The Little Mermaid

Little Mermaid Jr … a musical staged and performed at Formby High School, Freshfield Road, Formby by student from Formby High School Musical Theatre Company on Saturday 23rd November 2023.

The Little Mermaid Jr is a stage musical, produced by Disney Theatrical, based on the 1989 Walt Disney Animation film of the same name and is loosely based on the 1837 fairy tale written by Hans Christian Anderson about a mermaid who dreams of the world above the sea and who gives up her voice to find true love. Its book is by Doug Wright, music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman (written for the film), with additional lyrics by Glenn Slater.

Production Team … after last year’s staging of Sister Act in the superb surrounding of a church, I honestly thought we may have ended up on Formby Beach for Formby High School’s production of The Little Mermaid. Leading this year’s production, we had Mrs Victoria Harrocks and Miss Llewellyn (Co Directors), Miss Dilworth (Musical Director) and Mrs Harrocks, Miss Lewellyn, Mrs Whitehead and Sophie Walker (Choreographers) and what a job they made. It was obvious from the start, that the Production Team had put a great deal of thought into the staging of this production and how to achieve it, whilst having to consider their limited budget. The direction was simple yet effective as was the choreo... each routine had been developed with individual ability in mind, loved the choreo for ‘Poor Unfortunate Soles’... well done one and all!

The Cast … this was another production where I felt the success was the result of ‘the whole’ opposed to an ‘individual’ ... the cast worked really well together and you could tell and feel from the energy and the enjoyment emanating throughout, that everyone on stage was just enjoying the experience. But, having said all that, I did feel the production produced a ‘showstealer’ and we certainly did have a number of ‘stand out’ performances/characters and I will come to those later, but please can I first just list the entire cast and identify the characters they played.  Our four leads ‘Ariel’, ‘Ursula’, ‘Sebastian’ and ‘Prince Eric’ were played by Maisie O’Sullivan, India Alston, Milly Johnson and Ewan Harris respectively. Sophia Ashcroft and Francesca Taylor played ‘King Triton’ and ‘Flounder’ our two supporting roles. Michael Forster played ‘Grimsby’, Ruby Franklin played ‘Scuttle’, Evie Jessop and Emma Savage played ‘Gulls’, Naomi Smith played ‘Chef’,  Libby Taylor and Issy Smith played ‘Flotsam’ and ‘Jetsam’ respectively, Alex Cartmill played ‘Carlotta’, Olivia Hall played ‘Pilot’, Tilly Peers Williams played ‘Seahorse’, Elise Berger, Hannah McCormack, Alice McWilliam, Olivia Hall, Hollie Campbell and Issy Hunt played ‘Aquata’, ‘Andrina’, ‘Arista’, ‘Atina’, ‘Adela’ and ‘Alana’ our ‘Mersisters’... respectively. Finally, our ‘Sea Creatures’ included Ella Guttridge, Flora Johnson, Ivy Matejkova, Emily McWha and Layla Ullah. ‘Sticky neck out time’ ... MY ‘Showstealer’ had to be Milly Johnson, who, donned a bright red suit with ‘pincer claws’ to boot and provided us with this wonderful comical crustacean in the form of ‘Sebastian’. Milly was amazing in this role, confident, assured, with ‘witty quips’ delivered with excellent diction, Milly really did make this part her own! Loved her rendition of ‘Under the Sea’ with the ‘Sea Creatures’, and ‘Kiss the Girl’ with chorus ... highlights for me and who could ever forget that ‘huge smile’ that never left her face throughout ... be proud Milly great job!   Shout Outs ... in no particular order... Maisie O’Sullivan did a wonderful job with ‘Ariel’.  Blessed with a great voice, Maisie was another that just made the part her own! Ewan Harris made a very gallant leading man in the form of ‘Prince Eric’. Ewan worked well with ‘Ariel’ and all the cast... looked comfortable, knocked the opening number ‘Fathoms Below’, out the park (nice choreo included with the number). Sophie Ashcroft took on the role of ‘King Triton which she played with great confidence!  Naomi Smith was impressive as ‘The Chef’ ... how to make a huge impact from a small role ... confident, great character created, ... the scene in the kitchen, fronted by Naomi was another highlight for me... be proud Naomi. Another great song was ‘She’s in Love’ sung by ‘Flounder’ aka Francesca Taylor with the ‘Mersisters’, another good character created. My final ‘shout out’ ... or should I say ‘outs’... goes out to ‘Ursula’ and her two ‘side kicks’ ... ‘Flotsam’ and ‘Jetsam’ played by India Alston, Libby Taylor and Issy Smith respectively. India looked the part in black; she oozed evil as she cavorted around the stage. Her vocals were good and strong, her diction was excellent as it was from her two side-kicks. Loved the way she connected with the audience and the chemistry between the three of them was excellent.  Well done you three great trio ... congrats one and all!

Staging/Set/Tech … the performance was staged on a ‘platform’ type stage (floor level) with the audience sat in front of the performance.  Minimal staging was used but was impressive with the use of projection and projected images to create scenes and events, which created clarity and depth of the action and to the various scenes. Pieces of scenery and props were brought on and taken off by cast members which allowed the performance to flow.  Thomas Charnock was in charge of the film side of things, with Mr Hetherington looking after the Sound, Moonlight Events providing the excellent projected images which were co-ordinated ever so well by Reece O’Hare and Zak Harding. Be very proud each and all...

Costumes/Props … great costumes used, which clearly helped depict who each individual character was. Well thought out props were used throughout, all of which enhanced the production ever so much.  Loved the use of the umbrella’s ... simple yet effective and I also thought the scene where Ariel ‘gave’ her voice to Ursula, with the large skirt type costume/prop being used, was imaginative and well thought out!  There was a great deal of attention to detail, which all helped to make this production the success that it was!

Budget... every society, every production has a ‘budget’ and I know that was the same here at Formby High, so from last year’s award-winning show ... Sister Act, we saw the ‘axe fall’ on ‘personal mikes, which can and are an expensive item. It didn’t create that much of a problem if I’m honest, but if I may, and I may have referred to this in this past, could I offer to everyone who appears in any production a little piece of ‘constructive advice’....

‘Spoken Word’ - never forget that the audience needs to hear everything you say!  The diction was really good throughout and from some individuals impressive... but without ‘support from mikes’ it’s important that you speak louder/project as they say to the ‘back wall’.  Stage whispers, need to be as loud, your colleague will know what you’re saying, but that person sitting on ‘Row Z’ needs to know, hear and understand what you’ve said or the plot can get lost or fuzzy!  If you need to speak ‘upstage’ speak louder and always project ... the volume did drop at times and there were times when I found the dialogue difficult to understand and I was sat close to the front. This isn’t criticism at all, this is just a ‘wee bit of advice’ that will hopefully help you develop your skills.  

Thank you so much for inviting my wife and I, we really did enjoy the show and look forward to Formby Highs next adventure!

Stay safe, keep well…
‘Stronger Together’

Jim Briscoe
NODA NW
District 6 Rep

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