From left, Madison Kish as Vulture, Carrie Peters as Shere Khan, Austin Cook as Hathi, and Naomi Eberle as Mowgli rehearse a scene from “The Jungalbook” at the Butler Little Theatre on Tuesday.

The Butler Little Theatre has been monkeying around for weeks pulling together its summer children’s theater production of “The Jungalbook,” which opens July 23.

This urban retelling of Rudyard Kipling’s classic tale is an adaptation by Edward Mast. The twist on the tale is delivered with energy and innovation by student director Shannon Donovan who takes the story to the city streets.

Playing the role of the child Mowgli is Naomi Eberle of Butler Township.

“She is a really fun person who is always looking for the next fun thing,” said Naomi, who is 9 years old and will be in third grade at Emily Brittain Elementary School.

Naomi thinks she is pretty similar to her character in that she loves having fun too. While her character is all about fun, Eberle is learning that acting can be much more.

“It isn’t always about having fun. Sometimes it is about happiness, sadness, angry-ness, puzzled-ness,” she said.

The sheer size of the role can be daunting for her, she said. “It is the main character, which means that I have a lot to do. I’m in a lot of scenes. There are a lot of lines to remember,” she said.

Naomi played May Belle in BLT’s production of “The Bridge to Terabithia” last summer.

Montana Simpson of Butler is tackling the role of Baloo.

“He tries to be the peacekeeper of everyone and makes sure everyone follows the jungle laws,” said Simpson, who will be a freshman at Slippery Rock University in the fall.

“I feel that the strength I bring to the character is my ability to work well with others,” he said noting that the team spirit of theater can make anything happen.

“The most challenging aspect of the role is to not hug Mowgli every second of the play because of how cute she is,” said Simpson of his co-star.

The wolf pack leader Akela is being played by Christian Cendrowski of Saxonburg, who will be an 11th grader at Knoch High School in the fall.

“Akela the wolf pack leader is a strong loyal character that would do anything for his pack and will fight until the end,” Christian said.

And while he is learning to play a wolf, he is also learning other things.

“I am learning that not only can I play the leadership role on the stage but I can also use my skills to try and be a leader if need be,” he said.

He comes right from the role of Bob in the Sing Hosanna! production of “Twinderella” last month.

The show also stars Carrie Peters as Shere Khan and Jake Neurohr as Bagheera.