Disney The LIttle Mermaid

As part of their 30th Anniversary celebrations the company decided to perform “The Little Mermaid” whose mix of wonderful characters, great songs and colourful costumes was perfect for the 53 P2-S1 youngsters who brought it to life on the stage. Ellie Mackenzie was a delightful Ariel with her pure voice being shown to its best in her renditions of “Part of Your World” and “If Only” and her acting skills came to the fore in the scenes in Act 2 with Prince Eric where she had lost her voice. Calum MacLeod made a very strong Prince Eric showing good acting skills and with an equally good singing voice as shown in his solos “Her Voice” and “One Step Closer”. He and Ariel made a convincing couple. Hollie Breen as the formidable Ursula, the villain of the piece, was excellent with malevolent facial expressions and an extremely strong voice as shown in her renditions of “Daddy’s Little Angel” and the Act 1 finale “Poor Unfortunate Souls”. Daniel Falconer made an impressive King Triton, with his gold crown atop a mane of white hair and carrying his golden trident, with his singing voice being shown at its best in his lament “If Only”. Comedy was in the safe hands of Isla Benzie as the scarlet crab Sebastian as she tried to keep Ariel in check and her rendition of “Under the Sea”, with the backing of the whole ensemble, was a showstopper. Adding to the fun was Mia Tough’s diminutive seagull Scuttle – she may be small in stature but she oozed confidence especially in her solo “Positoovity” with a troupe of tap dancing seagulls. Strong support was given by Abbie Mecklenburgh (Eric’s Adie-de-camp Grimsby),Tarron Miller (Flounder), Kyla Falconer and Ashley Gault (Ursula’s henchmen Flotsam and Jetsam) and Jay Kumar (Chef Louis). The ensemble singing and movement was impressive throughout but especially so in the “Under the Sea” number. The 5 piece band under Rhonda Scott’s direction handled the sometimes tricky score with ease - always supporting but never overpowering the youthful voices. The use of a video wall made the transition between scenes seamless and the colourful images added much to the show. Costumes were bright and colourful and appropriate to the many characters portrayed – congratulations to the wardrobe team! Well done everyone for a most enjoyable show fully deserving of the standing ovation received from the first night audience.

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