Home > Theater Reviews > Archives > 2008 > January > 11 > Entry
Review: ‘Little Mermaid’ on Broadway
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
THEATER REVIEW. Grade: B-
NEW YORK — Disney is famous for its fairy tale endings.
And with Thursday night’s opening of the visually mesmerizing, gorgeously sung “The Little Mermaid,” the entertainment giant has added a shiny new pearl to a treasure chest that includes “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Lion King.”
Unlike Disney’s ape-brained “Tarzan,” “The Little Mermaid” will sparkle and swim for years to come for one simple reason: It has a song in its heart.
Based on Hans Christian Andersen’s fable and Disney’s beloved 1989 animated film that netted songwriters Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman an Oscar for the catchy “Under the Sea,” “The Little Mermaid” is a fluttering fantasia that will appeal to preschoolers, parents and that all-important in-between generation known as tweens. You know, the kids who wear Heelys.
Since fish don’t fly on ropes and bounce on bungee cords, director Francesca Zambello had the good sense to put her underwater creatures in sneakers with wheels embedded in their soles (Heelys, for the uninitiated) so that all the “merfolk” of King Triton’s kingdom glide across the stage as gracefully and magically as dolphins and swans.
With Natasha Katz’s splendid lighting and Tatiana Noginova’s never-ending cavalcade of fancifully finned and filigreed costumes, “The Little Mermaid” boasts an aesthetic vocabulary as imaginative and original as Julie Taymor’s work on “The Lion King.” If the shimmering spectacle with a reported $15 million price tag looks a bit cluttered and garish at first, set designer George Tsypin’s plastic waves, glimmering suns and Dale Chihuly-like aquatic flowers grow prettier as the eye adjusts to the hot pink and turquoise palette.
But can this assortment of daffy seagulls, crusty crabs, slithering electric eels and evil sea hags really sing and dance?
It’s no overstatement to say that Sierra Boggess’ Ariel and Sean Palmer’s Prince Eric are the dreamiest couple on Broadway.
With Ariel’s flowing red tresses and alabaster skin, Boggess radiates a beautifully ebullient glow that never dims, even when Ariel’s monstrous Aunt Ursula (the ruthlessly regal Sherie Rene Scott) steals her voice. Palmer builds credibility by sounding more like a love-struck American guy than a 19th-century prince-in-waiting. Every syllable he sings (particularly the stunning new song “Her Voice”) is cloaked with a sweet boyish luster.
Trying to hold all this dewy adolescent chemistry in check is Ariel’s sidekick, Sebastian, the Caribbean-accented crab whom Triton (Norm Lewis) appoints as her guardian. Sebastian is a wisecracking court jester who is nearly eaten alive, and University of Georgia grad Tituss Burgess gives a deliciously funny performance as the perpetually exasperated and imperiled crustacean. Burgess is a hoot.
The mellifluous Lewis makes his performance look effortless, but in terms of over-the-top aquatic royalty, Scott seizes the crown. Atlanta audiences will remember Scott as the original Amneris in the Alliance Theatre’s world premiere of “Aida,” and here she gives a hypnotic turn as the scheming diva of the deep, never letting the clunkiness of her many-tentacled gowns get in the way. Ursula looks like a squid, but she acts like a shark.
“The Little Mermaid” is so lavishly done as to look ridiculous at times, and some of the songs (“Positoovity,” “She’s in Love”) are downright silly. But you’d be a crab not to want Prince Eric to kiss the girl, or for Ariel to realize her dream of being part of the human world. “The Little Mermaid” is likely to glide across the Great White Way for a good many seasons to come.
THE 411: Open-ended run. At the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, 205 West 46th St., New York. $51.50-$121.50. 212-307-4747, disneyonbroadway.com.
Bottom line: A splash for Disney.
Comparing musicals
A quick look at Disney’s Broadway titles:
“Beauty and Beast,” 1994. Based on the animated feature, with score by the Disney “A” team of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman. Closed last July, after 13 years.
“The Lion King,” 1997. By Elton John and Tim Rice. Directed and designed by Julie Taymor. Still running on Broadway. Plays Atlanta’s Boisfeuillet Jones Civic Center April 3-May 4.
“Aida,” 2000. By Elton John and Tim Rice. Had its world premiere at the Alliance Theatre in 1998. Closed on Broadway in 2004.
“Tarzan,” 2006. Music by Phil Collins. Disney’s least successful show. Ran for just over a year.
“Mary Poppins,” 2006. Premiered in London in 2004. Continues to run at the New Amsterdam Theatre. National tour kicks off next year in Chicago.
“The Little Mermaid,” 2006. The long-awaited theatrical telling of the 1989 animated feature opened Thursday night on Broadway with 10 new songs by Alan Menken and new collaborator Glenn Slater (“Sister Act”).
Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By Billy
January 11, 2008 10:00 AM | Link to this
Mr. Brock is unfortunately generous in his review. “Mermaid” is an ugly step-sister to “Lion King” with NONE of the imagination or skill that Ms. Taymor brought to Simba and friends. ‘Mermaid’s sets are non existant save the lumbering set pieces that threaten to crush cast members who aren’t quick enough on their Heelies. And director Zambello (an opera director) has NO SENSE OF HUMOR OR COMIC TIMING. If you want a pale representation of the movie, here it is. But don’t expect a “Lion King” caliber production. This fish is belly-up.
By Billy
January 11, 2008 10:04 AM | Link to this
I saw the show in NYC 2 weeks ago, and there is NO comparing it to “Lion King”, except to say that “Mermaid” tanks in comparison. No sets, no dialogue (the songs are neverending!), and no laughs! Was this a Disney show I saw?
By Mary Goudoras
January 11, 2008 5:40 PM | Link to this
This is one of the better reviews I have read. Do not read the reviews of Little Mermaid. I don’t know what show these people saw, but it was certainly not the show I saw on Sunday January 6. Something must have changed for opening night. It is a fantasy, after all, under the sea on Broadway. I brought my daughter there for her 18th birthday and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. It is not as mature as Lion King, it is a combination of LK with the scenery and costumes, and the cartoonry of Beauty and the Beast. But it did what it was supposed to do, entertain. And let’s face it, it is a Disney show so it will be a little over the top in certain areas. I do think they did drag out Under the Sea a little and that it was carnival like number, but it was their Oscar award winning song, so they wanted to display it in all it’s splashiness. Over the top, a little, but not that it wasn’t good. But lost in all the pans of the show is the under lying theme of a father/daughter moment. If you love your children and teach them the ways of the world, they do grow up and want to go out on their own. And nothing is going to change that so parents just have to accept that, but it’s not easy. Not even written in any review I saw. I say go see and judge for yourself. If it’s an afternoon of fun and entertainment (and you have $120 to spend) go see it. I personally would go see it again.
By k
January 13, 2008 9:29 PM | Link to this
This woman should not be reviewing and/or writing about theatre at all. My god. Go review shows at Six Flags Theme Parks your perfect!