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WOW!!! All I can say is that this night was one of the BEST theater experiences I have EVER had! I would probably rank it as number 2 on my list. (Number 1 would of course be my first time seeing “Wicked” in Chicago!!!)
Not only was it an AMAZING show, but we had to opportunity to be a part of the first audience to see it! What a cool thing to be a part of. I am going to attempt to relay our experience to you through this review . . . I hope I can convey at least SOME of my exciting night.
Just before the show started, Thomas Schumacher, the main producer of the show and someone I recognized instantly as a top producer for Disney theatrical productions, walked out onto stage and received thunderous applause! Wow, I realized that the audience was already into the show and it was going to be fun. The theater was COMPLETELY packed out! I couldn’t find a single empty seat!
Schumacher addressed the audience to welcome us and tell us how special this night was. The main floor had several packed rows of top Disney executives and producers here for the special night. He said that the show is in previews and they are constantly changing and tweaking things before they open on Broadway.
He went on, “Don’t be surprised if you see a stage hand on stage (you’ll know they are a stagehand because they aren’t wearing any fins!), or a light flicker oddly, or even a set piece not cooperate. We have yet to get through an entire performance without something going wrong. So if it does, you may see me again so I can explain, we can fix something and then go on with the show. But hopefully, everything will go as planned and you WON’T have to see me again!!”
Much to our surprise (and we found out later, the cast’s surprise), nothing major went wrong and they were able to run the show straight through without stopping! Just a few minor things happened.
The overture started and everyone applauded!!! In fact, I think we applauded for everything! The scenery was amazing, costumes (of which there were many) were gorgeous and ingenious . . .
The music was wonderful! Both the original songs and the MANY new songs, which fit seamlessly with the original score! I have the demo recording of the show with just singers and a piano, so to hear the music with full orchestration was wonderful!
I had been wondering how they would make the fish and merfolk move around the stage. Surely they would not suspend all of them on wires to make them swim through the sea . . . no instead, they coasted with ease across the stage on what else? Heelys!!! It was very cool how they incorporated those shoes into the costumes. Basically, the merfolk had long, skirt like costumes with a mermaid tale curving out the back so if they were to lean over behind something (their legs disappearing) they looked like a mermaid. The skirt-like costumes hid their legs and your eyes were drawn more to the mermaid tales. When they coasted it appeared that they were swimming. Pretty cool.
They had a great stage transition from under water then going up to the surface to the ship at the beginning of the show. The large ship descended from above and hung midair with plenty of water below.
ACT ONE:
The show started off with the song “Fathoms Below” in which Grimsby and Prince Eric were introduced. Then the scene transition back under the sea to watch the merfolk celebrating the recent victory over Ursula and her banishment from King Triton’s kingdom. The King’s six daughters performed “Daughters of Triton” with Sebastian directing the show. Of course, when they introduced Ariel, she did not show up. Triton is angry and we transitioned to Ariel singing a new song called “The World Above”.
Ariel finds a fork and she and Flounder decide to find Scuttle and ask him what it is. Just like in the movie, Scuttle makes up what the fork is for, saying it’s “a dinglehopper” used to comb the hair . . . and then proceeds to sing another new song called “Human Stuff” in which he and three other seagulls sing about random objects like a pipe, hat, and accordion.
Then Ursula is introduced along with her sidekicks Flotsam and Jetsam who are electric eels. I noticed that throughout the show, Ursula wore two different costumes with different octopus arms. My guess is that they were trying both to see which worked best on stage. They all sang a funny song about the “good times” before she was banished from the kingdom. The show portrayed her in a very comical way and on occasion she seemed scary and evil like the villain she is . . . but usually we laughed at her performance. She was great!
Sierra Boggess’ (Ariel) performance of “Part of Your World” was beautiful! She has a great and easy-to-listen-to voice. Her vibrato is very natural and nothing about the way she sang sounded forced or pushed, yet she could sing the rafters down in that theater!
The special effects worked pretty well for the shipwreck scene where Ariel saves Eric’s life. They had a great wire suspension rig to make it appear that Eric had fallen into the water and was slowing sinking to the bottom. Ariel rescues him and then reprises “Part of Your World”. Eric wakes up determined to find the girl that belongs to “that voice”.
One of my favorite moment in the show came when Ariel’s six sisters and Flounder sang a song called “She’s in Love”, which had a gospel feel to it, some great vocal parts, dancing, and J.J. Singleton (Flounder) sang a great solo!
King Triton finds out that Ariel rescued a human and finds her hiding place. Angry he destroys all of the things she has collected. Norm Lewis, who played King Triton, had an AMAZING deep and rich voice! He was by far my favorite performer from the show. He had such a commanding presence on that stage.
