When The Little Mermaid film came out in 1989, Disney had been struggling for decades to match the success of their early animated films, and they finally had a hit – The Little Mermaid was loved by audiences and critics alike. A big factor of the film’s success was Broadway veteran Alan Menken’s score, which won him two Oscars (and two Golden Globes, and a Grammy). Later, like so many other successful films, The Little Mermaid was adapted for Broadway. Not every film makes an easy transition to the stage, but in this case I think the creators made some very thoughtful decisions that make this show work. For example, the climax of the film is an ocean battle between Prince Eric and a giant Ursula while Ariel watches helplessly; in the musical, this scene is replaced by one that focuses on Ariel and her relationships to the other characters. Besides being easier to stage, it’s much more satisfying that Ariel doesn’t need to be rescued by a prince.
Open Door Community Theatre is a young company; their first
production was Shrek in 2019. The
Little Mermaid is only their second full musical, and their first at East
Ridge High School’s very nice (and very big) main stage. With the help of local sponsors, Open Door donates back to the community
with each production. After Shrek the
company donated more than $10,000 to a local food shelf, and a portion of the
proceeds from The Little Mermaid will be going to the organization SoWashCo
CARES.
The first time I saw the stage version of The Little
Mermaid (at a professional theater, no less), the staging was terrible; the
whole production was scaled for the biggest moments, particularly Prince Eric’s
ship, and the quieter moments like “Part of Your World” felt almost swallowed
up by the now-empty space. In Open Door’s
production, Ursula K. Bowden’s scenic design balanced a sense of life-like
scale with meeting the needs of each scene. Eric’s ship, for example, was large enough to make a visual impact without
taking over the stage. Bowden’s designs
and director Justin Madsen’s staging gave definition and focus to the space for each setting. In the design, the standout pieces were the gorgeous,
colorful reef sculptures, one of which turned around to reveal a very different
style of coral for Ursula’s lair. From
Madsen, I thought the storm/rescue scene was particularly interesting, creating
a strong element of suspense as Ariel appeared and disappeared in the waves. I was very impressed as a whole by the vocal
performances under Lori Sager’s music direction. Every solo was strong and the group numbers
were well-balanced. I particularly liked
the delicacy of the layered performances in “If Only (Quartet)”.
Choreographer Heather Fisher created engaging numbers throughout, from the sweet and more intimate “One Step Closer” to the big showy numbers like “Under the Sea” and “Kiss the Girl”. I think “Kiss the Girl” was my favorite; it started with different elements coming in bit by bit (under Sebastian’s direction), and as the song reached its crescendo all the elements came together to create one big, cohesive swell of movement and emotion. Jacob Hofer’s lighting was saturated with color, heightening the tone of each setting, from the creepiness of Ursula’s lair to romance of “Kiss the Girl”. The mock-horror lighting in “Les Poissons” was a very funny touch. Tom Prestin/Born Into Royalty’s sound design had no microphone problems (always a treat), and the vocals and instrumentals were balanced throughout. Sound effects were largely used to make big moments bigger, and they certainly increased the drama of scenes like the storm. Mary Anderson and Mary Wellman’s costume designs included a lot of sparkles, and I am not complaining. As a whole, the costumes were fun and colorful; some standouts for me were Flounder’s boyish overalls, Ariel’s movie-reminiscent wedding dress, and King Triton’s outfit, which seemed to draw on an Ancient Greek regality while also clearly suggesting “fish.” There was also clearly a lot of work put into hair and makeup; I particularly enjoyed the creepy styling on the eels. Puppet designer Jenny Moeller added elements to many scenes with puppets that ranged from charming (like turtles that drummed on their own shells) to monstrous (like Ursula’s tentacles). I was delighted by the single orange fish that (I assume) was a little callback to the opening credits of the film. The mass of “poor unfortunate souls” was also a great piece of construction, allowing a little bit of humor in an otherwise creepy scene.
Paige Klemenhagen played the role of Ariel with a great sense of physicality. Ariel spends most of the second act without a voice, and Klemenhagen was incredibly expressive even when silent. She is also a stunning singer and was excellent in songs like “Part of Your World.” In addition, Klemenhagen performed with aerial silks, a skillset that made Ariel's magical transitions very exciting. Parker Fretheim, who played Prince Eric, also had a beautiful voice and his classic tone was a perfect fit for songs like “Her Voice.” Klemenhagen and Fretheim had a lovely connection that made it easy to root for Ariel and Eric to make it through together. Stacey Dolan brought a lot of character to the role of Ursula. This role is sometimes cast as a man in drag, which I dislike on the principle that there’s not so many great alto roles that they should go to tenors; hearing Dolan sing, I also think these songs are much more interesting sung in the low part of an alto’s range compared to the high part of a tenor’s range. Dolan’s Ursula has been around the block and seen it all, and somehow she made me enjoy “Daddy’s Little Angel” (which I have previously thought of only as a less-good version of “Mother Knows Best” from Tangled, also by Alan Menken). This Ursula was jaded, jealous, sinister, frightening – and so fun to watch the whole time.
As Sebastian, Mariah Smith played up the humor in the crab’s aversion to conflict and his attempts to help Ariel. Her rendition of “Under the Sea” was lively and entertaining. Aiden Gross and Henry Sayers alternated the role of Flounder; Sayers performed the night I attended. He did a great job embodying Flounder's youthful, self-conscious energy, and gave a spot-on vocal performance in "She's in Love." Seth Tychon Steidl's King Triton was regal and imposing, but showing more of his softer side as the story went on. Jakob Gomez brought in some nice physical comedy as Scuttle and made "Positoovity" a lot of fun. As Grimsby, Daniel Stephans was sweet and endearing; his Grimsby clearly cared deeply about Eric and was willing to see the best in Ariel no matter what. Angie Flake and Chris Klekamp were sinuous in their movements and their vocal style as Flotsam and Jetsam, the eels; the whole effect was creepy with a dash of camp (as befits Ursula’s hench-creatures). The actresses who played Ariel’s sisters were all strong singers and dancers and balanced well as a group. They also had great hair! Marcie Panian was delightfully demented as the obsessed Chef Louis, and “Les Poissons” was absolutely hilarious.
One thing I enjoyed from the ensemble was seeing a variety of sea creatures brought to life, whether the performers were puppeteering or embodying the animals. The ensemble was strong throughout and brought a lot of energy and heart to the group numbers, culminating in an emotionally stirring finale. I went into this performance knowing that the stage at East Ridge high school is very big, and I was impressed from the start at how big Open Door went with this show. Every aspect of the production felt like it was used to its fullest, resulting in a show that was emotionally engaging and simply beautiful to watch.
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