Little Mermaid Broadway review -from a fan

I thought the show was incredible.

I was VERY wary of the heelies concept going in, but it actually works really well. It certainly was a clever way to stage the swimming without using a lot of wires and things.

The cast is almost uniformly excellent. Sierra Boggess makes a solid Broadway debut. She truly inhabits the character of Ariel, and already seems to have her mannerisms and whatnot down. She has a great voice, and "Part of Your World" was one of the evening's highlights.

There is also the fantastic Titus Burgess, whose voice is just out of this world. I never saw Jersey Boys, so I had no idea what kind of voice he had. What he does with Under the Sea is amazing. I didn't really like his costume though- he kind of looked like Elmo.

Eddie Korbich was a lot of fun as Scuttle, as were the two guys who played the eels. Norm Lewis is underused, but he does get one brief moment where he really gets to use his voice.

The only person in the cast I did not care for was Sean Palmer. He gets a pretty thankless role to begin with, but he did absolutely nothing with it. Looking at his credits, he seems to be more of a dancer (appearing in Fosse, Dream, and Saturday Night Fever). However, Eric does very little dancing, so I am not sure why they went with him. His acting was blah, and his voice wasn't great.

Anyway, as good as Sierra and Titus were (and they were exceptional), the star on the stage this evening was the sensational Sherie Renee Scott, who in a perfect world would win the Best Featured Actress in a Musical Tony this year. She only appears in 6 scenes, but wow....she makes the most of it. She plays Ursula like this faded glamour queen. I felt like she was channeling a bit of Norma Desmond. Whatever it was, it worked. She gets two GREAT numbers that she sells to the rafters (the act 1 closer- Poor Unfortunate Souls and a new song called I Want the Good Times Back).

The costumes are fantastic, especially Ursulas. They did a great job of making her tentacles work. The set was lovely, and very imaginatively done. The way they shifted from the undersea world to land was clever. My only complaint about the set was Ariel's treasure trove. It wasn't so much a cavern as a rock. All she appeared to have collected was some old shoes. I also hope they do something about Ursula's final disappearance. It's not nearly as grand as it could be.

The staging was well-done. The highlights were Under the Sea and Kiss the Girl, the latter of which is very reminscent of Can You Feel the Love Tonight. The show moves along VERY briskly- by 10:25 this evening, I was out on the street.

Audience was really into it, and applauded loudly throughout- every major scene change got a lot of applause. They were very well-behaved- I didn't hear a peep out of any of the children. I want to give kudos to the ushers at the Lunt-Fontanne. The house did not open until 7:47 this evening, because the usher told me they were having problems with the set. However, in spite of that, they still had the house seated VERY quickly, and the show began at 8:07.

The audience was very appreciative throughout, and this source material is clearly very beloved (moreso, I suspect, than any Disney movie besides the Lion King). If tonight's packed house was any indication, they've got a winner on their hands that will run for a long, long time.


The Little Mermaid
Tickets are now on sale for this brand-new Disney musical. Great seats are available beginning January 2008!





In a magical kingdom beneath the sea, a beautiful young mermaid named Ariel longs to leave her ocean home to live in the world above. But first, she'll have to defy her father - the king of the sea, escape the clutches of an evil sea witch and convince a prince that she's the girl with the perfect voice.

Little Mermaid Broadway review

Saturday, August 18, 2007
"The Little Mermaid" Pre-Broadway review




On Thursday night Ryan and I went to see The Little Mermaid downtown. They are having their soft opening here prior to opening in December on Broadway. I was not quite sure how they would do everything. I also had some pretty high expectations since that is my favorite Disney film. Well, it was great! The music was very good. They wrote a few original songs for the musical and had some of the same from the film. The actress who portrayed Aerial did a fantastic job. She has an outstanding voice and sounded very much like the film (as a side note, she is also originally from CO!). The actress who played Ursula had a great voice as well and we so good. People were laughing at the jokes throughout the performance and everyone seemed entertained, even all the children who attended. I did not hear one get upset/bored. This is something I would absolutely see again. If you have the chance to catch it here (it's here until September 6th I believe) or on Broadway, I highly recommend it. Ryan is not a musical fan but he went with me, so sweet!! This is hard to say, but I have to be honest when I say that I enjoyed it more than Phantom of the Opera, which was previously my favorite. Thanks for the great birthday seats (which were orchestra center I might add!) Mom and Dad (oops, this is Austin's blog, grandma and grandpa!)!
There is my personal ramble for the day, enjoy :)
http://ryandsa.blogspot.com/2007/08/little-mermaid-pre-broadway-review.html