The Little Mermaid Jr

Another Summer Night, I started to think of all the youngsters sweltering backstage as I got out of the car in a pair of Linen trousers and a cotton shirt. I didn’t think it appropriate to be in shorts but many were, afterwards King Triton told me he was ‘sweltering’, I use a polite verb.

I’m going to say it now, and I probably will again, the Costumes were Amazing, especially Sebastian, Flounder, Scuttle, King Triton, Ursula, the Seahorse and all the Little Gulls. There is quite a large number of featured characters, which would entail a list of names so I’m afraid that I won’t mention them all. The opening number upon Prince Eric’s ship started us off with a smartly dressed crew, neat choreography and a nicely sung and clear number by the Pilot Jacob Marshall, Prince Eric Josie Griib-Timms and Grimsby Roxie McMurray. The latter two worked well together, sang nicely, Prince Eric had a solo singing to Princess Ariel in ‘One Step Closer’ as they danced together whilst Grimsby led the singing with the Princesses in the Palace Hall in ‘The Contest’.

As we moved on to King Triton’s Court we met a cute little seahorse Elliot Marshall in his costume that could be illuminated, the six Mersisters who gave us the cattiness we expect of sisters, all performed nicely and gave us the song of the ‘Daughters of Triton’. Dylan Whiting gave an assured performance as King Triton, good clear dialogue, perhaps over shouted in places, well costumed and looked the part. Alongside him we had the marvelously costumed and made-up Olivia Coote as Sebastian, although not always sure of the accent this was an entertaining performance with good singing and acting much enjoyed by the audience. There is of course one more Mersister, Ariel, the title role as the Little Mermaid, this was a good performance from Sophie Mycock, well matched with Josie’s Prince and two nice renditions of ‘Part of Your World’, and of course the voice that was stolen by Ursula. She also gave us a well stumbled walk as she gained her legs. We also meet the wonderful little Guppy the Flounder, Sidney Teeples gave us an entertaining and confident performance, clearly well-schooled by her choreographer mother, the audience loved her and her costume. Another amazing costume was that of the always entertaining Scuttle, another assured performance from the Whiting family, well performed by Maggie as she led all the Gulls on the Beach in ‘Human Stuff’, a nice performance throughout the show.

Then of course we were all waiting to see the wicked witch of the sea – Ursula. With her costume and make-up, she made a great appearance and with her strong vocals this was a really good performance by Lucy MacDonald. She was aided and abetted by Flotsam and Jetsam, respectively Seren Parle and Gracie Cousins. We had a cameo from Gracie Blackshields as Chef Louis. The ensemble provided sailors, many sea creatures and fishes including jelly fish, a shark, starfish all with good costumes. Especially the young gulls were well costumed and gave us a good little choreography considering their age, well shepherded and guided by the older youngsters.

Sound throughout was generally good although there were occasions where the mics were missing the first couple of words of a song or dialogue. Lighting of the sets was good and we had some nice sets, the Prince’s Ship, King Triton’s Court, the use of blacks for Ursula’s lair, the flats for Ariel’s grotto, the use of the blue material for the sea and the waves and certainly not forgetting the amazing rowing boat for Ariel and Prince Eric in the Lagoon, nicely moved around the stage. This Lagoon scene was nicely performed and used many Lagoon Animals. The use of illuminated props and costumes were nice touches, the choreography and singing were good throughout, it was nice to have some of the cast spread down the sides of the hall during the finale and curtain calls. This was a nicely performed and directed show, it was just a shame the hall was not full in the evening as it had been in the two matinees. WELL DONE ALL.

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