The story of The Little Mermaid should be familiar to everyone--and especially so to people in my age group, who all (I assume) pretended to be mermaids in the pool and wanted to comb their hair with a fork. But just in case: Ariel is a mermaid and the youngest daughter of King Triton, ruler of the sea. But she longs to leave the sea and be among humans, particularly the handsome sea-faring Prince Eric. The sea-witch Ursula convinces Ariel to trade her beautiful voice for human legs (and lungs) for three days. If Prince Eric kisses her within that time, Ariel will stay human forever, but if not, Ariel will become Ursula’s slave. Hans Christian Andersen's original tale is melancholy and doesn’t end well. The Disney version of my childhood was naturally more optimistic. It featured gorgeous music by Alan Menken and beautiful animation of Ariel’s undersea world. One of the visual moments that always stuck with me is at the end of the film when Ariel walks out the ocean, the water...
Reviewing community theater shows in the Twin Cities