playing the tiger, Jeanlouis has been onstage as the other animals and also as the Cook, he said.

But there is another version of the story, also recounted by Pi that replaces the animals with humans. In that accounting the hyena symbolizes the cook, the zebra the sailor, the orangutan Pi’s mother and the tiger symbolizes Pi. All in all, this is a somewhat darker fable than the Lion King, with only two survivors by the end.

There are deep references to spirituality in Life of Pi. Raised as a Hindu, Pi has decided to adopt elements of Christianity and Islam. as well.

Jeanlouis said by the end of the first week of rehearsal, he was really glad he’d joined the cast.

“I think the story is really important, one that deals with grief, with spirituality, faith, religion, the importance of family. It talks about immigration form a country that’s in chaos. And here you have this young boy who’s surviving all alone out into the middle of the sea. And he overcomes the majority of all the obstacles that he has to face. It’s got a powerful message and I think for myself it’s a reminder that I can overcome things that pose challenges and if I dig deep enough and ask enough questions eventually I will arrive at the answer.”

Asked about the rather frequent switching around of roles, Jeanlouis chuckles and said, “I think it is a gift that we are able to switch around in these roles. It requires a lot of physicality. You are fully in the tiger.” The actors in the middle and back section of the tiger are squatting and leaning over the whole time, he said.

“I think it’s the need to give each other a break,” he said. The Cook/Hyena role requires the most cardio, he says. “The Tiger track feels the most like strength training and endurance cause it goes on forever.”

Although there’s no actual dancing in the show, Jeanlouis refers to the movements on stage as choreography particularly with three actors moving together to create the tiger.

“We have a whole tiger fight that happens with Pi. It is a a bit of a dance with three people in a puppet and one person. We’re navigating apace on a very small boat.”

To make all this work requires intense support with everyone else involved in putting this on each night and matinee, he said. The kind of teamwork the actors have to produce for each show is matched by the same intricate teamwork required of the wardrobe team, the design team, the creative team, and the directors.

“If only people could see what goes on backstage especially at the end of Act 1. It is chaos backstage. But you would never know it when we walk on stage. Every night we handle it with such grace.”

Jeanlouis who graduated from Nimitz High School said he was excited to be back in the Houston area especially since the actors are getting a brief break before they resume the tour, giving him the chance to spend time with family and friends.

And why should people attend the show?

“I think it’s going to be better than what you first imagine. I think it’s a very relevant story to what’s happening today right now in our world. People when they talk about they show afterwards say there was a point at which I stopped noticing that there were people operating the puppets and I just saw the animals actually moving. They empathize with the animals and they feel what the animals are feeling.

“And it’s such a grand story that talks about again grief, what it’s like to be against all odds and feel like there’s nothing out there but just this wide ocean and you and maybe a tiger. You have everything you need inside of you and sometimes it takes you to be a little more brave and more confident, have courage and that doesn’t make you a bad person or evil or scary. You can still be a good person and survive the worst tragedy ever. It’s a phenomenal story. You will walk away with multiple reasons why you love this show.”

Performances are scheduled for August 19-24 at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, and 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday at theHobby Center, 800 Bagby. For more information, call 713-315-7625 or visit thehobbycenter.org or broadwayatthehobbycenter.com. $40-$100.40.