#1
Posted: 8/19/07 at 1:57am
So I just returned from Denver! and I'd like to report that I loved it! I'll give a breakdown! This is gonna be annoyingly long. I also may be assuming that the reader may know more about the show, so if something doesn't make sense just ask! i'll clarify.
Fathoms Below/Where I Belong-Great. It's a great opening number, and Eric (Sean Palmer) is charming from the start. Though some of the lyrics ( ala 'I don't want to be a prince, I want to sail the sea!' reminded me of Pirate Queen :) but in a good way!) The transitions from surface to under the sea are just perfect!
Daughters of Triton-The mersisters ROCK. Adorable, energetic, and obviously having so much fun on that stage. Great to watch.
The World Above-We see Ariel for the first time, and Sierra is gorgeous. Her facials, her voice, her line delivery could not be better. As a girl who has seen the movie more times than I can even begin to count I was expecting a LOT from the girl. I can say she delivers all that and more. The song is gorgeous too and a great introduction to Ariel.
Human Stuff- the song is great to watch. It was kinda annoying on the demo but on stage it's delightful! Eddie Korbich is a fantasic Scuttle and the three seagulls that accompany him are hilarious to watch.
I Want the Good Times Back-Ahhhh Sherie. the woman is a goddess. The number is great, and Tyler and Derrick as Flotsam and Jetsam (respectively) are fantastic as well. The bond the three have tight, and the dynamic makes for great theatre.
Part of Your World- PERFECTION. I have seen/heard hundreds of people sing this song, everyone with a "that was...good" from me. I cried. Both times I saw the show. Sierra is GREAT and owns the song. One pet peeve, assumably from her training she says the word "Whosits" very strangely. it's really swallowed and "oo" like in some french words. Hard to explain, but it stuck out to me. But a small drop in a bucket of amazingness (awesome metaphor, no?)
The Storm/Part of your World(reprise)---beautifully done. There were audible gasps both times i saw the show when Eric sinks in the water. It's a beautiful visual. Sierra goes up the octave on the end of POYW, which is MIND BLOWING! (someday i'll BE PART OF YOUR WORLD--and it's clear as a bell belt...ahhhh)
She's in Love-the mersisters and Flounder's number. A show-stopper, really fun and hilarious. Both J.J. Singleton and Cody Handford are fabulous FLounders.
Her Voice-This song is probably one of the greatest written for teh theatre in a while. Sean does a wonderful job with it. Stand out moment
The WOrld Above (reprise)-Norm Lewis is fantastic,but I almost feel like he's underused in this show. Nevertheless he is a qualified performer and his voice is perfect for the role. Also, don't let all the reprises scare you-they aren't distractingly the same song as previous. In fact this one and a few of the others are very different from the first version.
Under the Sea-Fantastic. Tituss does a wonderful job translating Sebastian to the stage. he also does lots of up the octave crazy high wondeful singing, which is orgasmic. Love it!
Sweet Child-one of my favorite new songs as well, mainly because of the great harmonies and the fact that Derrick and Tyler are sooo much fun to watch.
Poor Unfortunate Souls-Of course a wonderful act one closer-ending with Ariel's transformation.
ACT TWO:
Positoovity-Scuttle and the seagulls (plus some extra seagulls) are back to help Ariel walk, and this time--THEY TAP! SO much fun. Sierra is even more fun, cute, perfect as the now mute Ariel. She also dances quite well (seriously, what else can she do!?).
Beyond My Wildest Dreams-I have been in love with this song since the demo, and Sierra is great at it. We see a change in Ariel now that she can't express herself withher voice,and even though she IS technically singing this song you feel like it would be sung different if Ariel could sing aloud (does that make sense?). It obviously comes across as in her head. The first night I heard alot of whispers of "Now she can talk!?" but Friday night's audience was much smarter.
Les Poissons--got a lot of laughs. Very well translated-BUT sebastian is under the table and doesn't do much. I wished that during the early pars ofthe song "first I CUT off their heads and I pull out their bones...!" we could have had some facials from Sebastian. Also, small pet peeve: a lyric at the end was changed from "...gonna be hot in the big silver pot" to "...big copper pot" which I wouldn't mind if the pot was indeed copper, but it was definitely silver. so why change it? And the reprise, with the ensemble singing it I realized how much Les Poissons sounds like Be Our Guest. LOL
One Step Closer-I liked this. Cute. Eric teaching Ariel to dance and telling her she can speak/sing and express her emotions that way. Quite a beautiful thought actually.
Kiss the Girl-GREAT!!! that is all.
