Little Mermaid Review

[FranklinShepardInc]

Posted: 11/11/07 at 1:20am

Perhaps there's spoilers here... but with this show it's like announcing spoilers for the ending to TITANIC.

THE LITTLE MERMAID seems to be getting fairly good notices on this board. Perhaps it's improved in the span of 2 weeks, but based on the dress rehearsal I sat through, the show is a muddled wreck.

I cherish the movie deeply blah blah blah like everyone else, but the only reason this show will run is off of deeply felt nostalgia for the film. The Ashmen/Menken songs, performed live, continue to shine for their brilliance. But the lackluster new songs, especially Scuttle's Grade C material, makes one sorely miss Ashman.

The character of Scuttle, so fun in the film, could actually be cut from the production entirely. Besides the costume resembling a ragamuffin bird patchworked together from junkyard scraps, the character does zippo for the plot, and one feels slightly embarrassed for Eddie Korbich, who bravely works his way through it. (The song "Human Things" absotootly needs to go.)

The whole cast, in fact, is uniformly fantastic. All deserve the high praises we've read on the board. Norm Lewis is given a grand injustice by having his tremendous talent wasted. His one "song" (big air quotes) when he destroyed Ariel's lair is a dirge, and the quartet in Act II is sweet, but he seems shoehorned in to give him some stage time.

Sierra stuns with "Part of Your World", and Sherie tears up the stage in several showstoppers. Critics and audiences will adore them.

Sebastian needs jokes. He, if anyone, should have the zinging one-liners. Poor Tituss has to make him loveable, in a hideous costume no less, without given any way to make him so.

Cody Hanford was my Flounder, and was a delight.

I agree with one poster's comment that the mermaid costumes look like they have two pairs of fins -- one covering their legs, one protruding from their behinds. Perhaps this underwater kingdom is near a nuclear reactor.

On a good note, the transition from human world to depth of sea is magical. One feels as if really sinking into the fathoms below. The sequence when Ariel saves a drowning Eric is a stunner.

The big failure of this production is director Francesca Zambello. She's hands down a terrible choice for director. If this were an opera, this would be stunning. But Broadway musicals need to be a tad more literal then the abstractions she presents on stage. For instance, the underwater world in flanked by two gigantic columns that spin and open and fan out and hold creatures. Sure they look "nice," but what the hell are they? Seaweed? Rock formations? And there's a circular object high upstage that is - what? - sometimes a chandelier, usually just unnecessary decor. Ariel's secret treasure trove looks like a reject set piece from Seussical designed by Jonathan Adler.

Zambello also directs everything completely symmetrical. All songs are sung with actors planted firmly center stage. Musical staging consists of the actors walking (or wheeling) around the stage randomly. Every scene takes place directly center stage. The director obviously has zippo sense on how to use the stage, and one feels like there's a ton of empty, wasted space.

La Director also can't create stage business to save her life. The hilarous moment when Ariel combs her hair with a fork is tossed aside. We never get a sense of her trying to fit into the human world, like the film so marvelously illustrated.

The musical presumes 100% familiarity with the souce. If someone walked into this show and didn't know what THE LITTLE MERMAID was about, they'd watch in absolutle befuddlement. Flounder looks nothing like a fish, and it's never explained he is a fish. Flotsam and Jetsam are never explained to be eels, but look like green bits of stray seaweed. During "Under the Sea" and "Kiss the Girl" the various aquatic life is indecipherable, and look straight out of STARLIGHT EXPRESS as drawn by a Crayola crayons. What exactly is happening during the climactic madness of "Le Poissons" is beyond comprehension, despite the frenzy of bustling bodies about the stage.

Disney should have heeded the blasting the show got out of town. For while the material itself -- the songs and book -- are mostly in fine shape, it's the production itself -- the entire LOOK -- that stinks. One only wonders how a slightly more literal interpretation, by a director with experience in musical theatre and Broadway, could have instilled a sense of theatrical magic.

And one wonders whatever happened to the days when creators used the out-of-town tryouts and preview periods to really hone their pieces, ruthlessly making changes and cuts to create the best possible show. This season, both YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN and THE LITTLE MERMAID stubbornly stick by an imperfect vision throughout, both leading to grand disappointments.

If this review sounds unnecessarily bitter, it's due to Disney taking a one of their best films, and ruining it. Even CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG brought the film magically, successfully, to life a few seasons back. I'm seeing another MERMAID preview a few days before opening. Hopefully something will have improved.




