My Sherie Rene as Ursula Costume Design

Okay, so...The Little Mermaid is coming to Broadway. There are 5,3048 things I can think of that will be QUITE a task getting on stage...but...well, it IS Disney. They make Mary Poppins fly and ride up the banister, which are just two examples of the amazing theatrical effects they've put up on stage. Their creative teams are absolutly amazing, and I'm sure it has plenty to do with their budget...but The Little Mermaid. Well.

So they just recently released the cast list. As I'm reading the article I see that my beloved Sherie Rene Scott (Aida, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Last Five Years) will be starring in the new Disney show. Um? I'm thinking, wow, she must be starring as Ariel.

Beautiful, blonde, skinny belter. She isn't playing Ariel. She's playing Ursula. My jaw dropped. I was like...what...the...omg. But then I got to thinking. I got past thinking Ursula would be much better played by an obese man in drag and realized. Sherie can do anything. Her Ursula won't be ugly and disgusting, it will be FIERCE. She will be so...amazing. I can't wait to see how she'll perform the role. But her costume. Is a totally different issue. So I started thinking. How do you turn SRS into a giant, fabulous OCTOPUS...on stage? How?! This is my attempt:


There are some weird flaws, but I'm working on fixing them. Any comments or suggestions?

Updated On: 4/12/07 at 10:39 PM

Wow, that's some major skill!

While I applaud your effort, and am strongly impressed by your sketching skills, I think there is an execution flaw. One hand raises half the tentacles. I think all of the tentacles need to be independent. Ursula has the ability to manuveur each tentacle on its own.

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Ooooo!! I really like it! It's sort of in the same mindset as the Ariel costume sketch that was posted a while ago.

Blahh..I hope they won't hide her under tons of makeup etc...

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Where are the Heelys?

To this day, Ursula remains one of the creepiest, most intriguing Disney villains to me. There's just something about her -- the name, the tentacles, the evil ooze that she just exerts -- she's a fantastic villain, I think.

I applaud your effort for the costume -- I think you've got the basic idea down on how to achieve it. However, as others have said, movement is probably the biggest issue. I don't think she should be hoisted THAT much off the ground yet; otherwise, her big transformation (if done onstage) won't be as grand. Great job, though!

Too Skinny, but nice try.

Oh I know My 2 cents, but as Ursula, they are putting her in a baloon or puppet of some sort.

"Oh I know My 2 cents, but as Ursula, they are putting her in a baloon or puppet of some sort."

Really?

Source, please?

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I think this design is pretty fantastic. What's great, is you create a really LARGE asethtic in the costume without having to do anything too crazy, it's a fun mix between a fabulous evening gown and an actual fish costume. Congrats!

I'm very impressed! Would love to see more ideas from you!