The Little Mermaid...- Page 3

[Swiftynifty15]

Posted: 10/2/05 at 10:21pm

Under the water.....Over the top.....LOL.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 10/2/05 at 11:03pm

Harvey Fierstein as Ursula would be amazing.

[BwayLeadman]

Posted: 10/2/05 at 11:07pm

I've said it before. Yes, that would be funny and it could work.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 10/2/05 at 11:16pm

How could you say no?

[ShineOn]

Posted: 10/3/05 at 12:12am

Stop making these people look like they have a flesh eating disease, already! LOL

If you're gonna make them purple, go all the way!

[LouW95]

Posted: 10/3/05 at 12:21am

When Disney first announced Beauty & The Beast many so-called theater experts claimed it would be the end of Bway. In fact, Disney has been the largest employer and had 2 of the longest running shows for the last 10 years. A third Disney show, Aida, which received mixed reviews also managed a good run. I would not underestimate Disney when it comes to making Mermaid happen. These folks know what they are doing.
Updated On: 10/3/05 at 12:21 AM

[rockfenris2005]

Posted: 10/3/05 at 12:48am

I never said they didn't know what they were doing. I'm just interested in how they will handle the challenges

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 10/3/05 at 1:08am

Well, what shade of purple would you like?

[rockfenris2005]

Posted: 10/3/05 at 1:41am

BreeDaniel says:

I want the entire thing done in a tank.

What happens if the tank cracks and explodes? What a nightmare it would be for Equity

Updated On: 10/3/05 at 01:41 AM

[rockfenris2005]

Posted: 10/3/05 at 2:07am

MINE:

* The entry of the Ship and floating on the water

No idea...

* The Overture sequence where Atlantica is unveiled

I think this would be like Phantom, as someone else has said; like the Overture as the Chandelier rises and the Opera reverts back to 1865 (supposed to be 1889 btw.)

* The chase sequence with Ariel, Flounder and The Shark (are they going to use puppets for Flounder? and what about the Shark?)

If this were done, and I don't think it would be (too cartoony), I'd imagine they'd use puppets and projections. In Tanz der Vampire, they use a cool projection-effect for the snow. It falls down on a cyclorama / or scrim that covers the stage as the actors run across and etc. It's very effective and it really works. I can imagine them doing something like this with bubbles: and also, taking from Woman in White, using a lot of cool projections and things.

* How are they going to dress Scuttle? How will they depict the scene where he's standing on a rock in the middle of the ocean?

Actors dressed in costumes? Too big. Puppets? Been there, done that. Thank GOD I have a lot of faith in Disney "magic" (lol)

* Ursula's little cronies: Flotsam and Jetsam: I can imagine these really cool, serpent-like puppets... writhing around (really hi-tech modern stuff)

Maybe these would be people? Like two bent hags or something?

* The ship in the storm. How in the world will they handle that? This would have to be the most complicated scene in the show (besides Ursula's demise); because it takes place on the ship, floating on the water, then under-sea, then ship etc. etc. and an exploding ship and wreckage floating about

I really am having difficulty imagining this. It's the whole ship on water, diving under the water, then above, then Eric drowning and such. It's gonna be a monstrous challenge

* The destruction of the grotto. How will this be done? How will the actors walk in the mermaid suits? How will Triton's trident operate?

The Phantom staff was good. Yes. Something like that. I can picture a lot of mist in this production too. And a very cold feeling in the theatre: like everyone's underwater and it's a low low temperature

* How will Ariel's stolen voice be depicted? How will she shoot up to land?

Shooting up to land bit is hard. It will either be really gimmicky and comic, or powerful (like, lol, shoot her up on a spring like the Rumpus Cat: eeek.)

* All the land bits are easy: but the transition to land and sea is gonna be hard
* Ursula's transformation to Vanessa: how will they accomplish this?

I still don't know how they get the Beast to transform like that

* Ariel swimming to the ship... how will they do that. She'll need to float on water, and not just under it.