Updated On: 11/13/07 at 01:20 AM

[Mouses Magic]

Posted: 11/11/07 at 3:50am

Why does everything have to be so literal? I like using the good ol ' imagination. Don't spell things out for me, let me decide what Im looking at.

[Rentaholic2]

Posted: 11/11/07 at 4:10am

"And one wonders whatever happened to the days when creators used the out-of-town tryouts and preview periods to really hone their pieces, ruthlessly making changes and cuts to create the best possible show. This season, both YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN and THE LITTLE MERMAID stubbornly stick by an imperfect vision throughout, both leading to grand disappointments."

This is exactly what I've been wondering. Why bother even having an out of town tryout when you don't plan on changing anything? You might as well just have a longer preview period on Broadway. All the Denver run accomplished was to create bad buzz for the show. It seemed like it gave the show the opportunity to recognize the problems that the critics and public noticed and make the changes necessary to make the show better, but it doesn't sound like anything changed. I'm sorry, but no matter what Thomas Schumacher says, that many people can't be wrong. Viewers seemed to be pretty in sync on what needed to change in Denver...what was the point of even being there if they weren't planning on still WORKING on the show???!

[clarkstallings]

Posted: 11/11/07 at 4:37am

Mouses Magic,

It's not a matter of not wanting to use imagination. Everything does not have to be literal in theatre. However, in Mermaid's case, there are elements of the design that are completely counter productive to the creatures trying to be conveyed. For example, Flotsam and Jetsam are supposed to be eels. The costumes however, don't even suggest eels. The costumes suggest dinosaur. How can I imagine eels onstage when visually, the input is, DINOSAUR DINOSAUR DINOSAUR? I mean, I can accept the fact that they are eels, but it require considerable effort to not be distracted by the design. They would be better served to wear black than to tug our minds in a completely different direction with the current costumes.

[Mouses Magic]

Posted: 11/11/07 at 4:53am

Rentaholic...if your gonna knock MERMAID for not changing the flaws, you also need to mention that YF changed nothing as well and ended up getting a batch of extremely unflattering reviews. Be equal in your assessment especially when your commenting on a quote that mentions both shows.

[clarkstallings]

Posted: 11/11/07 at 5:21am

Mouse Magic,

In defense of Rentaholic, Young Frankenstein received much more positive out of town buzz than Mermaid did so the creative team felt that not much needed to be changed. Disney on the otherhand, got a universally accepted laundry list of things that needed work and they chose, for the most part to ignore it.

[devonian.t]

Posted: 11/11/07 at 5:47am

Perhaps in both these cases the producers have simply decided to by-pass the buzz from the theatre community and respond to the audiences in the try-outs. The YF performance I saw, the audience loved it. The first 15 minutes were a little muted, but after that, it was full on all the way. I haven't seen TLm but it seems to be pleasing the families.

It seems that theatre-goers will make up their minds based on the TITLES with these two shows- the reviews may be largely irrelevant/ unread by the target audience. So from the producers' perspectives, perhaps there was little to fix.

[FranklinShepardInc]

Posted: 11/11/07 at 10:35am

It's such a shame they didn't fix much. (although I wonder what the original much panned ending in Denver was. Anyone know? The ending on Broadway is extremely anticlimactic and unimpressive.)

clarkstallings brings a great point. The eels do in fact suggest dinosaurs. Or perhaps green starfish. or Sea cucumbers. Or algae. But the only way you'd know they are eels is the by knowing the movie.

And to comment on Mouses Magic's wish to not have everything spelled out -- I totally agree, when it works. The water effect, for instance, in TLM is gorgeous without using real water or painted flats with water. One understands what the abstraction represents, unlike most of MERMAID's visual look.



Updated On: 11/11/07 at 10:35 AM

[it'sjustshowbiz]

Posted: 11/11/07 at 12:10pm

How many of you complaining that they did not change much from Denver to Broadway actually saw both shows? Well, I did, and I can tell you that they changed a lot. I do not have the time now to go into detail, however I am working on a list to post at a later date.

I would also like to mention that the audience's response to the show on Broadway was overwhelming.

[Testing1232]

Posted: 11/11/07 at 12:49pm

I didnt see the show in Denver, but from listening to people at the last Saturday, that had seen both, they DID state that ALOT changed.

And both times I have seen the show here so far, the audience has really taken to it.

