why did everyone not like little mermaid on broadway

[broadway guy]

Posted: 8/9/11 at 7:12pm

okay its not a perfect show, and i think its stupid how they closed BATB for it. I heard they did it cause the producers didnt want to cause competition beween the two shows but im pretty sure that the professionals doing both shows are adult enough to focus on there own show and not others. back to my point - i loved TLM when i saw it,and thought they handled the "being in water" very well, and the shipwreck scene was one of the coolest effects i have ever scene a broadway show do. so why did it not have a longer run? its a blocbuster musical,so i wud have thought it would have got atleast close to the appreciation BATB got? someone please explain to me why this show didnt get the run it deserved? btw dont get me wrong i love BATB its one OF my favorite movies and musicals ever!

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 8/9/11 at 7:17pm

Well for starters the set looks like a giant ripped up blue shower curtain with a couple of giant corkscrew bottle openers thrown in. Could have been a visual feast... it wasn't.

[imdreamingbig]

Posted: 8/9/11 at 7:22pm

The producers weren't worried about the actors in the two shows competing with each other, they were worried about splitting their audience. They didn't want families to have to come into the city and have to choose between Belle and Ariel (because seeing both shows isn't always a viable option).

[dramamama611]

Posted: 8/9/11 at 7:22pm

You're allowed to like both -- its not an either or thing.

I hated every moment of it. My son hated most of it. My daughter liked it.

I hated the costuming, I hated the sets -- I felt like they just kept adding and adding and adding every little thing a 5 year old suggested.

I wish I could elaborate more, but my self defense mechanism keeps me from remembering.

[Moneyspider]

Posted: 8/9/11 at 7:24pm

It had nothing to do with the casts. Disney simply felt the market could not sustain two shows based off their princess franchise.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 8/10/11 at 10:30am

"It had nothing to do with the casts. Disney simply felt the market could not sustain two shows based off their princess franchise."

That's called spin, but is far from the real reason. If I recall correctly, they were going to put it in the Richard Rodgers, but determined the sets were too big, so it went to the Lunt instead.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 8/10/11 at 10:35am

I LOVE The Little Mermaid film, I HATED the musical. It stripped away everything I loved about the film and pooped on it. It was the most joyless extravaganza ever. It still boggles my mind that the resources at Disney who brought us state of the art stagecraft with BATB and Lion King, produced that nauseating spectacle.

It looked like a cheap overdone bathroom or kids party with an Ocean theme. Just awful. Nothing could save it.

[tazber]

Posted: 8/10/11 at 10:42am

It was an ugly and busy mess of a show. I kept wishing someone would light those giant bongs so at least the audience could laugh at the campiness of it all.

I love Menken, but the new songs were weak and forgettable. And the end of Act I was oddly anti-climactic.

[uncageg]

Posted: 8/10/11 at 10:53am

Betty, I think that was one of its main problems. It seemed to fall short visually even as colorful as it was.

Fosse, I was living in Denver when it was there and from what I was told, they knew they were moving into the Lunt. Prior to it opening at the Elle Caulkin's Opera House the stage was "marked off" to the specs of the Lunt stage and the sets were built to fit it so the move to Broadway would be easier.

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 8/10/11 at 11:03am

I found it incredibly appropriate that the entire set was plastic... LOL

Posted: 8/10/11 at 11:03am

People hated it because cast members smoked in costume outside the stage door.

[James885]

Posted: 8/10/11 at 11:12am

One of the ugliest shows I've seen in recent memory.

The sets were ugly - what was with those monolithic bong towers?
The costumes were ugly - Flounder in a t-shirt and shorts??

And to top it all off, Francesca Zambello's direction was awful.

I thought the added Menken/Slater songs were either hit or miss.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 8/10/11 at 11:25am

One theory (and a good one) why they closed BATB was that Shoomaker didn't like the fact that he had nothing to do with it's success and he wanted to prove to everyone he could produce a giant Disney hit like BATB, and we all know how that worked out.
BATB was given like 6 months notice that they were closing and that's when they announced MERMAID would go into the Lunt (the whole thing was done rather badly) and I remember BATB company members wearing t-shirts that said: "Roller Skating fish?"
Many of the decisions on MERMAID, that should have been made by the director (who Shoo was promoting as the next Taymor) were made by himself and commitee, it was a mess from the git go.

[James885]

Posted: 8/10/11 at 11:31am

CurtainPullDowner I agree with what you said about Schumacher. I heard that he was the one who was calling the shots for the show for pretty much the entire length of its Broadway preview period.

Updated On: 8/10/11 at 11:31 AM

[MadonnaMusical]

Posted: 8/10/11 at 11:32am

You had to see it to believe it. It was terrible, like, it might as well have been a community theatre production... and that's giving community theatres a bad name, when there are plenty of great community theatres out there. It wasn't the story or score.... it's little mermaid... everyone loves the score and story.... it was the DIRECTOR... and the design team... and DISNEY themselves for not spending more money. THIS IS A SHOW THAT COULD HAVE USED THE 70 MILLION spidey budget... and been spectacular... and would have run for 20 years and made the money back.

Terrible costumes..... flounder was wearing a yellow t-shirt and blue shorts...... really???? THE roller skates were TERRIBLE... TERRIBLE.... TERRIBLE.... I wanted to see them flying around the stage.... I wanted a digital screen showing ocean stuff behind the actors.... I wanted amazing sets (not the cork screws).... JUST TERRIBLE.....

