Little Mermaid Broadway Review

[CMGUY89]

I just got back from a preview of the Little Mermaid. I absolutely loved it but I know some people who are a little more critical felt it was "ok". Ariel and Ursula stood out in my mind as the best members of the cast. The heely "swimming" worked much better than I would have thought. Basically I think people need to get past the fact that it isn't the movie and they will enjoy it. It is very abstract and needs a little polish but I think overall it is very good. The Flounder at my performance was J.J. Singleton. He has a striking resemblance to the boy in the HISTA Pre-show looking for "Champ". I will say his voice was amazing and he held his own in a very challenging number. His costume on the other hand was a little lacking and resembled a smock. The "tails" on the mermaids were great. They had long skirts on that covered their legs and the fake tails that stuck out from their butts that made it look like they were swimming. Sarah Boggess (sp?) was a fantastic Ariel and really sang her parts wonderfully, she brought back memories of Voyage of the Little Mermaid over at Studios. Sherry Renee Scott was fantastic as Ursula. She is a lot "nicer" than the one in the film but I think it ultimately makes her much more interesting to watch. Eric was a bit pitchy on his songs, and rumors abound that he might be replaced. IDK. Sebastion was also very funny, and sang wonderfully. Despite the show's shockingly abstract nature I believe it will do well. The show was very light on special effects but did use a lot of trickery/distraction to perform the transformation/drowning scenes. I thoroughly enjoyed the performance and I look forward to seeing it again after previews when they will hopefully work out the kinks that held them back tonight.