Sebastian appears and tries to convince Ariel that “life under the sea is better than anything they got up there!” The stage erupted in a visual feast with lights, costumes, and an extended dance number for “Under the Sea”. They even reprised the song after our long applause.
Prince Eric shows up still looking for that voice and sings a new and beautiful song called “Her Voice”.
Ariel wanders off and meets up with Flotsam and Jetsam. They sing “Sweet Child” and convince her to meet Ursula. The rest of the scene plays out like the movie with Ursula singing “Poor, Unfortunate Souls”. Ariel sells her voice in exchange for becoming human. They had a very cool way of transforming her and act one ended with Ariel washed up on the beach, very human.
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During intermission, I saw a guy with a white T-shirt and black pants on. I made an assumption and asked him if he was part of the tech crew for the show. He said he was and that he ran spots and lights. So I asked him some more about the show. I learned that the cast has been rehearsing the show in NYC since January and arrived in Denver July 1 for rehearsals before the opening night. The tech crew however has been in Denver since May, building the set and running everything from the technical side of things. He said that they have always had some sort of hitch and was surprised that things had been going so well at this performance. “But just wait,” he told me, “something will go wrong, it’s just the nature of a preview.”
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ACT TWO:
Another one of my favorite moments was the first song in Act 2. Scuttle and his band of seagulls were back to help Ariel get used to her new human legs with a new song called “Positoovity”. It was a VERY fun number, complete with tap dancing and some creative lyrics. This song received a lot of applause and even had a reprise at the end.
Back to the main story, Prince Eric finds Ariel, who can’t talk, and takes her to his castle for a bath. While she is getting washed and dressed, Ariel sings to herself “Beyond My Wildest Dreams” as she continues to be amazed at the human world.
Enter the cook to sing “Les Poisons” which turned out to be a hilarious number as Sebastian tries to stay away from the cook’s pot. The song even took a surprising turn as a dance number when all of the servants served the meal to Eric, Ariel, and Grimsby. The number was reminiscent of “Be Our Guest” from “Beauty and the Beast”.
Eric and Ariel run away from the chaos of Sebastian trying to escape and find themselves alone together. Eric tells Ariel that since she can’t express her feelings by talking or singing, she should try dancing. He sang another great new song while teaching her to dance. This was a very beautiful moment in the show.
Ursula appeared again angry that Eric and Ariel were getting along so well. She commands her eels to stop them from kissing with a reprise of her earlier song about “The Good Times”.
Back with Eric and Ariel in the boat and a very familiar scene for “Kiss the Girl”. Tituss Burgess (Sebastian) delivered a great performance with this song. In the end, Flotsam and Jetsam shock the boat just as Ariel and Eric are about to kiss. This effect didn’t quite work well, timing wise . . . but we all got the point.
Then a classic musical moment when Ariel, Sebastian, Eric, and King Triton all sing about their feelings, at the same time, in a beautiful song “If Only”. Sarah and I loved this moment of the show.
On to the ball, where Eric is supposed to pick his bride. Several girls come to sing for him in a humorous song where they all display their different voices, hoping he will choose them. Ariel is the last to show up and tries to sing, but nothing comes out . . . everyone laughs at her . . . but then all is interrupted by a beautiful voice (Ariel’s voice in Ursula’s shell) that fills the air.
Now for the ending. We have all seen the dramatic end of the cartoon . . . this is where I hope they make some changes in the show before NYC. Ursula appears in the ballroom and floods it with water. She does not disguise herself as a human (like the cartoon) but lets Eric see her as she is and explains the situation to him. It is the end of the third day, they haven’t kissed and Ariel is hers! King Triton shows up out of nowhere and Ursula says she will let Ariel go if Triton turns over his kingdom to her. The showdown between Triton and Ursula is over before you realize it as she takes the scepter and starts to kill everyone . . . but Eric swims down (on wires) out of nowhere and knocks it from her hand. The stage exploded in fog and noise and screaming and she was gone.
Then all was happy again. Triton and Ariel made up . . . she and Eric kissed and her voice came back and they all sang a reprise of “Part of Your World”.
The ending just needs some help. It wasn’t as dramatic as I thought it would be. All in all, a great show! I will be interested in seeing how much changes for the Broadway version. And I will be looking forward to hearing the cast album, due to be released in the fall.
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After the show, we went to the stage door and got autographs and pictures with a bunch of the cast. (Where we got all these photos!) The cast was so nice and so happy we were there. They said it was wonderful to have a live audience and that we had given them so much energy.
We were so happy we got to see the show and be part of this special night! Hope you enjoyed reading about it half as much as we enjoyed seeing it! If you get a chance . . . go see the show!
