The Little Mermaid...new vs. original cast

[brochatkid]

Posted: 7/4/09 at 6:30pm

I saw TLM yesterday for the first time. I was wondering how the current leads compare to the originals. Just curious what people's thoughts are and if I really missed out by not seeing it sooner. Thanks so much.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 7/4/09 at 6:33pm

You didn't miss anything not seeing the original cast. They were given nothing worthwhile to do anyway. They were all walking through it by the time I saw it. Sierra has yet to get material that is worthy of her. Hopefully, Love Never Dies will be great. Sherie hated TLM and it showed.

You were probably better off with Chelsea and Faith.

[Schmerg_The_Impaler]

Posted: 7/4/09 at 6:59pm

Bettyboy, you do know that DREW SEELEY has taken over as Eric, right? I've never seen him as Eric, but I've heard his minimal pop-style singing before, and I'm not at all impressed...

Brochatkid, tell me what you thought about him. Sean Palmer, who played Eric before Seeley, has a near-flawless voice and I liked him a lot in the role, though he seemed a bit ill and tired the night I saw him, and it's probably good that he got a break.

[BwayBoundJoe]

Posted: 7/4/09 at 7:02pm

I've heard (and seen via youtube) the show is horrible, but I think I'm going to Rush it in August to see Faith Prince. She's wonderful.

[Schmerg_The_Impaler]

Posted: 7/4/09 at 7:18pm

So are Brian D'Addario and Tyler Maynard...

[brochatkid]

Posted: 7/4/09 at 8:36pm

My assessment is as follows:
I did think Drew Seeley was the weak link in the show; although, he wasn't terrible or anything. But I am probably a bit biased by the youtube videos I have seen of Sean Palmer. Overall, not even comparing him to Sean Palmer, though, and just compared with the rest of the cast, his voice wasn't as controlled and clear sounding.

I liked the others in the cast, though. I especially thought Rogelio Douglas, Jr. was an amazing Sebastian. Norm Lewis and Faith Prince, of course, were as impressive as always. Chelsea was great, but I would have liked to have seen Sierra in the role just to compare.

I know people really hate the show, but I had a lot of fun. I was with my daughter, though, and it was her first Broadway show, so that also made the experience more enjoyable for me.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 7/4/09 at 8:48pm

Chelsea is a wonderful Ariel....

[bwayfan45]

Posted: 7/4/09 at 9:55pm

I like the show alot more than most people and am very upset that its closing. It is a campy sweet show, which is right up my alley. I think they did (or atleast tried) to do thier best with the show. Seriously how else could they have done The Litte Mermaid on stage?

I saw it today with my mom, who flew in for the holiday weekend. She loved it. After seeing the originals numerous times, the current replacements are great. I kinda enjoyed them more than the originals.

Drew Seeley was not nearly as bad as I thought he was going to be, everyone I know said that he was a horrible. He was very cute. He sounds definetly like a popstar with a straight tone trying to sing the songs to the best of his ability. He didnt seem 100% confident with his vocals. Some parts where very smooth and easy to listen to. his acting was fine. very believable as the prince.
Sean Palmer was older looking and more strapping. He has a gorgeous voice and his acting was also great. He also looks so much better in those tight white pants (which is an added plus) The thing I like more about Drew is that he looks age appropriate or the role. Near the end of his run Sean seemed tired of the role.

Chelsea was absolutely everything I could ever want in Ariel. She was fantastic, I loved Sierra in the role but, seeing Chelsea made me realize that Sierra was nothing more than a robot. I've seen Sierra a bunch of times and she gave the same exact performance everytime. She was on autopilot, It was like watching a video of her instead of a live performance. Her acting was very blah. her voice sounded the same at every performance. Ive seen Chelsea once understudying and now after she took over and she has done many things differently both times. She acts the heck out of the role and acts believably as a teenager without being dumbed down. she plays it like a 16 year old.
Sierra was undeniably stronger vocally but Chelsea's getting there. She belts the end of Part of your world (reprise) which was a nice breath of fresh air. Her Part Of Your World was gorgeous. I enjoyed her performance very much.

Faith Prince is my favorie Ursula, I've seen both Heidi and Sherie and she blows them out of the water. Both Heidi and Sherie can outsing Faith anyday, but what Faith has is her acting. She is the perfect Ursula. Her comedic timing is flawless. She lures Ariel in and then turns on her. Sherie was very bored when I saw her and clearly didnt want to be there anymore. She was diva Urusula. Heidi was a fun sexy ursula but, If you want Ursua they way shes supposed to be played you have to see Faith. She is vey creepy at times and the one Ursula I would actually be scared of, if I was little. She has gotten so much better than when she first started and the youtube vids, dont do her justice.

Rogelio Douglas Jr. Is also fantastic. He is so much more commited than Titus was. His voice is superb. At points he sounds just like Titus. He is clearly a dancer because of all of the little things he added to Under The Sea. He is jumping everywhere and doing the splits. His delivery is great. he is absolutley hilarious as Sebastian. I think he is the replacement that most people would agree is the best.

[bubbleblonde]

Posted: 7/4/09 at 10:06pm

They don't differ much. They're all awful compared to the movie and its cast.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 7/5/09 at 3:42am

The best part of the show, in my opinion, was the score. And the cast was not so bad in carrying out the material (I saw the original cast). Everything else, however (book, sets, costumes), was horribly flawed and made the show less enjoyable for me. It was a disappointment because Little Mermaid is my favorite Disney movie and had so much opportunity to be a good musical, but it just was not.

[NewYorkYankee2006]

Posted: 7/5/09 at 8:44am

are there any videos of drew and chelsea in the little mermaid? can't find any anywhere.

