Disney The Little Mermaid

Disney’s “The Little Mermaid Jr” is the suitable production to allow young talent to develop their performing skills, and CD Kids certainly did just that.

It was good to see time had been taken to decorate the hall with streamers, fish, octopuses and jelly fish hanging from the lighting bar. This all added to the feel that we were under water.

We were greeted with an open stage set with a mezzanine level set up as the deck of a ship with a ship’s wheel. Stage left was beautifully decorated as Ariel’s room with all her treasures and stage right was suitably dark and dismal as Ursula’s lair.  All the scene changes were smoothly accomplished although I felt that they could have been achieved with the lights up as the cast were completing most of them and this would have removed the need for so many blackout moments during the show. The props were appropriate and well used, the clothes used for the transition between water and land worked well and the lights under the umbrellas made appropriate jelly fish. I liked the boat which moved around well. The lighting plot was appropriately designed and well executed I particularly liked the rainbow lights used during ‘Under the sea’.

The costumes were colourful, numerous and well fitting.  All those humans were traditional and as expected I thought using the chorus as waiters in kitchen scene was good. The outfits for the characters under the sea and on land were well thought out and recognisable. The seagulls all looked suitably bird like with waistcoats. Ursula’s costume was impressive and her team with their sequinned outfits complimented her evil persona.  Ariel and her mersisters costumes were all different and I liked the fact that her costume was age appropriate. King Triton appeared regal and Flounder bright and playful but the most outstanding outfit was Sebastian’s its material and construction were brilliant.  The makeup was all carefully applied and appropriate for the characters and the wigs were multi-coloured and suitable for the individuals.

The orchestra was represented by a backing tracks, played at the correct volume, the cast followed the tracks well under the direction of the Musical Director. The children had obviously spent a long time learning the different tracks, the singing throughout was tuneful and it was good seeing everyone had learnt their words. One slight problem was that each time the radio mics were switched on they cracked and on occasions the sound was distorted which meant some of the dialogue was lost. The choreography was matched well to the ability of those in each number.

There are some great parts in ‘The Little Mermaid’ but what I enjoyed was that all the children in your production had a speaking/singing part. It just gives them so much confidence to perform no matter how small their part, well done on making use of every member of your cast.

Often in Disney productions the Prince only exists to move the Princess’ story along that said Roni Griffiths gave a believable performance as Prince Eric, although he tended to deliver lines too quietly, he performed his dance steps well. He was ably assisted by Leah Barber as Grimsby who spoke with good expression. Tilly Dady played Carlotta confidently, she had a calm sincere manner. Chef Louis, was brilliantly portrayed and proved the adage ‘there are no small parts only small actors’.

Ashley Benney gave a convincing performance as King Triton, he spoke clearly but a little quickly and sometimes delivered his lines upstage, slow down a little so people can hear all your dialogue and be careful where you position yourself on the stage.  Ariel, The Little Mermaid herself was appropriately played by Emily Smith, she clearly enjoyed the role and moved well, her diction was clear as was her singing voice. She interacted with the other members of the cast, and coped well when she couldn’t speak in the second half of the show.

Hannah-Mae Houghton performance as Sebastian was a high point in the show.  She kept her accent throughout and had a great feel for comedy, her delivery was clear at all times and her singing was tuneful. Jayden Taylor as Flounder was a suitable foil to Sebastian, he sang, moved and played his part convincingly.

Lola Gerrans was great as Scuttle; she delivered her lines clearly and she put the comedy of the part across perfectly and sang tunefully. She was backed up by her fellow seagulls, who sang and danced well.

Lauren Bastable was well cast as Ursula; she took charge of all her scenes and moved and sang with confidence.  Flotsam, Kiera Salway and Jetsam, Ashleigh Clarke played their parts with a lot of evil menace and kept up their ‘sssss’ throughout.

It is not possible to mention every member of the cast individually but I would like to just mention collectively the girls who played the parts of the Mersisters, Tentacles and Princesses they were well chosen. They all had their own individual characters which came across in all incarnations. They danced and sang beautifully and looked as if they were all having fun. It is wonderful to see a group smiling as they perform. The ensemble who played numerous other parts are also deserving of praise they took on their various parts with energy and moved and sang well.

The cast obviously put lots of effort and commitment into this production. It is always great to watch children perform and the joy on their faces as all their many hours of rehearsal comes into fruition. Well done to all the team involved in CD Kids.

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