If Only/Her voice quartet-Gorgeous,.
The Contest: Doesn't bother me, obviously I would have liked them to not deviate from the movie at all, but this seems like a fine solution to the complications of translating the movie and doesn't feel weird in the scheme of the story. the ensemble ladies are wonderful.
The Finale is a bit anticlimatic with Ursulas death, but really how could it be done differently? When I saw it it is Ariel breaking the shell which is Ursula's power source if you will. it takes someone much more creative then myself to think of anything better, and the way it's done is just fine. I'm sure it will be changing in the next few weeks though.
The ending is truly a fairy tale ending and very fitting.
GRIPES: There are very few!
sets-I loved just about everything, lighting/projections, the pieces used the proscenium. I didn't really like the two large things that were used. I call them things because I'mnot sure what they were. they are used in the undersea stuff, possibly as coral? and in the castle as...?? not sure.
costumes- I really liked the way the mermaids were designed. I didn't really like Flounders costume (a big yellow tee shirt?) or Flotsam and Jetsam (sea iguanas?) but once again I don't have a solution to fixing them so...
Also, Ariel's Act Two pink dress was disgusting. It made her look like Barbie when they do the Barbie's Dream house sketch on Saturday Night Live. it was terrible. The next dress she wears is a pretty blue dress, that was ok. It wasn't amazing but a vast improvement to the pink one. Also a little disappointed that Ariel doesn't have a wedding dress.
Random notes: on the 16th the lights on the tentacles that come out of the proscenium during the finale didn't work, and the bottom right hand corner one didn't come out at all. The 17th it all worked fine. BUT on the 17th the show was stopped after Sebastian leaves the stage in the Under the Sea reprise. One of the producers came out and made a (humorous) speech explaining that one of the waves didn't retract correctly (I believe that was what was said) and they would resume shortly. I believe the show started from where it stopped about 10 minutes later. The rest went on without a hitch!
Someone of importance walked by during hte last half of Act two and then sat behind me and took notes. It was either this same producer, or maybe Menken himself--before I knew he was important from hearing the note taking I saw a random man and thought "OMG that looks like Alan Menken!" but that could have been wishful thinking :)
SOOO long, and probably bad spelling and what not, but i'm sleepy-forgive me! I loved it though--it's on the right track for sure.
any questions--shoot them my way.
Fathoms Below/Where I Belong-Great. It's a great opening number, and Eric (Sean Palmer) is charming from the start. Though some of the lyrics ( ala 'I don't want to be a prince, I want to sail the sea!' reminded me of Pirate Queen :) but in a good way!) The transitions from surface to under the sea are just perfect!
Daughters of Triton-The mersisters ROCK. Adorable, energetic, and obviously having so much fun on that stage. Great to watch.
The World Above-We see Ariel for the first time, and Sierra is gorgeous. Her facials, her voice, her line delivery could not be better. As a girl who has seen the movie more times than I can even begin to count I was expecting a LOT from the girl. I can say she delivers all that and more. The song is gorgeous too and a great introduction to Ariel.
Human Stuff- the song is great to watch. It was kinda annoying on the demo but on stage it's delightful! Eddie Korbich is a fantasic Scuttle and the three seagulls that accompany him are hilarious to watch.
I Want the Good Times Back-Ahhhh Sherie. the woman is a goddess. The number is great, and Tyler and Derrick as Flotsam and Jetsam (respectively) are fantastic as well. The bond the three have tight, and the dynamic makes for great theatre.
Part of Your World- PERFECTION. I have seen/heard hundreds of people sing this song, everyone with a "that was...good" from me. I cried. Both times I saw the show. Sierra is GREAT and owns the song. One pet peeve, assumably from her training she says the word "Whosits" very strangely. it's really swallowed and "oo" like in some french words. Hard to explain, but it stuck out to me. But a small drop in a bucket of amazingness (awesome metaphor, no?)
The Storm/Part of your World(reprise)---beautifully done. There were audible gasps both times i saw the show when Eric sinks in the water. It's a beautiful visual. Sierra goes up the octave on the end of POYW, which is MIND BLOWING! (someday i'll BE PART OF YOUR WORLD--and it's clear as a bell belt...ahhhh)
She's in Love-the mersisters and Flounder's number. A show-stopper, really fun and hilarious. Both J.J. Singleton and Cody Handford are fabulous FLounders.
