My Little Mermaid Review

[jarred03]

Posted: 6/5/08 at 5:56pm

Oh, Where do I start? Well, unlike my pleasent surprise at Gypsy, I was sadly dissappointed with The Little Mermaid.

It started off bad for me because the curtain looks like it should be up at an elementary school production not even a high school production, let alone a broadway production, but thats trivial so lets move on.

"Fathoms Below" was good I liked the set for the ship and it was lively but not one man had a deep booming voice, which is required for that part. "Daughters of Triton" fine, but they had that stupid clam thing hanging in the air so I was expecting it to open to show Ariel wasn't there but did it? no. intead they just point to the stage left wing, blah.

So, 10 mins into the show and already I'm annoyed. BTW, Titus Burgess was horrible as Sebastian. To start off not only was he way to gay, but why did we have to highlight the gay acting with glittery make-up. Bad call. And his comedic timing was horrible and his delivery was like a first year drama student(in high school) not a broadway lead.

"The World Above" was fine for a new song, but it basically says the same thing that "Part of your World" says so what's the point? I actually really liked Eddie Korbich as Scuttle. His comedic timing was dead on, his characterization was good, he had a good voice, and he was just funny and I liked his costume. "Human Stuff was a fun song and I even liked "Positoovity", they weren't amazing but they were fun and goofy and fit the show nicely.

"I Want The Good Times Back" is a garbage song if I ever heard one, and I might catch flack for this but Sherie Rene Scott was disguistingly bad. I hated every minute she was on stage. Her singing wasn't even as good as it usually is. I saw her in DRS 2 years ago and though she was amazing but in this she fell flat. Everytime she had to do something with the costume she broke character and her accent constantly changed in the middle of songs and in the middle of dialogue. I knew she wouldn't be right for the part, but I didn't think she would make so many amatuerish mistakes. It was painful to watch her.

"Part of Your World" was good but Flounder should be out on stage so she can sing to him and be playful like in the movie.
"Storm At Sea" was has one of my favorite parts because whoever is tied to the string as Eric drowning was amazing. He came down so fluidly he really looked like he was sinking in water not suspended in air. I loved it.

"She's in Love" was okay but got better once Flounder took the lead. Trevor Braun was so good as Flounder, and I normally hate children actors but he was cute, funny, likeable and didn't try to oversing like most kid actors do. Also, I love his costume and his blue and yellow hair is adorable. I liked what the show did with Flounder and I liked what Trevor does with flounder.
"Her Voice" was a fine song but Sean Palmer sings it and forgets to act as well, he just stood center stage like a kid at a school recital.


"The World Above" Reprise with Triton is better than the original with Ariel but he still isn't booming enough with his voice.
"Under the Sea" was incredibly over-the-top, as it should be and some of the costumesand tricks and dancing was fun, but Sebastians sucks and the live orchestration didn't work too well withat song. Not sure if there was too many instruments or some wer missing but it did not sound right. And Sebastion never sounded like a girl hitting a high note in the movie.

"Sweet Child was a good song and Flotsam and Jetsam's costumes were so cool, I loved the way they light up and buzzed when they electicuted, but the actors should learn that they are boys, not Eartha Kitt. And why the hell would Enken even put high notes at the end of a song for scary males. These two totally sounded like women by the end of the reprise.

"pOOR Unfortunate Souls" was ruined by Sheri for the same reason as I already stated above.


woo-hoo a 15 minute intermission.


Biggest problem with the second act was "Beyond My Wildest Dreams" and If Only", because ARIEL LOST HER VOICE MORONS! Why the heck is she singing? Yes I heard Carlotta say "i wonder what shes thinking" and then she's supposed to be dreaming, but all the little girls didn't get that anD I heard 4 different girls asking their parents "why is she singing?" "When did she get her voice back?" and so on and so on. Through the whole show I though Sierra was in and out of Ariel. One second she acted and sang just like her and the next second she was Sierra, but when she went silent her acting upped and she WAS Ariel and it was very nice and endeearring. And then the idiots have her sing when she shouldn't and it wrecked her and the story.

"Les Poissons" was the best part of the show. The understudy, Robert Creighton was Chef Louis and he was extremely hilarious. His comedic timing was on point 100 % and his characterizations and delivery were flawless, hopefully he moves on to a better show soon.

"One Step Closer was cute and the best moments between Eric and Ariel so I liked the addition.

"Kiss the Girl" was super lame it didn't sound the same at all, damn you Titus Burgess. Argh!

blah blah blah

"The Contest" was cute. I liked the way they rearranged "Part of Your World" to fit the other girls and I like how Ariel makes Eric realize its her through the dance he taught her.

Poor Unfortunate Souls reprise, eww why, Die Sheri Die! Oh wait, you just did. The end battle with Ursula was ridiculously bad and short and lame and had nothing great and tragic about it.