In the movie, she's holding onto these barrels and swimming, like she's lying down. That could look really stupid on stage. And if they change too much (Beauty and the Beast isn't THAT different to the original film) people aren't gonna like it. Then again, I have no idea how thye changed Lion King

* The inflated Ursula and the huge end bit before her demise. This will either come off (extremely) corny or very powerful

Into the Woods. Good idea. But I think this should be the most powerful and scariest extreme moment in the show. Disney should go all out for this. Lol, I want to see L.M. for this sequence alone

*So many challenges. It's probably going to be the most expensive musical staged EVER!

Do you think it MAY just be the MOST expensive musical? Dance of the Vampires was very easy, and yet it was $15 - or more - million. And a quarter as good as Phantom..

[Unknown User]

Posted: 10/3/05 at 3:21am

3 Words: Tokyo Disney Sea

I was simply thrilled with their Little Mermaid Show - absolutely BRILLIANT!

Right click on the following icon and click "view image"......

...theater in the round, wires, puppetry...


Updated On: 10/3/05 at 03:21 AM

[FlyingHigh2]

Posted: 10/3/05 at 3:19pm

Ooh I wanna see that Disney link..but the picture has a little red X

[FlyingHigh2]

Posted: 10/3/05 at 3:24pm

Don't know if this is the same link...but this is what I found via google.

http://www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp/tds/english/7port/mermaid/atrc_theater.html

Not many pictures, but it is enough to get an idea. In the round theater would be neat, but there aren't any like that on Broadway...right?

[leon1489]

Posted: 10/3/05 at 9:22pm

* The entry of the Ship and floating on the water

Um... they could have a "ship on wheels" come across the stage. I know it sounds retarded, but it works. Especially if a fog machine is turned on and makes the stage floor look like water.

* The Overture sequence where Atlantica is unveiled

There could be several drops and scrims that would fly and lift, revealing more and more of Atlantica until the final backdrop is shown with the entire cast there. Or the entire cast that's in that scene.

* The chase sequence with Ariel, Flounder and The Shark (are they going to use puppets for Flounder? and what about the Shark?)

I think this whole scene is going to be cut anyways... It's kind of weird. And from listening to the demo, I think it'll probably cut straight to the surface for "Human Stuff."

* How are they going to dress Scuttle? How will they depict the scene where he's standing on a rock in the middle of the ocean?

Well, they can do different things. I don't think they'll dress up the person, since that's lame. It could be a puppet (á la Little Shop) and have the person sing offstage. That would make it relatively easy to move.

* Ursula's little cronies: Flotsam and Jetsam: I can imagine these really cool, serpent-like puppets... writhing around (really hi-tech modern stuff)

Since they're two men, it'll probably be like puppets that follow Ursula around. I know they have their own song, so they'll probably be hanging from the fly system.

* The ship in the storm. How in the world will they handle that? This would have to be the most complicated scene in the show (besides Ursula's demise); because it takes place on the ship, floating on the water, then under-sea, then ship etc. etc. and an exploding ship and wreckage floating about

Obviously it's going to be handled differently. Again, I think they'll probably have like a large ship that just wheels on the stage. Then they could use special effects to simulate the storm, and the fog machine would make the water seem agitated.

* The destruction of the grotto. How will this be done? How will the actors walk in the mermaid suits? How will Triton's trident operate?

Well, the trident would be fairly simple to handle. All they need is a trident that lights up. The destruction could be done either literally, having things break (kind of stupid, though), or could be implied, where there's basically flashes of light.

* How will Ariel's stolen voice be depicted? How will she shoot up to land?

Ariel's voice will probably be some sort of projection. And they'll have her stuff prerecorded (most likely). She'll shoot up through the flying system, probably (she'll defy gravity). They could do a transformation like in Beauty, so that it's not quick and retarded.

* All the land bits are easy: but the transition to land and sea is gonna be hard

Not necessarily. First of all, you have to give the audience the benefit of intelligence. They should be able to tell what's happening above the surface and what's not.

* Ursula's transformation to Vanessa: how will they accomplish this?

