The Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid is a musical based on the Hans Christian Anderson story and the Disney film with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater and book by Doug Wright. This much-loved story follows the mermaid Ariel’s dream to walk on dry land and meet her Prince.

From entering the theatre, we could feel the Disney magic. The front of house was decorated with colourful fish and there were jellyfish hanging from the ceiling. There was also a colouring station to entertain the audience before the show and some amazing shell biscuits on sale. The Duchess Theatre stage had been created to form the shape of a bow of a ship with a section in the middle that Ariel used when she went underneath the ocean, an innovative idea that worked really well. The set design continued to wow the audiences with the ships deck and Ursula’s lair. Congratulations to Roydan Charlesworth for his vision and craftsmanship.  

Ariel was performed by Ella Charlesworth and she did a fabulous job! What a beautiful voice Ella has, her rendition of “The World Above” and Part of Your World” were delightful. During the second act Ariel trades her voice for her legs and can no longer speak which relied heavily on expression and body language which Ella expressed well. Finn Boswell played the friendly Prince Eric and I enjoyed his solo “Her Voice”. Together Ella and Finn made a great duo.

A strong performance from Lewis McDowall as King Triton, he delivered the maturity and eloquence that is required for the King and had a cracking beard!

Ariel’s best friends Flounder (Elijah Green) and Scuttle (Jess Henshaw) were a great pairing. This was Elijah’s first lead role and he certainly had the audience in the palm of his hand. Jess brought Scuttle to life and used clever puppetry which added to this role. 

Another character that shone on stage was Sebastian the crab played by Theo Brewer. Great comedy timing and good projection. Sebastian’s costume was particularly detailed and he looked just the part. All the costumes looked fabulous, very colourful and of high quality. The heelies  portrayed the movement of the Mer people really cleverly and everyone moved really well in them.

Now on to the baddie! Summer McNorton played Ursula the sea witch superbly! Great character, clear and powerful vocals. Her songs "Daddy's Little Girl" and "Poor Unfortunate Fools" were stand out performance’s. Her sidekicks Flotsam (Isobel Pickering) and Jetsam (Neve Johnson) did a brilliant job too, they had puppet eels which were constantly on the move and they came across as very eerie and intimidating. More powerful vocals from Neve and Isobel in their songs, this was a really strong team.

Another great comedy performance from Fin Tomlinson as Louis the Chef. Fin played the French flamboyant character well. Good performances from Ariel’s sisters Isabella Frampton, Lucy Coulson-Jones, Hattie McEwan, Amelia Forecast, Liv McEwan and Lottie Ellis and also William Mellor who played Grimsby, a caring and considerate character looking out for Prince Eric. Many congratulations to the whole cast, with a special mention to the tap-dancing seagulls and the frogs.

Huge congratulations to the ‘Young Techies’, the team of young people who worked backstage and helped with the lighting and sound. The scene changes were slick and the lighting was great by Dave Martin, I particularly liked the lighting in ‘Under the Sea’ and the storm effects during the storm. Sound by Harvey Tavener was good, there were a couple of crackles but this didn’t detract from what was happening on stage. The moving projections worked really well, telling parts of the story that would be very difficult to portray on stage.

Director Zak Charlesworth, Choreographer Ellie Simmonds, Musical Director Ben Ward and Production Assistants Tricia Freer and Fiona McDowall I’m sure are very proud of this colourful and magical production, many congratulations. Well done to all the Young Performers on stage and backstage for all their hard work and dedication. We look forward to watching your Pantomime in January 2025 ‘Robin Hood and Babes in the Wood’.

© NODA CIO.  All rights reserved 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.