Review: THE LITTLE MERMAID at Moorestown Theater Company

As temperatures reach the stratosphere this summer, it’s a good idea to cool off “under the sea” with the award-winning Moorestown Theater Company’s swimmingly good production of The Little Mermaid, their 261st show, directed by Mark Morgan and produced by Mark Morgan and Carol Ann Murray.  With insanely inventive and eye-catching costumes by costume wizard Thom Sirkot; a boatload of talent in alternating Gold and Black casts (Moorestown’s school colors); hummable lyrics; and a live orchestra, this Little Mermaid is family-friendly escapism at its purest. 

Originally inspired by an 1837 Danish fairy tale by Hans Christian Anderson (in which a young princess mermaid is willing to relinquish her life in the sea for one on land with a human soul), The Little Mermaid became a hit 1989 Disney animated musical written and directed by John Musker and Ron Clements and then a 2008 Tony-nominated Broadway musical.  This incarnation has a book by Doug Wright, music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater and a 54-person cast (ages ranging from 7 to 77!), large casts with generations of families being a hallmark of the Moorestown Theater Company.

The plot concerns a red-haired, teenage mermaid named Ariel who lives in the kingdom of Atlantica under the Atlantic Ocean (“Under the Sea”), frolicking on the surface occasionally with her best bud Flounder and collecting human things for her secret grotto with dubious help from a seagull named Scuttle who inaccurately identifies these objects.  Inside, she longs to be up where the people are, “part of that world.”  Meanwhile, her father King Triton is holding a concert with his seven daughters (for which Ariel is running late) to celebrate inheriting his father’s kingdom from which he has forever banished his evil sister, the Sea Witch Ursula.  When Ariel tardily rushes in, he cautions her that she mustn’t squander the beautiful singing voice she inherited from her mother.  Shortly afterwards Flounder unintentionally lets out that they’ve been “to the surface,” causing the King to fly into a rage.  Ariel runs away in tears and the exasperated King hires a none-too-willing Sebastian the Crab to watch over her.

Meanwhile Price Eric is at sea, reminded by Lady Grimsby that he must find a Queen, and hears the lovely singing of Ariel in the distance like a siren’s call.  He insists to his fellow passengers he isn’t imaging it.  A rough patch tips Prince Eric overboard and Ariel saves the prince by bringing him to safety on the beach.  Ariel waits until Eric shows signs of life and gazing into her beautiful face, they both are smitten with each other.  Ariel and Flounder swim home as Eric is determined to find the girl with the golden voice. 

Back at home, things worsen between the little mermaid and her father when he learns she has fallen for a human, leading him ultimately to destroy her grotto of human things with his trident.  Enter Ursula’s minions, the opportunistic eels Flotsam and Jetsam to lure Ariel to Ursula’s lair.  Having destroyed her sisters and father out of jealousy (“Daddy found me loathsome and disgusting…they all got adored, I just got ignored”), Ursula now puts forth her dastardly plan to destroy her niece and remaining sibling.  In exchange for her voice, the Faustian pact goes, Ariel will be allowed to be temporarily human until kissed by the Prince which will make it permanent.  The clause “squid pro quo,” Ursula adds, is that if not kissed by Eric within three days, Ariel forever loses her soul to the duplicitous Sea Witch.  The vulnerable mermaid accepts! 

Will Ariel be kissed by Prince Eric before three days are up or lose her soul?

In MTC productions, leads fill in as ensemble on their nights off from major roles, so some of the most seasoned players are in bit roles at times. Characters, large and small, vividly enrich the whole and the Gold Cast I reviewed assured smooth sailing from the minute the ship appears in the first act with Pilot Mark Pinzur, MTC’s Vocal Director, in fine voice and Renee Walsh an amusingly seasick Lady Grimsby.

Aurelia Harp and Will Reid are Disney perfection as star-crossed lovers Ariel and Prince Eric with their elegant demeanors and pleasingly melodic voices.  Harp’s soprano has a delicate sweetness that gives her an ethereal air, but she is also feisty and rebellious in typical teenage fashion, while Reid is a determined, charming and handsome prince.  As Flounder, Ariel’s adoring aquatic groupie, 13-year-old Nora Weinstein is cute as a button while Dylan Wilson makes Scuttle, the dim-witted but well-meaning seagull and self-proclaimed authority on all things human, a memorable live wire.

As Sebastian, scene-stealing Sandhun Mendis keeps the audience laughing and gets the essence of the crab’s kinetic cartoon personality.  He makes us invested in seeing him not put in a boiling pot by Chef Louise (a phenomenal Kristin Harp) and his high-watt charisma and vocals ably carry the jubilant showstopper “Under the Sea,” one of the high points of the show.  Dan Dreschler is a masterful King Triton with his cool “special effects” trident (i.e. pitchfork) and has understandable concern for daughter Ariel’s involvement with the humans who might have murdered her mother.  (“As long as you’re under my reef, you’ll obey my rules!” he thunders.)  His six other daughters – Mersisters of Ariel – are charmingly played by Raegan Lane, Giovanna Barcia, Maya Toeppner, Cathy Tetreault, Selena Do and Katherine Gorodenchuk.

There are four – count ‘em – four Ursulas in this run of Little Mermaid and I was delighted to see Andrea Drechsler, an alumna of numerous MTC and other productions, in this Gold Cast as the villainous sea witch, a part she lists as her dream role.  With the bawdiness of a Dorothy Loudon and wonderful gradations in her voice to capture Ursula’s sinewy treachery, Dreschler is indeed in her element and a real hoot.  Her costume, in a sea (pun intended) of outstanding costumes, with its 8 floating tentacles, is perhaps my favorite and her malevolently majestic chair is hands down my favorite prop.  Dreschler’s powerhouse performance of “Poor Unfortunate Souls” is another highlight of the show as well as dramatic peak.  Along with “Under the Sea,” it’s one of the best and most visually arresting numbers. 

Ursula’s two sinister and serpentine sidekicks, Flotsam and Jetsam are played by Colin Cassidy and Sophia Diamond (reminiscent of a young Natalie Wood or Winona Ryder), both 16 years old and making diabolically vivid impressions as they writhe with relish and glory in carrying out the sea witch’s wickedness.  Trumpet fish Windward and Leeward (gotta love these names!) are charmingly played by 16-year-old Brayden Ackerman and 12-year-old Logan Sager respectively.

Aside from the big production numbers like “Under the Sea,” there is much fun to be had with tapping seagulls (Kayla Pates and son Sage Diamond, and Danielle Sager and son Blake Sager) and a dance solo from lovely Giovanna Barcia, sharing Dance Captain responsibilities in the show with Danielle Sager.  There is also a fun sing-off, reminiscent of the sequence in Cinderella when the prince plans to marry the maiden whose foot fits the glass slipper, where Prince Eric tries to find his love with the golden voice among Contest Princesses Vanessa Ramalho, Melissa Patterson, Hannah Brodt, Madeline Broadwater, Evelyn Schmidt and Sophia Pollock.  In this sequence, Brodt (Ariel in the Black Cast) can’t disguise her own golden talent!

MTC’s The Little Mermaid doesn’t have a dull moment.  It’s a light-hearted summer delight that will have you longing like Ariel to be “part of [its] world” – or even to see all four Ursulas!

Strobe lights and fog are used during the production.

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