See the Cast of THE LITTLE MERMAID Fly at Paper Mill Playhouse! - Page 3

[wicked4l]

Posted: 5/30/13 at 7:22pm

Looks pretty great. Pretty much what I was expecting when it came to the design and flying. I do not like Ariel's weird costume, the fabric under the sea-shells looks strange..

[kitkats99]

Posted: 5/30/13 at 8:11pm

The post about the tails is still right on. The fabric looks really good, especially from the side. The weird cartoonish mermaid tail that goes right down the middle of their crotch looks really horrible, and Ariels is completely out of proportion to her body, so it makes her look like a dwarf. That said, from the side, the flying effect was really pretty.

I also can't believe they completely body painted Ed Watts. That man is a greek god, and they should have left his torso un-painted.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 5/30/13 at 8:27pm

That looks pretty bad to me. The design still looks cheesy. I just don't think this will ever work on stage. I mean, it's Disney. Ursela's tentacles should be able to move on there own. And they should just stick to the movie. It's a much better story.

[beautywickedlover]

Posted: 5/30/13 at 9:03pm

I still don't think it's necessary to make Carlotta and the maids look half-people, half-chicken. It's one of the many reasons why the Broadway production was a mess. Flounder's costume is only a very slight improvement over the Broadway costume.



Updated On: 5/30/13 at 09:03 PM

[TheatreKid3]

Posted: 5/31/13 at 12:10am

Overall, this looks much better than what I was expecting. Still some work to do. I agree about the earlier comments about Ariel's costume, but one thing is for sure:

THANK ALMIGHTY GOD THAT THEY DITCHED THE TROLL HAIR!

That's almost enough for me to be happy.

I also like that lyric change at the end of the finale to "At long last their story's begun." I always thought that "now they can play all day in the sun" had a little odd ring to it... lol.

Updated On: 5/31/13 at 12:10 AM

[darreyl102]

Posted: 5/31/13 at 12:15am

Nick's shirt needs to be open more! LOL and why the hell did they paints Watts up!!

- I am trying to figure out how much of Nicks hair is a wig. it looks like the front Is his and the ponytail is an attachment. But from the back, it looks like the whole top is a wig on top of his real hair- I don't know?? LOL

[Visceral_Fella]

Posted: 5/31/13 at 12:17am

I think it's a half wig.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 5/31/13 at 2:46am

Looks better in pictures, but what's up with King Triton? He doesn't look scary or imposing at all. I don't think Ed Watts is that small of a person, so why does he come off as so slight looking? Is it the plastic turtleneck?

[pdjennings]

Posted: 5/31/13 at 8:07am

And why is Flounder being played a grown man on his knees?

Updated On: 5/31/13 at 08:07 AM

[bdn223]

Posted: 5/31/13 at 1:50pm

It looks like they reverted to the Broadway Ursula costume, rather than that giant tangled mess that was used in Europe and similar takes in the other regional productions, which I am extremely pleased with. Usula's costume was one of the few things that really worked in the broadway production.


For people who are pissed about Vanessa still being omitted GET OVER IT!!! It is to much of a technical nightmare to do on stage since it adds two large scale transformations and lipsyncing to a show that has enough technical problems to begin with.

The Flotsam, Jetsam, and Sebastion's costumes look almost identical to their broadway counterparts minus the weird crab hat Sebastion's wore.

The Little Mermaids theatrical problem in my opinion is Ursula's demise which has been its problem from the Broadway production. It is extremely anticlimactic and needs to be as big as can be not just breaking a shell. They should honestly put Ursula on a forklift alla Wicked during the Poor Unfortunate Souls reprise to give the illusion of her "growing" . Then have ariel steal the shell and break it causing Ursula to fall and die...because we never see her grow in power once she gains the trident.

[finebydesign]

Posted: 5/31/13 at 2:03pm

This looks like a hodgepodge of the Broadway and Netherlands versions design-wise. I swear some of those costumes are copies of Crowley's.

Hmm... well I like the ship and the castle and the bubbles... The undersea stuff looked amazing in Crowley's version. The Kiss the Girl set looks pretty bad. What's with that little boat?

This show is just a mess, they need to just stop already.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 5/31/13 at 2:09pm

It is a mess. And I agree the ending is anticlimactic. I remember thinking even Ursula's entrance was so boring. It needed some heft, but it just was lacking all around. Why can't they make Ursula grow? It wouldn't be that hard too get some oversized tentacles and stuff.

[Starship]

Posted: 5/31/13 at 2:37pm

Can someone post the understudies/swings in the show?

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 5/31/13 at 2:40pm

Well it doesn't look like the train wreck I thought it would be but I'm also not going out of my way to see it because of how much I hated the Broadway version. Doesn't seem like much has changed to alter my views on the show. Positoovity is still there so no thanks.

Scuttle looks silly flying all the time even though I get it. Flounder looks ridiculous as a man on his knees. Ariel's floating/flying costume looks silly because how big is her damn tail.

I do NOT care for that Ursula. I've always thought she would be better played by a man in drag (such a novel idea, I know) but she's always struck me as that even in the movie. At least a fat black woman would be more powerful than anything I've seen.