[clarkstallings]

Posted: 11/11/07 at 12:53pm

While you're right that I did not see the show in Denver, many things seem to be unchanged based on their descriptions from Denver and what I saw on Broadway.

[B3TA07]

Posted: 11/11/07 at 1:05pm

Where is my post?

[FranklinShepardInc]

Posted: 11/11/07 at 1:16pm

The list of changes would be fascinating. Looking forward to it!

[broadway4life2]

Posted: 11/11/07 at 2:08pm

I can't wait to see this

[Kelly2]

Posted: 11/11/07 at 2:12pm

I saw it in Denver and in New York, and I can attest that there were many changes made. The ending was entirely different in Denver, with Ariel not needing Triton to change her back into a Mermaid, and the confrontation with Ursula taking place in the castle rather than underwater, that was my favorite change. Some of the costumes have been altered, though none completely revamped, but the costumes for Sebastian, Flotsam and Jetsam, and Scuttle and the gulls, I noticed, have all been changed for New York. Also, there were some lyric changes in many of the new songs (I noticed the most in "I Want the Good Times Back" and it's reprises). I'm sure there are many more, but those are the ones that stick out in my head.

[BillFinn]

Posted: 11/11/07 at 2:29pm

This is nitpicky, but still important.

In "I Want the Good Times Back," Ursula uses a bit of profanity now. She sings "I want the WHOLE DAMN thing." No Disney villan ever uses profanity, except for Sleeping Beauty's (...and all the fires of HELL). It just gives off a very tacky vibe. It doesn't ring true to the character or children/family show atmosphere.

Updated On: 11/11/07 at 02:29 PM

[Mouses Magic]

Posted: 11/11/07 at 4:22pm

FranklinShepardInc -----

Where were your seats if you don't mind me asking. I like knowing if people saw the show in the orchestra or mezz and if it made a big difference or not. Thanks!

[BroomstickBoy]

Posted: 11/11/07 at 6:04pm

Kelly2 - does Ursula still say the line "Sing to mama...SING or I'll turn you both into handbags!"

That's a favorite of mine, hehe.


I, myself, was surprised by her singing lines like :
"...it's an aphrodisiac"
&
"...the whole damn works"

But I love the new song for her.

From what I've heard of the ending, it seems like it SOUNDS very dramatic from the sound effects, but from what people are saying, it's a letdown. So does the confrontation take place on land or underwater? I'm losing track...

[BroomstickBoy]

Posted: 11/11/07 at 6:04pm

*edited for double post* just let me delete it already...grrr

Updated On: 11/11/07 at 06:04 PM

[Kelly2]

Posted: 11/11/07 at 6:07pm

She did use that line in the first preview, I hope they keep it in there, I think it's very funny!

As of the first preview, when I saw it, the confrontation takes place underwater, and Ariel was turned back into a mermaid, and then Triton gave her back her legs, like he does in the movie.

[Rentaholic2]

Posted: 11/11/07 at 6:28pm

Mouse Magic, the reason I talked about Little Mermaid in my post is because the is a Little Mermaid thread. I feel the exact same way about Young Frankenstein - it doesn't sound like they changed much there either...don't get your panties in a bunch.

[FranklinShepardInc]

Posted: 11/12/07 at 10:38am

Hi Mouses Magic -- I was in the house left front mezzanine. It was an invited dress, and the orchestra was empty. Thus, the audience was very very supportive. Can't wait to see it again in early december with a full paying audience.

[Mouses Magic]

Posted: 11/12/07 at 12:11pm

Thanks FranklinShepardInc--

Ill be seeing the show Jan 9th (if the strike ends) and will be center, 5 rows back in the Front Mezz. I enjoyed this paragraph from your review...

"On a good note, the transition from human world to depth of sea is magical. One feels as if really sinking into the fathoms below. The sequence when Ariel saves a drowning Eric is a stunner."

I was afraid however that you were possibly sitting in the orchestra and therefore those scenes might not play out as well from an elevated view. But if you saw it from the front mezz, and still thought that, than that makes me a happy little guy. Thanks!

[it'sjustshowbiz]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 12:25am

When I saw it Ursula did not say "Sing to mama...SING or I'll turn you both into handbags!"

She was much nicer to the eels than she was in Denver.

[NewYorkYankee2006]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 3:14pm

wat are the new costumes like since the broadway previews? please post up a video of it BWW!!!!!!!!! end this stupid strike!!!!