The Little Mermaid Musical is Back on Track with New Book- Page 2

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 5/17/05 at 2:21pm

So no one knows who is collaborating on the new lyrics?

By the way, O'Keefe's lyricist is, I believe, his wife, Nell Benjamin.

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 5/17/05 at 2:39pm

Yay little mermaid..the musical I've been waiting for my whole life!!! :)

[Up In Lost]

Posted: 5/17/05 at 2:50pm

Opposites of Sex. ;D

[thejcm]

Posted: 5/17/05 at 2:51pm

Harvey Fierstein for Ursula. The cartoon version was based off of Divine, who played Edna Turnblad in the movie version of Hairsrpay. I think it would be neat if Harvey took on that part.

[Thenardier]

Posted: 5/17/05 at 2:52pm

Or BRuce Valanch lol...

I don't think I could listen to Harvey's voice sing PUS...

[RYANWOODS]

Posted: 5/17/05 at 3:00pm

I think its coming Spring or Summer 07, Stephan Mear is doing the cheorhraphy for the show.

Makes you wonder if Tarzan is coming Spring 06, then Poppins Autumn 06 AND THEN (!) Little Mermaid Summer 07 if Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King may close in 2006, as liklihood of having 5 Disney playing all at once would be unlikley...

[broadwayalto01]

Posted: 5/17/05 at 3:01pm

Does anyone know if Emily Skinner is still involved with the show! I hope so!!

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 5/17/05 at 9:18pm

Doug Wright? Interesting choice, though I think he's great.

[apdarcey]

Posted: 5/17/05 at 10:36pm

right emcee? that's exactly what i thought... he's great, but little mermaid?

[Ourtime992]

Posted: 5/17/05 at 10:55pm

What in the world makes you think that The Little Mermaid needs a big name star, or even a veteran, on Broadway? Susan Egan was hardly a big name when she created Belle, and who had heard of Jason Raize before The Lion King? If the show is even decent it will sell like crazy no matter who is in the title role, and casting an unknown will only generate even more buzz.

[apdarcey]

Posted: 5/17/05 at 10:58pm

i agree, but i would love to hear kerry butler singing 'part of your world'

[timote316]

Posted: 5/17/05 at 11:45pm

I'd like to see Ashley Brown. Or, even if she doesn't do it, she is on the On The Record CR singing 'Part of Your World', so its all good.

[La Vie Boheme]

Posted: 5/17/05 at 11:47pm

I think Hercules would be AN AMAZING show for Broadway!!!

[apdarcey]

Posted: 5/17/05 at 11:55pm

i've been saying that too la vie, but a lot of people here feel that it has too many expensive special effects. to that i say "IT'S DISNEY!" i also think mulan would make an amazing broadway musical, especially for lea salonga to come back in.

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 5/18/05 at 3:17am

I think they should go with a COMPLETE no name with no experience on Bway or professional theatre at all for the role of Ariel....


cough cough ME cough cough

<<-----I was BORN to play a disney character!

[rockfenris2005]

Posted: 5/18/05 at 3:42am

Why did they did get rid of David Ives?

Without hiis involvement, it won't boost up Batman the Musical

It's too beautiful a score to be lost!

Why are Broadway ripping it away???

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 5/18/05 at 5:15am

sooo funny..i saw Doug Wright..and was like "I know that name..is that the I am my own wife guy?" they didn't seem to fit...but w/e!

[Practically Perfect]

Posted: 5/18/05 at 5:49am

This is exciting! I'd much rather see The Little Mermaid on stage than Tarzan - I couldn't stand the film. It seems like a very strange choice for a musical.

Mary P x

[rockfenris2005]

Posted: 5/18/05 at 6:00am

I don't think they should stage Tarzan... other than hiring the most perfectly-looking guy in Broadway for the audiences' sensual delight. Come to think of it, Joshua Logan would have KILLED to have directed this show, hehe. I wonder why he didn't do a Tarzan musical in his reign? I can, actually, really imagine it with a score by Lerner and Loewe or even Rodgers and Hammerstein. It would have been... interesting. But that is probably the most compelling reason to be interested in Tarzan, because I really can't imagine the music of Phil Collins playing on Broadway: because it's not slightly in a theatrical context. At least, with Jim Steinman, and some other people who emerged into Broadway (from the recording industry), they were very theatrical - and originally worked in the theatre. But, Phil Collins... no. I want to see The Little Mermaid much more than I want to see Tarzan. I have been sitting on this show for months and months and evenn years waiting for an update. I just really am quite looking forward to Little Mermaid. It saddnes me that David Ives is not really going to be involved anymore, because he was working with Steinman on Batman - and this would have been their card back to Broadway. You have no idea how much that has distressed me, because I care and want to see more of Steinman's impact on people. But, otherwise... it's a half-way homecoming for me. I'm still interested in LM, but not as much as I used to... partially because they dropped Ives, and the reading cast. And the new cast had better be bloody good or else

[Candleshoe2]

Posted: 5/18/05 at 7:38am

HARVEY FOR URSULA!!!!

[JBSinger]

Posted: 5/18/05 at 9:05am

I believe the new lyricist is Glenn Slater, who collaborated with Alan Menken on Home on the Range's songs. They had a playfulness when appropriate and were very touching ("Will the sun Ever Shine Again."). Good to see a new talent emerge. A friend of mine has the Demo Cd and I guess the new songs are on it. Hoping for a copy soon.
Again - I hope they rewrite nearly every line of dialogue from the movie (except maybe some classic Ursula lines) because, as I've said before, it's the dialogue that hurts the Disney shows for me.

[rockfenris2005]

Posted: 5/19/05 at 4:02am

Keep me in mind when you get that demo. I am intrigued...

I have never seen Home on the Range, so I can't judge from
Glenn Slater. But will there be a song a la Human Again that
escaped the movie? They would want to release the DVD when the
stage show is on the boards. Great advertising. I just wish
David Ives was still involved. As for the dialogue... I would
like them to leave it. Just work around it a bit. I have no
idea how they are going to write new songs. Ten SONGS??? How:

Would there be an aria for Prince Eric?
A duet for Eric and Ariel?
A song for King Triton? An emancipated soliloquy?
A few reprises of these news ongs?
Another song for Ursula in disguise as Vanessa?
Extended song routines from the original movie?
What else?

Eeeek

They should bring The Swan Princess to Broadway next, heehehehe

[carymetorent2]

Posted: 5/19/05 at 11:40am

I am still thinking about how great Cheyenne will be if he stays with this and is prince eric.

[wickedbway]

Posted: 6/23/05 at 2:05pm

That reading was a while back though, and THE LITTLE MERMAID is probably not going to be on Broadway for another couple of seasons. They may not want a forty year old mermaid!

Uhhh.. how old did you think Jodi Benson was?? Hah. I guess thats pretty different from being on stage though where both appearance and voice counts. I'd love to see Kerry, personally, and when I first heard about this potential show a while back, she was the first one I thought of. Can't wait for this show!!!

[takehomeazak06]

Posted: 6/23/05 at 2:31pm

"I'd like to see Ashley Brown. Or, even if she doesn't do it, she is on the On The Record CR singing 'Part of Your World', so its all good."

Ashley Brown is really good and the fact that i was lucky enough to get to talk to her for like an hour after On the Record is really cool. She did a really good job singing "Part of your world" and when i asked what was her favorite song to sing in the show she said "anything from the little mermaid"... and her favorite solo song was coincidentally "part of your world" even though i liked "reflections" better.

whoever said mulan would be a good show is 100% correct.