The Little Mermaid Jr

I was warmly welcomed on arrival and met with Deborah Marks and Leanne Barber during the afternoon and at the end of the performance.

The cast of 45 juniors were all under 13 years old with some considerably younger.

I was very impressed by the scenes which were projected onto the video screen and had been designed by Deborah. Additional house scenery was provided by Halstead Men’s Shed and was moved fluently on and off stage during scene changes. Bubbles appeared periodically at the sides of the stage. Costumes were very colourful and quite innovative, especially for some of the sea creatures and gulls. Lighting was sympathetic and atmospheric especially with the underwater scenes and sound levels were about right. Most of this young cast were able to project their voices well and could be heard in this large auditorium. Music was by backing tracks and these young voices coped well with no hesitation apparent. Good use was made of the stage and there was plenty of movement including some choreographed numbers.

Every member of the cast performed very well and can be proud of their role in this challenging production. There were some strong vocals from the principals in the cast. Daisy W was well cast as the mermaid princess Ariel who longed to see the human world. She had a lovely solo Part Of Your World which she sang wistfully and sensitively. Well acted Daisy. Harry played Flounder, Ariel’s best friend and took this role seriously, always ready to help and support. Dexter was a charismatic human, Prince Eric and gave a lovely rendition of One Step Closer. He was aided and supported by his valet, Grimsby, played by Austin. This pairing worked well and they had good stage presence.

I love the role of Sebastian the crab, the King’s adviser, and here it was characterised by Rose who was very agile and smooth in her movements. I enjoyed her voice in Under The Sea with the sea creatures and again in Kiss The Girl with the animals. Well played Rose. Jake was King Triton, the King of the Sea and gave a good impression of a strict father whilst Lulu was a very believable wicked and evil Ursula, the cunning and malicious sea witch. She did well with her solo Poor Unfortunate Souls. I enjoyed Ginny’s role as the seagull Scuttle and she really used the stage well. She led the seagulls in a great song Human Stuff.

Rebecca had a niche role as Chef Louis and performed her song Les Poissons with the chefs whilst Sebastian hid beneath the table. The audience enjoyed the comedy here. Flotsam ( Cordelia) and Jetsam (Wren) were very well paired as Ursula’s spies and henchmen and were suitably evil and threatening. Hallie was an authoritative pilot and Octavia was a nimble seahorse.

There was a large cast of mersisters, gulls, sailors, princesses, sea creatures, and chefs and everyone on stage had a clear role to play.

This young cast had a lot to do and were clearly enjoying themselves. Lots of smiling faces! Well done to everyone and special congratulations to Deborah and Leanne for creating the show and bringing it to stage and to Lauren-Marie for developing the movement on stage.

It was clear that the audience enjoyed the show as we did!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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