[TheatreKid3]

Posted: 5/31/13 at 3:04pm

Guys... I'm pretty sure that Flounder is just blocked to be on his knees in that clip. Come on. It's the same costume Henry Hodges used in California (and he walks) and his feet are clearly visible, nor does the costume have any mechanisms or design to even try and hide his legs - which are knee-high lace up converse. Still and improvement over the swimming trunks and t-shirt that was Flounder on Broadway.

That was just the clip you saw. The idea of Flounder being a teenage character still hasn't settled with me yet - I go back and forth.

[Mrs. Bumbrake]

Posted: 5/31/13 at 3:08pm

swings:
James Shackelford
Katie Ulrich
ensemble:
Kristine Bennett
Ward Billeisen
Lauren Ciardullo
Thay Floyd
KC Fredericks
Rod Harrelson
Nicole Javanna Johnson
Lisa Karlin
Morgan Kirner
Erica Mansfield
Dennis O'Bannion
Robbie Roby
Jessica Wockenfuss

[dexter3]

Posted: 5/31/13 at 4:36pm

I wish the Sebastian character would stick to the melody a bit more. He's changing a lot of notes.

[broadway guy]

Posted: 5/31/13 at 4:55pm

Ughhhh i just watched that clip

-Ariel looks ridiculous singing while flying,looks awful.
-Why is flounder 20 years old?
-Ursula looks like Frankenstein! WTH happened there?
-Why are the eels carrying Ursula's tentacles? Looks awful
-Why does Sebastian look like freaking Amadeus? Horrible
-The set looks cheap as hell. I would prefer the plastic from the OBP
-Ursula's lair looks like Pee wee Herman's
fun house. gag me
-LOL i dont even know what to say about the bubbles HAHAHAAH
-Triton's costume isnt bad but it isn't good.
-Eric's wig looks horrible
-Ariel's costume looks awful also

WHY EVEN DO THIS SHOW IF YOU AREN'T GOING TO DO IT RIGHT??? The Broadway show was bad but this..is just...disgusting. No one can get this show right and no one ever will probably. Its too hard for Broadway apparently.

Im so sick of seeing Ursula look like some fat hot mess drag queen!

This show is suppose to be big and it honestly looks like some cheap crap you would find at Disney world. Don't do this show if you don't have the money for it cause it needs to be spectacular and this doesn't look like it rose to the occasion.


Updated On: 5/31/13 at 04:55 PM

[philly03]

Posted: 5/31/13 at 8:42pm

Saw this yesterday, but didn't see the Broadway production. I thought it was OK, nothing great.

Some notes:
-The actress playing Ariel seems a little worried about the flying, or at least it came across in her voice during the end of "Part of Your World" as she is descended to a platform. But I know this is early in the run.

-Flounder does not sit on his knees... I have not seen the movie in at least a decade, but Flounder hits at some secret love for Ariel, perhaps thats why the actor is older.

-The boat is wheeled (or tracked) to just go across the stage... Only a few things are flown in from the top (mostly wall set pieces).

-The most unnecessary and annoying thing is at the end when they have those confetti blasters go off. Incredibly loud, caught me way off guard.

[amoni2]

Posted: 5/31/13 at 8:50pm

"WHY EVEN DO THIS SHOW IF YOU AREN'T GOING TO DO IT RIGHT???"

You mean YOUR way?

[Starship]

Posted: 5/31/13 at 10:50pm

Thanks, Mrs. Bumbrake! Anybody have a list of understudies?

[broadway guy]

Posted: 5/31/13 at 11:06pm

"You mean YOUR way?"

I dont care what way it is, it just has to better than the crapfest i saw in that clip! Why would a company even attempt to do this show if they don't have the money to do it justice? Remember how tacky the NETWORKS BATB looked compared to the original? This exactly what this one looks like compared to the the Mermaid Broadway. When word got out that Mermaid was coming to Broadway people expected to see something of the quality like original Beauty and the beast production, but here is the fact: THEY WENT CHEAP ON MERMAID! And if a BROADWAY production can't make this show a mega hit with amazing scenery and lighting and effects then what makes anyone think a non Broadway company could pull it off?? Some shows work great like this but YOU CAN'T DO A SMALL LITTLE MERMAID just like you can't do cheap on beauty and the beast! People expect to see something BIG and GRAND when they see Mermaid. This just looks Absolutely foolish and ridiculous.





Updated On: 5/31/13 at 11:06 PM

[darreyl102]

Posted: 5/31/13 at 11:12pm

Given the fact that Ursula's whole physical design and appearance was based on Divine, a Drag Queen, I don't think it's a stretch. A black woman would certainly make a perfect Ursula, don't know why that hasn't been done. makes complete sense to me.

[Starship]

Posted: 6/1/13 at 1:22am

Cicily Daniels was FIERCE in the Broadway production. I can't even imagine why she was the 2ND cover!

[Wishing Only Wounds]

Posted: 6/1/13 at 9:35am

I had the pleasure of seeing Cicily as Ursula and it remains one of the best live performances I have ever seen.


Side note: kudos to us! A new production has started and we managed to stay in one thread!!