Well, it's not that hard. I don't think they'll want to show her transformation, since that's kind of anticlimactic... watch the movie. They don't show her as Vanessa until she's walking on the shore. That's probably how it'll be done. The light's will go off and you won't get to see her. Or you'll see her silhouette.

* Ariel swimming to the ship... how will they do that. She'll need to float on water, and not just under it.

Well, they'll probably have some sort of trapdoor so that when Ariel has to pop up from randomly in the middle of the water it won't look bad. I'm pretty sure that when they're at the surface, they'll have a fog machine... that way you don't see her sitting there.

* The inflated Ursula and the huge end bit before her demise. This will either come off (extremely) corny or very powerful

Well, there's several ways they could go here. They could imply she's grown a lot, by having tentacles on the stage. Or they could put her in some sort of large costume so that the bottom of her is bigger and it looks like foreshortening. They could put a shadow on the stage to imply she's there also.

[FlyingHigh2]

Posted: 10/3/05 at 9:39pm

Great ideas leon!

[leon1489]

Posted: 10/3/05 at 9:42pm

Haha... thanks.
Considering I won't have anything to do with the production...

I've given this show a lot of thought.
I've been planning the Broadway version since I was like 5.
I thought I'd get to play Eric.
But if not me, I hope it's Gavin Creel.

[TabooPhan1]

Posted: 10/3/05 at 10:34pm

Do you think they'll get Renee Auberjonois (sp?) to play the chef? I would go see it just for that...

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 10/3/05 at 10:44pm

So would I, Taboophan!

I wonder if Ursula will be purple in the show - and I think it would be hilarious to have Harvey play Ursula and some actress to play Vanessa.

[wickedfan]

Posted: 10/3/05 at 10:56pm

The opening with the ship could really just be implied. As leon, said, give the audience the benefit of intelligence. Such as, having the sailors come onto the stage with some ropes (pretneding to use them to harness a sail or something) while, singing. And have a black scrim behind them. Then when the fish "slips into the water", it could be a prop fish that falls into the orchestra pit and then the lights go out, the sailors move offstage and all of a sudden a puppet (or projection) of that same fish is seen swimming into the ocean. And while the fish is doing this, the set is rvealed bit by bit. Such as a choral reef some place, and a cave somewhere else, and slowly the entire set comes together and becomes Atlantica.

[Up In Lost]

Posted: 10/3/05 at 11:17pm

I think the ship would be like, the simplest part. Lol. Kind of like the train car in Dirty Rotten Soundrels, with a little platform for sailors, you know?

And, can you believe, I do not own the darn movie? I need to fic that.

[Unmasked05]

Posted: 10/4/05 at 12:01am

I don't know how many of y'all have been to Disney World...but they have a "Little Mermaid" show at MGM and I liked the way they did the puppets for "Under The Sea"....the stage was totally dark and they puppets glowed and there were people dressed in black so you couldn't see them...all that much and ...it was pretty AWESOME to see...maybe they'll do it like that.....has anyone else seen the show and know what I'm talking about.

[ShineOn]

Posted: 10/4/05 at 12:05am

A shade of purple that doesn't make them look like they're about to puke.

[rockfenris2005]

Posted: 10/4/05 at 12:24am

Harvey as Ursula?

I always thought Darlene Conley (from The Bold and the Beautiful) would make a great Ursula. Or Susan Flannery...

Actually: I think Sue would be a little typecast :P

[leon1489]

Posted: 10/4/05 at 8:08am

Actually, now that I think about it, the song Fathoms Below wasn't on the demo recording. Perhaps they're going to start the show in a different manner. I personally wouldn't want that, because I think they should try to keep it as true to the movie as possible.

On second thought, though, "Part of your World" wasn't on the demo either, and I'm sure they wouldn't take out Ariel's most famous song for the Broadway run.

[rockfenris2005]

Posted: 10/4/05 at 9:09am

Firstly, what in the hell is this demo and where do I get one?

Secondly, cutting out Part of Your World is like cutting Moses out of the Bible