such nostalgia: the little mermaid musical

Dear Fairies,

I went to see The Little Mermaid musical sometime in March. I went with my stepfather and his granddaughter. When I realized it would be coming into town, I knew that this was a great time to wear my retro 80s Little Mermaid shirt ^_^

The production was great, but definitely not as extravagant as many other shows seen on Broadway. I found the large clear bubble "flats" that they used for the above water scenes an interesting choice. Also, I was glad that they didn't use Heelys like they did in the original Broadway production. I always found Heelys kind of weird... I got that they wanted a feeling of them being underwater, but I imagine it would've been more distracting to me. Flounder had a little skateboard in this production but I felt as if that was a character choice that worked quite well.

Instead of Heelys though, this production had the Mermaid tails cover the feet in front with the "fin" which was made of this flowy fringe material, and the actors walked normally. Actually, this was the first production to use the fly system to have the fish and mermaids actually look as if they were swimming mid-water. This was a wonderful choice as it was done superbly.

Photo Taken by Christian Waits (Theatre Jones)

Not only were fish and mermaids flown, but was used on Eric in the scene where he falls into the water after the shipwreck. When this happened, a scrim was brought down in front of the stage upon which a light made to look like water was projected. Behind the scrim we saw Eric in an almost heavenly light that you can usually see underwater when there's light coming down upon the water. Then, slowly, he was flown down as if he was falling through the water. It was absolutely beautiful. Ariel's silhouette could be seen coming in to save him and that was the end of the first act.

Photo Taken by Christian Waits (Eric Kunze Fansite)

All of the actors were wonderful and there was a delightful originality. The supporting characters all had lovely twists to them visually and in their character that I enjoyed. First, Sebastian was still Jamaican but he was definitely portrayed as more "proper" in this production as he was dressed in a completely red 19th Century style costume complete with knickers, tights, and a red powdered wig. The actor was possibly the greatest singer in the entire cast. Scuttle was a bit more... interesting... he became even a bit off-putting to me haha but he had an interesting costume with pumpkin pants, striped socks, and a vest. The twist they put on Flounder made him seem more realistic in a sense. He had spiky hair, wearing a slight skater boy style costume. A new layer for this character was his crush on Ariel that was actually very cute and gives way to his song in the show. The actor was adorable and had a wonderful voice. As for Ursula, she was definitely fabulous without a doubt. The tentacle dress was nothing short of dazzling, and the tentacles would be moved by the actors playing Flotsam and Jetsam to create the illusion she was moving them around the eels during Poor Unfortunate Souls. A little side note is the performance of Les Poissons. This is possibly the most overlooked song in the show, but the performance was hilarious as the actor put a different emphasis on the already clever lyrics by Howard Ashman.

Photo Taken by Christian Waits (Theatre Jones)

My real nitpick with the musical in general is that I'm not a huge Glen Slater fan. He wrote the lyrics for the new songs in the musical besides the first song called Mysterious Fathoms Below.  Mysterious Fathoms Below was a song that was cut from the film, with lyrics written by Howard Ashman, the original lyricist. Unfortunately, Ashman is no longer with us, so Disney hired Glen Slater. I don't find Glen Slater nearly as good of a lyricist as Ashman though :b

Photo Taken by Christian Waits (Kory's Review)

Overall, I was pleased with the production regardless of some of the stranger changes that were made for the musical. I would recommend going to see it for the nostalgia and spectacle for sure ^_^

 What I Wore

Fabric Rose Fascinator: Forever 21 (full price)

Purple Rhinestone Studded Glasses: Claire’s (on sale)

Ariel The Little Mermaid Shirt: 80s Vintage

Cardigan: Old Navy (on sale)

Skirt: Gap (gift)

Leggings: Forever 21 (on sale)

Socks: Target (full price)

Purple Suede Pumps (not pictured): Franco Sarto

Pink Sparkly Ribbon Bow Pin: made by me

Bangle: Forever 21 (on sale)

Scrunchie: Claire's (on sale)

~Sparkling Ga Eul

Faith, Trust and Fairy Kei Dust!