Steve Blanchard News

Disney's THE LITTLE MERMAID runs through November 5 at Fox Cities PAC, and the critics are weighing in!

THE LITTLE MERMAID opened swimmingly at Appleton's Fox Cities Performing Arts Center. With plenty of laughs, entertaining musical numbers and innovative staging, THE LITTLE MERMAID is a shore bet.

When I last met with these characters 'Under the Sea', I was only starting to cover theatrical events in the Triangle area. Now over three years later, I have more experience, so let's take another dive, shall we? Based on the 1989 Disney animated classic of the same name as well as the classic Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, The Little Mermaid tells the story about a young mermaid who dreams of the world above the sea and gives up her beautiful voice to find her true love.

Okay, let's just get real for a moment: if one approaches this show as an adult and compares it with the canon of theatrical literature, this a production which often falls flat. However, in comparison to average children's entertainment (which is clearly the producers' targeted demographic) it holds up well. Your average elementary aged kid will be thoroughly and utterly charmed. But the parents who brought them? That might be a different story. The performers are all supremely talented, with dozens of Broadway shows to their credit. Even if I felt they might have been instructed to push every moment, they still allow their glorious voices to shine through. While it doesn't run in the same league as the classic Disney films, this production does its job: providing fluffy entertainment for an evening out after school, getting through everything as quickly as possible to make sure the kids get back home in bed to be ready for school tomorrow.

Extra, extra! Newsies is coming to Netflix! Following a successful and record-breaking cinematic debut, 'Disney's Newsies: The Broadway Musical!' will be released on Netflix on September 5, 2017.

Victoria Theatre Association's Premier Health Broadway Series will present Disney's THE LITTLE MERMAID, the under-the-sea spectacle swimming into the Benjamin & Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center Aug. 8-13, 2017. Tickets for the timeless fairytale go on sale Wednesday, June 21.

Seize the day one last time! NEWSIES: THE BROADWAY MUSICAL, the TonyAward-Winning Broadway Musical, is back by popular demand for a special encore presentation at The El Capitan Theatre, August 4-9, 2017 and stars Jeremy Jordan, reprising his Tony Award-Nominated performance as 'Jack Kelly.'

Seize the day one last time! NEWSIES: THE BROADWAY MUSICAL, the TonyAward-Winning Broadway Musical, is back by popular demand for a special encore presentation at The El Capitan Theatre, August 4-9, 2017 and stars Jeremy Jordan, reprising his Tony Award-Nominated performance as 'Jack Kelly.'

The Broadway in the Boros series concluded last night, July 31st, in the Bronx with a free outdoor screening of 'Disney's Newsies: The Broadway Musical!'. The event was hosted by Newsies alum Tommy Bracco and featured performances from Broadway cast members Adam Kaplan and Liana Hunt. Scroll down for photos!

Due to the inclement weather, Disney's NEWSIES screening, scheduled for tonight as part of Broadway in the Boros, has been postponed until next Monday, July 31.

In partnership with the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment's Broadway in the Boros series, 'Disney's Newsies: The Broadway Musical!' will premiere the first outdoor screening of the film on Monday, July 24, 2017 at Williamsbridge Park Oval in the Bronx (3225 Reservoir Oval E). 

Victoria Theatre Association's Premier Health Broadway Series will present Disney's THE LITTLE MERMAID, the under-the-sea spectacle swimming into the Benjamin & Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center Aug. 8-13, 2017. Tickets for the timeless fairytale go on sale Wednesday, June 21.

Hold your breath, because the Pittsburgh CLO is about to dive right into the water and take you under the sea! Disney's The Little Mermaid, based closely off the 1989 animated film, returned to the Benedum Center on Tuesday evening and continues with performances running through next week.

Due to an immensely successful and record-breaking cinematic debut, 'Disney's Newsies: The Broadway Musical!' returns to movie theaters nationwide for a two-day encore presentation. Captured live at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre early last year, the event features Jeremy Jordan, who currently stars in the television series 'Supergirl,' reprising the role he created as 'Jack Kelly.'

Pittsburgh CLO has joined forces with Kansas City Starlight to produce a 21-week tour of Disney's THE LITTLE MERMAID, coming to the Benedum Center June 14-25.

Disney's Little Mermaid at Starlight offers a great show and value added video assist

Newsies forever, second to none! Disney Theatrical Productions, along with former Newsies cast members Jack Sippel, Tommy Bracco, Iain Young, and Jordan Samuels, have just announced that the live Fathom production of Newsies will be released digitally on May 23 in a special video below!

The curtain set sail as the orchestra led an overture riddled with recognizable tunes. Two rows behind me, an adorable little girl clad in turquoise fins and a long red wig bounced up and down in her seat, eager for the show to begin. From behind a brilliantly dressed proscenium, Diana Huey popped out through playful bubbles, singing "This is where I belong!" to open the 5th Avenue Theatre's touring production of Disney's The Little Mermaid. Huey, who leads as Ariel, is absolutely accurate in her first lines. Masterfully assuming the role of the stubborn little mermaid with a show-stopping voice, Huey is joined by a stellar cast of theatrical strength.

Last night, Ariel and her underwater friends swam into the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts for a weeklong stay, appropriately at the Walt Disney Theatre. The limited engagement, which originated at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre in November 2016, is a silly dose of fun and nostalgia for theatregoers of all ages. Though there are performances and elements that seem less than fitting for the grand Dr. Phillips stage, the show as a whole ends up being more than the sum of its parts.

'Disney's Newsies: The Broadway Musical!' three-day cinema event broke ticketing records to become the highest-grossing Broadway event to date from Fathom Events. An estimated 210,250 people saw the event on big screens across the U.S. on February 16, 18 and 22, amounting to $3.47 million in ticket sales. It also now ranks as the No. 2 top-performing title for Fathom Events to-date.