I am actually hoping that they revive it soon.... maybe when poppins finally closes.... there aren't enough kid shows on broadway right now... seriously there are only about 4 that kids can see....

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ to be made.

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 8/10/11 at 11:36am

Four is plenty, methinks.

But what makes this thread practically glisten with irony is that if you look back at the LM threads around when it opened, people were tripping over themselves to say how great it was and how wonderful it looked.

[beautywickedlover]

Posted: 8/10/11 at 12:01pm

The sets and the book were some of the biggest problems. Another thing that did not wok was the costumes. Carlotta and the maids looked like half people, half chicken. Also, flounder was just wearing a yellow t-shirt and shorts.

[THDavis]

Posted: 8/10/11 at 12:03pm

There are few times that I'll like a show if I find the cast album to be unsatisfactory, and this show lived up to that expectation. The classics were performed well, but the new material was pretty boring and two dimensional, the sets were cheap and unattractive, and the costuming felt uninspired. It definitely wouldn't be an easy show to direct, meaning Francesca Zambello shouldn't have been leading this trainwreck.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 8/10/11 at 12:12pm

^ exactly. Zambello was a lot of the problem with that show. I still can't get over why they took out Vannesa and added a SINGING CONTEST. That makes no sense.

[broadway guy]

Posted: 8/12/11 at 9:47pm

thats very interesting to hear about the director,i didnt know that. but okay..what exactly was everyone expecting from this show? i think its very unfair to expect them to b on wires pretending they r swimming for 2 hours.there is no way they cud do that. when ppl saw beauty and the beast did they really expect the objects to b 8 inches off the ground? i think TLM had flaws to it,but i think ppl were way to harsh on it. ill admit i had no idea what the corkscrew things were supposed to b. but i believe how they did the ocean with the glistening moving plastic was a clever way to do the show without being actually underwater. the thing with all disney theatrical shows like BATB Lionking etc... are that they suggest these different worlds and costumes not actually do it. for example : grown actors playing candlesticks. they didnt have an actual candlestick and have an actor b a voice over..why?that wud b stupid. did u actually see simba in a full grown lion suit? no it was SUGGESTED which is exactly what TLM did. if u look closely alot of the puppetry in lion king is alot like the puppetry used for under the sea in the little mermaid. just saying

[broadway guy]

Posted: 8/12/11 at 9:47pm

thats very interesting to hear about the director,i didnt know that. but okay..what exactly was everyone expecting from this show? i think its very unfair to expect them to b on wires pretending they r swimming for 2 hours.there is no way they cud do that. when ppl saw beauty and the beast did they really expect the objects to b 8 inches off the ground? i think TLM had flaws to it,but i think ppl were way to harsh on it. ill admit i had no idea what the corkscrew things were supposed to b. but i believe how they did the ocean with the glistening moving plastic was a clever way to do the show without being actually underwater. the thing with all disney theatrical shows like BATB Lionking etc... are that they suggest these different worlds and costumes not actually do it. for example : grown actors playing candlesticks. they didnt have an actual candlestick and have an actor b a voice over..why?that wud b stupid. did u actually see simba in a full grown lion suit? no it was SUGGESTED which is exactly what TLM did. if u look closely alot of the puppetry in lion king is alot like the puppetry used for under the sea in the little mermaid. just saying

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 8/12/11 at 10:07pm

It's called illusion & Disney magic. Which The Little Mermaid had none of.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 8/15/11 at 10:52am

Ever since I was young, Little Mermaid has been one of my favorite Disney movies. Naturally, I was excited for the Broadway production.

Good thing I only spent $25 for the student rush seating. The show was a mess; the costumes, the scenery, staging and books were all disappointing. The only thing I thought was somewhat redeeming was the score.

Like bwayphreak234, I did not like how they changed the story to not include Vanessa, who would've added a whole new dimension to the musical. The singing contest was lame. I thought this production lacked the Disney magic.

It's a shame they closed Beauty and the Beast to showcase The Little Mermaid. While I know many people here don't appreciate the Disney musical, you cannot deny that compared to Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast was truly a grand and magical show.

[misto625]

Posted: 8/15/11 at 11:53am

While I know many people here don't appreciate the Disney musical, you cannot deny that compared to Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast was truly a grand and magical show.

In my opinion, Beauty and the Beast is a truly grand and magical show no matter what it is being compared to!

The Little Mermaid was just a mess. I think a difference might be that Disney didn't know if Beauty and the Beast and Lion King were going to work onstage, and so a lot of effort was put into the productions. In the case of Little Mermaid, I think the audience was already expected to come see the show, because little girls like Ariel, and I don't feel enough effort was put into it. Either that or Disney Theatrical executives really like giant plastic bongs and freak-of-nature costuming. A couple of the new songs were pretty great, but outlandishly garish costumes and a glittery abstract set did the show in. I will say that "Kiss the Girl" was magnificently performed and staged, and the rest of the show was just not able to sustain that level.

Francesca Zambello's theatrical track record is spotty: Little Mermaid, Little House on the Prairie, co-directing the upcoming Rebecca, but she has received some acclaim in the opera world. In light of some of the comments made here, I wonder what directorial choices she made and what was forced on her by Thomas Schumaker to see where the breakdown in creativity occurred.

[Moneyspider]

Posted: 8/15/11 at 1:53pm

I can't imagine the market could support two Disney Princess shows in any case, especially since the last movie in that franchise wasn't huge at the box office. I mean, theoretically BAtB could have been a family Phantom and all...