Surprisingly, After all that I still enjoyed it, probably because I got paid to go, and children loved it(they screamed for Sierra during her bow like she was Zac Efron) but unles your under 12 or love love LOVE the movie, I do not recommend this one.

[oohshizz146]

Posted: 6/5/08 at 6:23pm

I disagree with your recommendation. I am most definitely over twelve, and yes I enjoyed the movie when I was younger, but I haven't seen it in years, and I really enjoyed the show when I saw it back in April. I think people are really too hard on this show...


And did you really not like Sherie Rene Scott? Yowzahs.
Oh, and did it occur to you that maybe they screamed for Boggess because she did a REALLY GOOD JOB? Shes not exactly EyeDEEnuh status with the fangirls (yet).

[Dancin Thru Life]

Posted: 6/5/08 at 6:35pm

Good Review!

I never understood all the Titus love either - in ANYTHING He's been in! Just plain bad, I thought.

Poor Sherie! I, too, loved Her once - in the PAST! This is a terrible chapter in her career and she needs to make amends to her fans by doing something entertaining - pronto!

Ursula? EWWWWWWWWWW....totally WRONG for that part!

:)

[heathurrr]

Posted: 6/5/08 at 6:39pm

I also disliked Sherie's Ursula. I mean, don't get me wrong the woman's talented but I'm not a fan of her in this role.
I ADORE Tituss, his voice wows me. I also completely adore 'She's in Love' because it just makes me so happy. Nothing wrong with a show that does that every now and then! (and I'm usually not one for Disney endings.)

[H.Higgins]

Posted: 6/5/08 at 6:46pm

-- "It started off bad for me because the curtain looks like it should be up at an elementary school production not even a high school production, let alone a broadway production, but thats trivial so lets move on."


Isn't that sad, though? It's really not trivial. If anyone has the money and resources to nail the design aspects right down to the show curtain, it's Disney. The Lion King was visually stunning and artistically brilliant and then they put this s*** onstage. I really thought Disney Theatricals would want to get some integrity back, but no, just another disappointment.



-- "Sherie Rene Scott was disguistingly bad. I hated every minute she was on stage. Her singing wasn't even as good as it usually is. I saw her in DRS 2 years ago and though she was amazing but in this she fell flat. Everytime she had to do something with the costume she broke character and her accent constantly changed in the middle of songs and in the middle of dialogue. I knew she wouldn't be right for the part, but I didn't think she would make so many amatuerish mistakes. It was painful to watch her."


I could not agree more with those comments. She was never going to be right for this role, but Lord, I didn't know she could be as ridiculously bad as she was. This casting was just another tragedy that plagued this production.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 6/5/08 at 7:16pm

That is a horribly written review. I don't care if you didn't like the show, but your comments come off as homophobic (what exactly is "too gay"? FOR A CRAB???!!) and you contradict yourself by complaining that it is not like the movie, but THEN claim that only people who LOVE LOVE LOVE the movie will like this show. THEN you say you ENJOYED it. BECAUSE YOU GOT PAID TO SEE IT? WTF? And please tell my you are not a teacher, because your writing is atrocious.

"Titus Burgess was horrible as Sebastian. To start off not only was he way to gay, but why did we have to highlight the gay acting with glittery make-up. Bad call. And his comedic timing was horrible and his delivery was like a first year drama student(in high school) not a broadway lead.

And Sebastion never sounded like a girl hitting a high note in the movie.


but the actors should learn that they are boys, not Eartha Kitt. And why the hell would Enken even put high notes at the end of a song for scary males. These two totally sounded like women by the end of the reprise.

"Kiss the Girl" was super lame it didn't sound the same at all, damn you Titus Burgess. Argh!"

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 6/5/08 at 8:16pm

What?
Now DISNEY is paying people to see the show and like it?

[oohshizz146]

Posted: 6/5/08 at 8:17pm

You are obnoxious.

[it'sjustshowbiz]

Posted: 6/5/08 at 8:21pm

Sherie's multiple accents are an acting choice. She said so in interviews.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 6/5/08 at 8:30pm

And what exactly is the justification of said choice?

[jaso937]

Posted: 6/5/08 at 9:44pm

I havn't seen the show but have seen NUMEROUS clips and saw majority of the songs on youtube and I have to disagree with you on some points. 1. what is your problem against tenors? Why wouldn't Menken want to showcase the amazing voices of Burgess and Baskin and... whoever the other person is (i just can't remember his name right now)? 2. I think Sierra is AMAHZING!!! vocally, acting wise! To say she was Ariel one second then Sierra the next, do you know Sierra that well as a person to suggest such things? 3. Sherie vocally amazed me and I liked her Ursula I did expect better from her though, but think she is doing a damn great job. Again...do you know Sherie enough to know she just dropped character completely? 4. I completely respect your oppinion and respect your review but there is a more respectful way to review things than by belittling the actors and their talent.

