Drury Lane Theatre: Disney’s The Little Mermaid
Sarah Kay as Ariel and Maya Lou Hlava as Flounder
Drury Lane Theatre Presents DISNEY’S THE LITTLE MERMAID Review – A Classic Telling of The Story Turned Musical
TLDR: The musical version of the Disney classic stays mostly faithful to the original movie while adding more songs and scenes to add extra depth to the story. Fans of The Little Mermaid will appreciate this version of the musical with tons of colorful and fun costumes, set pieces, and sea creature puppets.
Sarah Kay as Ariel, Landree Fleming as Scuttle, Maya Lou Hlava as Flounder, and Patrick Johnson as Prince Eric
Drury Lane Takes Us Under the Brightly Colored Rainbow Sea
A giant manta ray descends the stairs from the stage into the audience. The giant pink and purple squid follows suit on the other side. The manta swoops over our heads and the squid waves its tentacles at audience members. It’s the big, showstopping “Under the Sea” number and we’re surrounded by a menagerie of underwater creatures. Puppets and creative costumes by Chicago Puppet Studio and costume designer Ryan Park create this rainbow spectacle making it feel like the stage is bursting with sea-life.
The cast flows “under the water” as the costume designer gave all the mermaids shimmery, silky tails each a little bit different and inspired by Victorian corsets and bustles (no Heely/roller skates here). Projection designer Anthony Churchill and lighting designer Ryan O’Gara create ripples on the stage to emulate waves and lots of brightly colored corals and bubbles as we descend into the sea.
They also get creative with some of the large, epic scenes by re-creating them with smaller scale puppets. As Eric’s ship endures a storm, the large bow set piece is rolled away and a smaller scale comes out of the darkness, carried by two ensemble members as the “waves.” The ship cracks and suddenly a single spotlight illuminates a puppet Eric falling beneath the waves and puppet Ariel swimming to save him.
Shimmering Beneath The Waves, Fan Favorites Are Still Here
Rest assured, all of your favorite characters are on the stage from anxiety ridden Flounder, to the Frech chef singing “Le Poisson,” to of course, Ariel, Eric, King Triton, and Ursula. The main sea creature characters are puppets brought to life by their actors. Michael Earvin Martin as Sebastian keeps the crab’s signature Jamaican accent and flits around the sea or scuttles around on land trying to keep Ariel in check. Maya Lou Hlava plays Flounder nervously shaking as he tries to be brave in the face of conflict.
Ariel, played by Sarah Kay, sings “Part of Your World” longingly in her grotto, wanting to join the humans on land. She plays Ariel as positively upbeat, always with a wide smile wishing for her dreams to come true. Patrick Johnson plays Eric as a young sea farer longing for constant adventure and refusing to marry until he finds someone who loves the sea as much as he does.
Then, rising from the underwater haze in her deep, dark cavern Ursula played by Sawyer Smith appears flanked by half a dozen tentacles each moving and swaying on their own to create her larger-than-life presence. She dares Ariel to sign her cursed contract in their shake-the-theatre rendition of “Poor, Unfortunate Souls.” Her trusty sidekicks, Flotsam and Jetsam (Leah Morrow and Ryan Michael Hamman) swim menacingly throughout the audience, their eyes and tails glowing.
The ensemble comes together bringing the undersea world to life becoming waves, various sea creatures, and land lubbers alike.
The After Party Thoughts
The musical changes a few things from the movie mostly for the good like adding an extra scene that makes us feel like Ariel and Eric do fall further in love and adding more motivation for King Triton’s hatred of humans. However, for me, some changes didn’t gel, which we may be able to chock up to the musical trying to add more funny bits to the book. Like Flounder having a crush on Ariel and making it blatantly obvious, for me, a fish/merperson relationship felt cringey and uncomfortable. And the Scuttle character doesn’t come across as a lovable know-it-all, just grating.
If those aren’t a deal breaker and you love The Little Mermaid, you’ll love this show. This production has all the signature songs and characters from the movie with magnificent puppets and a cast that delivers it with all the positive energy you would want for a holiday and family-friendly show.
RECOMMENDED
Sarah Kay as Ariel
When
Now through January 12, 2024
Where
Drury Lane Theatre
100 Drury Lane
Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181
Run Time: 2:20, including a 20-minute intermission
Tickets
$35+
Tickets can be purchased through the Drury Lane Theatre website
Photos
Brett Beiner
CAST
Sarah Kay (Ariel)
Patrick Johnson (Prince Eric)
Anand Nagraj (King Triton)
Sawyer Smith (Ursula)
Landree Fleming (Scuttle)
Ryan Michael Hamman (Jetsam)
Maya Lou Hlava (Flounder)
Rob Lindley (Grimsby)
Michael Earvin Martin (Sebastian)
Leah Morrow (Flotsam)
Ensemble: Emily Ann Brooks, Nic Dantes, Stephen Diaz, Matt Edmonds, Luke Halpern, Natalie Henry, Molly Hernandez, Alanna Lovely, Austin Nelson Jr., Alexandra Palkovic, Trey Plutnicki, Maxel McLoud Schingen, Amanda Walker, and Elaine Watson
CREATIVE
Scott Weinstein (director)
Kasey Alfonso (choreographer)
Ellie Kahn (music director)
Tijana Bjelajac (scenic designer)
Ryan Park (co-costume designer)
Zhang Yu (co-costume designer)
Ryan O’Gara (lighting designer)
Lindsay Jones (sound designer)
Anthony Churchill (projection designer)
Cassy Schillo (properties designer)
Tommy Kurzman (Wig Designer)
Chicago Puppet Studio (puppet design)
Rita Vreeland (production stage manager)
Casie Morrel (assistant stage manager)