Her Voice-This song is probably one of the greatest written for teh theatre in a while. Sean does a wonderful job with it. Stand out moment
The WOrld Above (reprise)-Norm Lewis is fantastic,but I almost feel like he's underused in this show. Nevertheless he is a qualified performer and his voice is perfect for the role. Also, don't let all the reprises scare you-they aren't distractingly the same song as previous. In fact this one and a few of the others are very different from the first version.
Under the Sea-Fantastic. Tituss does a wonderful job translating Sebastian to the stage. he also does lots of up the octave crazy high wondeful singing, which is orgasmic. Love it!
Sweet Child-one of my favorite new songs as well, mainly because of the great harmonies and the fact that Derrick and Tyler are sooo much fun to watch.
Poor Unfortunate Souls-Of course a wonderful act one closer-ending with Ariel's transformation.
ACT TWO:
Positoovity-Scuttle and the seagulls (plus some extra seagulls) are back to help Ariel walk, and this time--THEY TAP! SO much fun. Sierra is even more fun, cute, perfect as the now mute Ariel. She also dances quite well (seriously, what else can she do!?).
Beyond My Wildest Dreams-I have been in love with this song since the demo, and Sierra is great at it. We see a change in Ariel now that she can't express herself withher voice,and even though she IS technically singing this song you feel like it would be sung different if Ariel could sing aloud (does that make sense?). It obviously comes across as in her head. The first night I heard alot of whispers of "Now she can talk!?" but Friday night's audience was much smarter.
Les Poissons--got a lot of laughs. Very well translated-BUT sebastian is under the table and doesn't do much. I wished that during the early pars ofthe song "first I CUT off their heads and I pull out their bones...!" we could have had some facials from Sebastian. Also, small pet peeve: a lyric at the end was changed from "...gonna be hot in the big silver pot" to "...big copper pot" which I wouldn't mind if the pot was indeed copper, but it was definitely silver. so why change it? And the reprise, with the ensemble singing it I realized how much Les Poissons sounds like Be Our Guest. LOL
One Step Closer-I liked this. Cute. Eric teaching Ariel to dance and telling her she can speak/sing and express her emotions that way. Quite a beautiful thought actually.
Kiss the Girl-GREAT!!! that is all.
If Only/Her voice quartet-Gorgeous,.
The Contest: Doesn't bother me, obviously I would have liked them to not deviate from the movie at all, but this seems like a fine solution to the complications of translating the movie and doesn't feel weird in the scheme of the story. the ensemble ladies are wonderful.
The Finale is a bit anticlimatic with Ursulas death, but really how could it be done differently? When I saw it it is Ariel breaking the shell which is Ursula's power source if you will. it takes someone much more creative then myself to think of anything better, and the way it's done is just fine. I'm sure it will be changing in the next few weeks though.
The ending is truly a fairy tale ending and very fitting.
GRIPES: There are very few!
sets-I loved just about everything, lighting/projections, the pieces used the proscenium. I didn't really like the two large things that were used. I call them things because I'mnot sure what they were. they are used in the undersea stuff, possibly as coral? and in the castle as...?? not sure.
costumes- I really liked the way the mermaids were designed. I didn't really like Flounders costume (a big yellow tee shirt?) or Flotsam and Jetsam (sea iguanas?) but once again I don't have a solution to fixing them so...
Also, Ariel's Act Two pink dress was disgusting. It made her look like Barbie when they do the Barbie's Dream house sketch on Saturday Night Live. it was terrible. The next dress she wears is a pretty blue dress, that was ok. It wasn't amazing but a vast improvement to the pink one. Also a little disappointed that Ariel doesn't have a wedding dress.
Random notes: on the 16th the lights on the tentacles that come out of the proscenium during the finale didn't work, and the bottom right hand corner one didn't come out at all. The 17th it all worked fine. BUT on the 17th the show was stopped after Sebastian leaves the stage in the Under the Sea reprise. One of the producers came out and made a (humorous) speech explaining that one of the waves didn't retract correctly (I believe that was what was said) and they would resume shortly. I believe the show started from where it stopped about 10 minutes later. The rest went on without a hitch!
Someone of importance walked by during hte last half of Act two and then sat behind me and took notes. It was either this same producer, or maybe Menken himself--before I knew he was important from hearing the note taking I saw a random man and thought "OMG that looks like Alan Menken!" but that could have been wishful thinking :)
SOOO long, and probably bad spelling and what not, but i'm sleepy-forgive me! I loved it though--it's on the right track for sure.
any questions--shoot them my way.
and all that I could do because of you was talk of love...
I'm taking my older sister, who by the by, also claims to be "The Biggest and Bestest LITTLE MERMAID fan EVER!" 
