“Disney’s The Little Mermaid”

***** It is the holiday season, and many of our theaters bring in special shows dealing with Christmas or perhaps just family-friendly productions. I can tell you that Drury Lane’s production of “Disney’s The Little Mermaid” is perfect. While it doesn’t reflect the holidays, it does bring family value to the theater. Based on one of Hans Christian Anderson’s story ( and the Disney animated film), the stage version with a book by Doug Wright and music by Alan Menken with lyrics by Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater is a wonderful look at relationships. The story deals with a mermaid, Ariel ( a super performance by Sarah Kay), daughter of King Triton ( deftly handled by Anand Nagraj) who saves a human, a prince (Patrick Johnson) from drowning.

Meeting this Prince she finds that she has feelings for him, but since she is a mermaid and he is a human, this cannot ever be. However, her father’s arch enemy ,Ursula (played to perfection by Sawyer Smith) offers her the opportunity to become mortal and be with the Prince, sending her back to the outer world with no voice, but legs. If the Prince should kiss her within a specific period of time, she will get her voice back and live a human life.

The Prince has a deadline to select a wife from the royalty in the area and while he falls in love with Ariel, the kiss , while almost happening, always seems to be avoided. Often  by accident, but when the time is close, by the magic of Ursula.  We witness many struggles with life through the eyes of Ariel and Prince Eric. Both of these youngsters are in positions that make them feel as if they will never reach the goals that have  been set for them.

Under the slick direction of Scott Weinstein and the clever choreography of Kasey Alfonso on a masterful set designed by Tijana Bjelajac, this production is flawless. Many of us talk about the strength of a company’s ensemble is a musical production, and the importance of each and every one doing what they are supposed to do. This show is a true winner when it comes to that and I am sure will be nominated for a slew of Jeff Awards.

This show also includes some puppetry and every part of that is fantastic. Scuttle (Landree Fleming), Flounder (Maya Lou Hlava), Jetsam (Ryan Michael Hamman), Flotsam (Leah Morrow) and Sebastian (Michael Earvin Martin is very special as Ariel’s best friend) do outstanding jobs. Even though we know they are puppets and that actors are doing the speaking and singing, after a short time, they sort of blend into each other and we see only the character they are bringing to the story- they are terrific!

Other standout performances that must be mentioned are Matt Edmonds as Chef Louis and I must say his  song “Les Poissons” is a hoot, and again, a place where we see the ensemble blend to make this scene hysterical, and Rob Lindley as Grimsby, the Price’s aide and then of course, the rest of the ensemble members. They truly held it all together. There are a number of wonderful songs, but most everyone knows “Under The Sea”. The others are there to move the story along.

On the technical side, in addition to the amazing set ( allowing trap doors to make people disappear) there are amazing projections (Anthony Churchill), costumes ( Ryan Park & Zhang Yu), sound (Lindsay Jones), lighting (Ryan O’Gara), props (Cassy Schillo) and of course puppet design ( Chicago Puppet Studio/Caitlin McLeod & Zachary Sun)- this all worked! The orchestra, under the direction of Chris Sargent was right on and never overpowered the voices onstage. If you are looking ahead to doing something special with the family for the holidays- THIS IS IT!!

“Disney’s The Little Mermaid” will continue thru January 12th, 2025 with performances as follows:

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To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “Disney’s The Little Mermaid”