[jarred03]

Posted: 6/6/08 at 4:43pm

Time to defend myself, eventhough my opinion is my opinion.

First Sueleen, I know abot 75% of men on broadway are gay and I have no problem with that because they are also actors and know that 95% of male characters are not gay so should not be overly gay acting and downright feminine. Sebastian is snooty and a little prissy even but he's not flaming, I don't know if Titus is or not and I don't care but he should not be doing it in a show unles the character is gay. Part of it was the addition of higher notes in songs(which made him sound like a woman, not gay) and then the glittery make up didn't help matters. Sorry if you were offended but it's the truth.


My comment about only liking this if you were under 12 or loved the movie still stands and doesn't mean I contradict myself, because I LOVE THE MOVIE. It is my favorite Disney movie and so I was still able to enjoy the good parts of this show, The getting paid thing was a joke and no I'm not a teacher, I work at an ARC and brought one of the individuals to the show. Sorry my writing wasn't good enough for you but I dont go back and proofread or spellcheck comments on messageboards.



Thank you WannaBeAFoster for already responding to Itsjustshowbiz for me because there is no justification for said choice. Showbiz have you seen the show? because what I'm talking about is ridiculously bad and doesn't fit Ursula at all.


Jaso937, I have no problems with tenors, but singing like a girl is not being a good tenor it's trying to be a soprano. But beside my personal opinion there, the electric eels should be scary and manacing not girly and shreiky. I love Alan Menken, I really do but he took a couple of missteps here. No, I don't know Sierra at all but when any actor changes character in scenes anybody can notice the difference. As for Sherie breaking character it was painfully obvious all over her face, she knows she did it and I know she did it maybe it was just the day I saw the show but she broke character all over the place. And again she was bad, bad, bad. I halfway blame her and partly blame the director because she never should've been casted as Ursula. And as an actor myself I know when I do bad in shows so if people want to bash those performances then they can.



Oh, I would like to add that the overall direction was terrible and flat. The director sucks, they should've got Julie Taymor

[Jonny boy]

Posted: 6/6/08 at 5:07pm

Dont get why all the Tituss hating either! He acts too gay????? How is a crab act too gay??? He is extremly talented and was cast for that reason. I dont know if TLM has the best music to showcase his voice , but he has blown the roof off at every show I have seen him in....not to mention that he is a one of the kindest,most humble, focused, and hard working people I know.

[it'sjustshowbiz]

Posted: 6/6/08 at 5:28pm

Yes, I have seen the show.

If you care that much about Sherie's acting choices, do a search. She said it was as if Ursula was an actress and the accents/voices were different characters she had done. In an interview video she showed a collage in her dressing room that showed "the different people Ursula thinks she is".


I would do all the work for you, but I'm too busy taking care of my pet gay crab.


Updated On: 6/6/08 at 05:28 PM

[BroadwayBound86]

Posted: 6/6/08 at 6:15pm

I've seen the show twice now and while it isn't the greatest thing to hit the stage I do enjoy myself while I'm there.

As for coming down so hard on Tittuss and the rest of the cast, have you ever thought that perhaps it's the work of the creative team who have made these choices as to how they should play the roles? That's the direction they wanted to take it in, and sometimes the actors have no choice in the matter.

[brettystar]

Posted: 6/6/08 at 10:27pm

I also posted a review on The Little Mermaid and I agreed with some of your comments and not others.

For what it's worth I thought that both Scott and Burgess were very good in their roles.

I also enjoyed Flotsam and Jetsam's singing - I loved the sound of their voices. I thought they sounded unique and mysterious.

What I did not like (and forgot to put into my review)were how often they made use of the jackets. The first time it happened it was exciting but the effect is diminished when you see it again and again - I think.

Still - thanks for your review.

[jarred03]

Posted: 6/8/08 at 6:34pm

The reason why I come down so hard on the cast or the creative team is the fact that Sebastian and Ursula are characters that already exist in America's minds so if Titus and Renee were confused on what to do(because that reason of Ursula being an actress who's a nut, is stupid) all they had to do was watch the movie. It's not a hard or hard characters to play, they should've been better in my opinion.

I'm really not trying to be a jerk, but after seeing Gypsy and Cat a couple days earlier, they really make TLM look subpar and make the performers look like amatuers. Sorry, but even Cry-Baby is better than Little Mermaid.

[insertclevernamehere]

Posted: 6/8/08 at 6:39pm

But Sherie didn't want to do the movie Ursula. If you didn't enjoy her performance, that's totally your right. But she consciously choose to make her own Ursula.