[jejr]

Posted: 7/5/09 at 11:58am

If you've listened to the clip of Drew singing one of the songs on his album, how could he possibly sing the rest of the score well.

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 7/5/09 at 1:05pm

Sherie hated The Little Mermaid?
I didn't see her in it, but I heard an interview with her and she spoke nothing but positive things...and she seemed to not hold anything back either.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 7/5/09 at 2:25pm

"I didn't see her in it, but I heard an interview with her and she spoke nothing but positive things...and she seemed to not hold anything back either."

I don't know what Sherie really thought (and this is the first I am actually hearing about her hating it), but why would a performer trash a show while they are in it?

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 7/5/09 at 2:27pm

She hated the kids...

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 7/5/09 at 2:34pm

Well it wouldn't be wise to trash it, but from the interview (this was the Downstage Center interview from XM radio that I got on itunes) it seemed that TLM was more than just a "money gig" and that she was proud and happy to be a part of the project.

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 7/5/09 at 2:40pm

When you say she hated the kids...do you mean the Chorus "kids" or something (basically anyone younger than her) or do you mean the children (which wasn't that basically just the boys who rotated as 'Flounder'?)

[BroadwayBenny]

Posted: 7/5/09 at 2:41pm

I don't know, I always got the impression that it was just a money gig to her, especially toward the second half of her run. She seemed to not view the source material(the film) very favorably. She seemed to have taken offense to the whole "giving your voice to be with the one you love" plot as being anti-feminist. (rolls eyes)

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 7/5/09 at 2:47pm

That was something that she talked about in the interview saying that she liked about how the show didn't end like that...or something.

I, personally, have yet to see it.

[sgv123]

Posted: 7/5/09 at 3:01pm

If you watch/read other interviews with Sherie, she has got a very unique/weird sense of humor.

[Love the Tussin]

Posted: 7/5/09 at 3:35pm

"She hated the kids..."

She's said that? Why wouldn't she have expected "the kids" considering the name of the show?

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 7/5/09 at 3:37pm

Ohhh...does that mean all the kids in the audience?

[insertclevernamehere]

Posted: 7/5/09 at 3:52pm

Sherie didn't hate the kids, but she didn't like to stagedoor because she was in a hurry to get home to be with her family. Also, if memory serves, she had problems with a stalker a few years back which also might account for her dislike of stagedooring. And some people think that anyone who doesn't want to take a picture or sing into their cell phones is a bitch.

[Robert Taylor]

Posted: 7/6/09 at 12:03am

Chelsea is almost as good as Sierra. She's certainly got the pipes, but I wish she'd embrace the exhuberance of the role a bit more, especially in songs like "Beyond My Wildest Dreams." Sierra let her voice purposely break sometimes and go extremely high while dancing and kicking, and Chelsea just doesn't do that.

I might be in the minority here, but I like Drew better than the original. He actually shows emotion and humor...and his rendition of "Her Voice" is quite lovely.

And I'm positive I'm in the minority here, but I much prefer Sherie to Faith Prince. Sherie never let the costume overwhelm her performance, but Faith let the costume do all the talking the entire night. But maybe it was an off night for her.

[LayerBoy4]

Posted: 7/6/09 at 12:49am

The new cast absolutely re-invented the show for me. C

helsea and Sierra had different strengths and weaknesses as Ariel. Technically it sounds as though Sierra is a soprano who was taught to belt, Chelsea sounds like a belter taught to sing soprano. Due to this, the moments the shine are quite varied. At the end of the first "Part Of Your World" where Sierra goes to a placement somewhat reminiscent of a shout, Chelsea does a very healthy mix belt and sounds fabulous. HOWEVER Chelesa does some bizarre and hilarious vowel modifications. When I saw her a few weeks ago she literally sang "What's a fire and why does it, what's the word, BARN." Not kidding. CRAZY! I am a music director and I went with another one of my vocal coach friends and we both turned to each other and were just like WHAT! Haha, hilarious.

One of the things I found most frustrating about the rewrites done from movie to musical was the change in "Part Of Your World (Reprise)" to end on the high note. Sierra's performance was disappointing because the writing even takes the key of the ending down and she belts all the way up to the last notes of the song and then flips to a straight-toned head voice, ruining the crescendo and making it a pretty ineffective moment. Because Chelsea has a strong BoCo mix-belt she is able to sail in that range with no problem - now that re-write finally translates the way I am sure the arrangers intended.

Drew Seeley when I saw him sounded like he needed to get a little more comfortable taking bigger breaths and just singing. His pop voice really does sound very appropriate on this material. I was very turned off by Sean Palmer's endless vibrato, and while I wish Drew could/would spin once in a while, his gentle straight tone sounds so much sweeter and youthful. I really found myself caring about Eric's storyline through his interpretation. Additionally, when he does take his big breaths, he sounds great! When he finally sang out at the end of "Her Voice" it was a marvel, and he really shined in the "If Only" quartet. He holds that last note out at full volume for ages. Give me some more of that support Drew and you've got me sold!

Faith Prince really gave me the feeling that she didn't care about the role and it's just a job to her. She mailed in her music, shortening notes left and right that she clearly could have kept singing as it does seem they have lowered the keys. She spoke sang entire phrases often or just made up notes, like in "Poor Unfortunate Soul." Oi, not impressed at all. Her timing is great, like people said, but her gestures are small. I was in the front row and got most of it, but any further back and pfff. Heidi really blew her out of the water in characterization and singing. It's too bad - Faith Prince has done some really legendary stuff!

Between Chelsea and Drew though the show has a lot of new life and I actually liked it the second time around. Perhaps it's because I went in without high expectations, but the two give a great performance. I recommend checking out before the show closes!