Disney Stage
Topic: The Little Mermaid Opening moved to January 10

#	Author	Message
1	leemac Thu 11/29/2007 10:29a	THE LITTLE MERMAID RESUMES BROADWAY PERFORMANCES TONIGHT, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29th AT THE LUNT-FONTANNE THEATRE Official Press Opening Moved to Thursday, January 10th New York, NY (November 29, 2007) - The new Broadway production of Disney's THE LITTLE MERMAID will resume performances tonight, Thursday, November 29th. Prior to the canceled performances due to the recent labor dispute, the show played five sold out previews at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre (205 West 46th Street). The previously scheduled opening night of December 6th has been cancelled and THE LITTLE MERMAID will now have its official press opening on Thursday, January 10th at 8pm. "This was an unprecedented experience for all of us and we are excited to be going back into the theatre," said Thomas Schumacher, Producer of THE LITTLE MERMAID and President of Disney Theatrical Productions. "We are eager to start performing again for our audiences, many of whom have been looking forward to seeing this show for a long time." The official press opening is slated for January 10th. "The preview and rehearsal process is important to a new musical and despite missing nearly three weeks of performances, I give an enormous amount of credit to our brilliant cast, crew, musicians and entire creative team for keeping the momentum and picking up right where we left off," Schumacher continued. "This is the joy of working with amazingly talented and driven people who want nothing more than to get back to work." THE LITTLE MERMAID is based on the Disney film and the classic fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. The company features Sierra Boggess as ‘Ariel,' Sean Palmer as ‘Prince Eric,' Norm Lewis as ‘King Triton,' Tituss Burgess as ‘Sebastian,' Eddie Korbich as ‘Scuttle,' Jonathan Freeman as ‘Grimsby,' Derrick Baskin as ‘Jetsam,' Tyler Maynard as ‘Flotsam,' Cody Hanford and J.J. Singleton as ‘Flounder,' and Sherie Rene Scott as ‘Ursula.' THE LITTLE MERMAID takes place in a magical kingdom beneath the sea, where a beautiful young mermaid named Ariel longs to leave her ocean home to live in the world above. But first, she'll have to defy her father, the king of the sea, escape the clutches of an evil sea witch and convince a prince that she's the girl with the perfect voice. Led by the award-winning director, Francesca Zambello, some of the theatre's most innovative artists have collaborated to create THE LITTLE MERMAID. The score features the classic songs: "Part of Your World," "Kiss the Girl" and the Academy Award ®-winning Best Original Song, "Under the Sea," composed by eight-time Academy Award ® winner Alan Menken and his longtime collaborator, the late Howard Ashman, as well as 10 new songs by Mr. Menken and lyricist Glenn Slater. The book for the new musical is by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award ®-winning playwright Doug Wright. THE LITTLE MERMAID's visionary team of artists includes: Olivier Award winner Stephen Mear (choreography), George Tsypin (scenic design), Tatiana Noginova (costume design), Tony Award ® winner Natasha Katz (lighting design), John Shivers (sound design), Danny Troob (orchestrations), Michael Kosarin (musical direction), David Brian Brown (hair design), Angelina Avallone (make-up design), Sven Ortel (projection & video designer), Rick Sordelet (fight director) and Pichón Baldinu (aerial design). The company of 35 also includes: Adrian Bailey, Cathryn Basile, Heidi Blickenstaff, James Brown III, Robert Creighton, Cicily Daniels, John Treacy Egan, Tim Federle, Merwin Foard, Bahiyah Sayyed Gaines, Ben Hartley, Meredith Inglesby, Michelle Lookadoo, Joanne Manning, Alan Mingo, Jr., Zakiya Young Mizen, Betsy Morgan, Arbender J. Robinson, Bret Shuford, Jason Snow, Chelsea Morgan Stock, Kay Trinidad, Price Waldman and Daniel J. Watts.
2	ToonKirby Fri 11/30/2007 12:06a	A friend of mine saw this tonight and wasn't crazy about it. BUT he's a bit jaded as he sees literally everything on Broadway. He did say that the lead was fantastic and a likely front-runner for the Tony. - kch, http://moviedearest.blogspot.c om/
3	TheRedhead Fri 1/11/2008 8:24a	Well, I guess the best thing we can say is that it opened. The reviews are embarrassing. Every newspaper I read HATED it. NY Times, Post, Newsday, and Daily News gave it a big ol' raspberry. USA Today wasn't totally negative I guess, but the review sounded like it was written by a fifth grader. My friend attended the opening last night. He said it was "horrifying" and made B&B look like the highest of art. He said that Ben Brantley, though a tool, was completely spot-on in his review. I really wonder how this show will do. With all the competition out there for family-friendly Broadway shows, I don't think it's safe to assume that this will be critic-proof. "Tarzan" proved that.
4	Sport Goofy Fri 1/11/2008 8:27a	The WSJ had a positive review this morning.
5	TheRedhead Fri 1/11/2008 8:36a	The review on AP was good. Washington Post hated it.
6	Mickeyfan1 Fri 1/11/2008 11:26a	Remember my friends the critics hated Beauty and Beast when it opened on Broadway. Face it, New York Critics just don't like the idea of the studios coming to Broadway. I saw the show in Denver and the audience loved it. I think it will have a good run on Broadway.
7	TheRedhead Fri 1/11/2008 1:33p	But then how come New York critics loved Lion King? There weren't enough mops in Manhattan to wipe up all the drool. The idea that critics have something against Disney is laughable. And B&B was ten years ago, before Broadway figured out that the way to have a hit was to appeal to families. And don't forget that the show survived as long as it did by firing half the cast, trimming special effects, and moving the whole show to a smaller theater. Little Mermaid has had bad word of mouth and now has the worst reviews of the season so far, and there is other competition for families. Little girls are going to see Wicked and Legally Blonde by the droves. The Mermaid's future is far from secure.
8	kennect Fri 1/11/2008 4:34p	This is the first Disney show I have no interest in seeing...I would rather have had a chance to see Tarzan....
9	leemac Fri 1/11/2008 4:51p	We saw it last night and I will be posting a review early next week. In short I found it an unmitigated disaster. There is almost nothing to redeem this show. I can forgive the weird minimalistic set design but can't forgive the awful book - the destruction of the original storyline (especially Ursula's destruction) is unforgivable. This show will need to be critic proof if it is to survive.
10	kennect Fri 1/11/2008 8:30p	The only thing worse than reading the reviews was watching the video for "Under the Sea"....At best it looks like theme park entertainment....

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