Take a Trip Back to Childhood,Fun and Fantasy with
“Little
Mermaid.”
By Lauren Brutscher
Pittsburghers who attended the premier of Disney’s The Little
Mermaid on July 9 got to experience a undersea adventure before the
flooding. This beloved tale of a teenage
mermaid courageous enough to dream the impossible has been beautifully adapted
to the stage and is a must-see event this summer, for children and adults
alike. As it follows the familiar story we all know from the Disney version,
many elements from the classic Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale are
represented, making it a little darker of a tale than we all remember.
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| Jessica Grove as Ariel/Courtesy of CLO |
The story begins with a young mermaid princess, Ariel, who longs
for a home in the sun and a prince, Eric, who would rather be a sailor than a
king who are so close to each other, yet so far. Ariel, played by seasoned Broadway starlet
Jessica Grové, feels like she just isn’t meant to fit in with her father, King
Triton, and her six musical mersisters. She spends her time learning about
humans and human things from her two best friends, Flounder the Fish (Christian
Probst) and Scuttle the Seagull (Matt Allen), instead of staying below the
surface with the rest of the merfolk. In
fact, her obsession with life out of the ocean causes her to miss a
celebration, in which she was to honor the memory of her late mother for the
whole underwater kingdom with her beautiful voice. Her desire to live out of the ocean grows
even stronger after she does the unthinkable: she saves a human from drowning
and falls in love with him! No matter how much Sebastian the Crab (Alan Mingo
Jr.) and the other sea creatures try to show her all of the wonderful things
under the sea, she is still desperate to be with her prince.
She becomes so desperate that when the electric eel twins
Flotsam and Jetsam, played by Scott Leiendecker and Sean Patrick Doyle, offer
to take her to the sea witch, Ariel obliges.
When Ariel visits Ursula the sea witch (Liz McCartney), she is given the
chance to bargain her soul in exchange for a fully human body for three
sunsets. The catch: Eric has to fall in
love with her and prove it with a kiss.
The price: her voice. Ariel makes
the trade and takes the chance! With her
voice locked inside Poseidon’s magic shell, she washes up
on shore near Prince Eric’s castle and is treated to a heartwarming pep-talk
from her friends about staying positive.
The rest of the story is action-packed, dramatic, romantic and much
different from the Disney take on it. To
catch all of those surprises, you’ll just have to see it for yourself!
The music in the show was spectacular, including all the
familiar songs from the movie and new musical numbers which showcased the vocal
talents of the entire cast. Grové’s
talents were showcased in the nostalgic number “Part of Your World” and in
another song called “If Only”.
Sebastian
brought the house down with a visually stunning and all-around impressive
rendition of everyone’s favorite Disney party song: “Under the Sea” and Scuttle
had the audience laughing with the not so familiar song “Positoovity”,
performed with a hilarious, tap-dancing, harmonizing, snazzy-dressed group of
gulls!
The music in this production is without a doubt what one would
expect from Broadway, and the costumes and the sets are just the same. They did a really good job of setting the
mood for each scene, especially of Ursula in her home during her ballad “Poor
Unfortunate Souls”. Ursula’s giant
costume was controlled with the help of Flotsam and Jetsam. And their costumes lit up in bright green
flashes as they zipped around the stage in wheeled shoes. The use of the stage rigging to elevate
actors to simulate swimming or flying added so much to the show, making it an
imaginative and unforgettable trip back to childhood.
The Pittsburgh CLO presents Disney’s The Little Mermaid played at
the Benedum Center until July 21. If you
would like to revisit childhood for a couple hours, or if you’d like to make a
new memory with the next generation, Little Mermaid Is perfect for the whole
family. Don’t miss this opportunity to
see this beloved “tail” come to life!
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Lauren Brutscher
is a Pittsburgh based Quality Assurance Inspector, graduate of Bidwell
Training Center and West
Mifflin Area High School.
