The Little Mermaid

This was a show I had been looking forward to very much. I was intrigued about the stage adaptation of such a classic story and I was looking forward to seeing this story brought to life at Stourbridge Town Hall.

Quarry Bank Musical Theatre Youth Company were simply outstanding and impressed me on many levels.

It was a strong production team with Zoe Russell (Director and Choreographer) with Niamh Hadley (Assistant Choreographer) alongside the talents of Nick Jeavons (Musical Director) and an extremely tight and talented orchestra. Stewart Homer (Stage Manager) and Luke Johnson (Production and Technical Manager) with Sound and Light in the trusted hands of Richard Chamberlain, Ian and Tish Davies and Daniel Woodhall, this show hit so many nails on the head. It was a massive winning combination of a team.

The set was appropriately designed with nice little touches, the costumes were fantastic with support from Shantelle Nolan (Wardrobe Mistress) with some excellent make up by Paul Herrington and Amy Pearson.

I felt the production had many moments of strength and it tackled big scenes which were handled well with some thoughtful light, sound and choreography lending to quite a convincing shipwreck! But these scenes appeared effortless, only because of the team work on and off stage and with all the actors committed to their role.

A special mention to the chorus who were just brilliant with some standalone voices, but it has to be said that every part of the cast (and there was a lot, playing multiple characters!) had their moment. The audience fell in love instantly with the young performers of Georgia and Maria Riga and Oscar Wilkinson.

The story of The Little Mermaid brought back so many memories of my childhood when there was such a thing as Disney VHS and not Disney Plus. So, in case you have been living in the Mariana Trench for the last 33 years, the story goes like this.

The Little Mermaid (Ariel) falls in love with a human, Prince Eric, and trades her voice to the evil sea witch Ursula to get some (sea!) legs to join him up above; much to the fear of her Father, King Triton who is protective and cautious over her daughters (Ariel in particular). Throw in some well-loved classic Disney characters, such as Scuttle the Seagull, Flounder the Fish and Sebastian the Crab and you have an adventure that goes down in history and as one of the most successful Disney adaptations from the early 90’s.

However, for the first time, tonight as I was watching this production, something new struck a chord. It wasn’t the rolling pin that belonged to Chef Louis (played with such amazing skills in characterisation and comedy by AJ Savage) rolling slowly towards the Musical Director Nick Jeavons!

It was the theme of true love.

But more so, the love between a father (King Triton) and daughter (Ariel).

King Triton (Joe Neale) ruled the sea with his six pack and staff but showed he had good presence and a great voice which was just right. He would do anything for his daughters and it is fair to say was a little overprotective and controlling. With his heart in the right place, he made some mistakes, he didn’t listen, respect or understand Ariel’s choices, but then without a beat, he sacrifices everything to save her. As Ariel starts to grow into an adult (merwoman?) the empowerment came across with a lovely line, when Prince Eric asks Triton for permission to marry his daughter, the response from Triton is “My Daughter can speak for herself.”.

There were some wonderful voices combined with some excellent characterisation, especially the already mentioned actor AJ Savage and the very entertaining Mersisters. One of my favourite songs in Act One was “She’s in Love” where the excellent Katie Tranter (Flounder) joined the Mersisters in a very strong performance indeed.

The Mersisters made me laugh with the song, “The Contest” where the sisters were trying to compete by trying to sing like Ariel. Is it harder to sing badly if you are a good singer? Very funny!

The classic and well-known songs “Under The Sea” and “Kiss the Girl” which were performed by Sebastian (Luey Pearce) and the cast of underwater creatures brought together a wonderful energy and lots of fun. Luey is very talented and this performance of Sebastian was excellent. He was clear in his diction, projection and timing. The whole company delivered these memorable songs with such justice with the energy going up loads when all took to the stage.  

It was a perfect ending to Act One with Ursula, Flotsam and Jetsam bringing the house down with excellent songs, “Sweet Child” and “Poor Unfortunate Souls”

Flotsam and Jetsam (The Eels) played by Robyn Harding and Thea Lowe were awesome. Something I learnt whilst writing this review is that Flotsam and Jetsam actually mean specific types of useless or discarded objects in a shipwreck. Robyn and Thea quite simply stole the scenes they were in.

They were both so mesmerising, I often found myself in awe watching how they intertwined and moved so convincingly well (like eels in water!) They were so in tune with each other and showed great awareness with a very consistent and wonderful performance. 

Ursula (Isabella Cook) was totally in control of her character. Isabella commanded a powerful villain but also portrayed some moments you could empathise with. Her laugh was chilling and her voice in in the song “Poor Unfortunate Soul” was powerful and one of the best vocal performances of the evening.

Scuttle (Ellison Hart) opened Act Two with his song and impressed with his great voice in “Positoovity” and then when the tap dance number broke out, it was the icing on the cake, or the batter on the fish?

I also liked the interaction between Prince Eric and Ariel when Ariel had lost her voice to Ursula. Ariel tried to express her feelings, rather adopting a childlike and playful innocence with it. Trying to walk and trying to communicate was some of the best acting of the evening by Heather Hadley who held the audience with some good timing and who got her meaning across using no words.

Prince Eric was played by Alex Brettell who had some wonderful presence on stage with a strong voice. Ariel who was played by Heather Hadley also had a strong voice with some truly beautiful moments which were handled delicately. Both seemed so relaxed with each other on stage and as an audience member, this helped me believe and invest more in their relationship. Both were great casting choices.

“If Only” was by far my favourite song of the evening with a perfect combination of voices from the characters Ariel (Heather), Prince Eric (Alex), King Triton (Joe) and Sebastian (Luey). Not only did I think the lyrics were special, but the combined performance from the quartet was totally magical.

Thank you very much for not only providing an excellent evening of entertainment and storytelling but showing great care and love to a timeless story.

The one line I am going to remember the most is Ursula’s line, “What would you rather be. The King of the sea or a father to his little girl?”  I was able to walk away tonight with many reflections of my own which I remain grateful to you all.

Thank you to the kind hospitality of Carl Cook (Chairman) who I sat next to in the auditorium. It was incredibly obvious how proud he was of everybody.

A truly wonderful unforgettable night.

Quarry Bank Musical Theatre Society will be back with The Addams Family at Brierley Civic Hall on 6th-10th June 2023.

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