Disney’s The Little Mermaid
Music by Alan Menken
Lyrics by Howard Ashman and Glen Slater
Book by Doug Wright
Directed by Kevin Moriarty
Music Directed by Vicky Nooe
Choreography by Tiana Kaye Blair
My thoughts on The Little Mermaid or…a beautiful mermaid princess, a handsome prince, and an amazing crab.
Wow. I’ve never seen the Wyly Theater like this before. Scenic Designer Dahlia Al-Habieli has transformed the place into an undersea wonderland. Shades of blue abound with multicolored jewel tone bubbles ascending into our world. But you are not going to be in our world very often for the next 90 minutes. Sit back and let those waves of joy wash over you as the story of Ariel and Prince Eric unfolds. Get ready to hear every fish joke or pun ever written and get caught up in the net of the irresistibly infectious familiar score played by the unde-bait-ably awesome Music Director/Conductor Vicky Nooe and the fin-tastic orchestra. A veritable tidal wave of tunes fills the Wyly and it’s almost impossible not to hum along.
Director Kevin Moriarty and Choreographer Tiana Kaye Blair have channeled their inner Cecil B. DeMille to make this huge cast look polished and professional on stage as they act, sing, and dance. It must have been an over-whale-ming task as there are quite a few towns in Texas with a smaller population than this cast. There’s also an army of people backstage and in the costume shop who construct and implement Hope Cox’s seaworthy designs for costumes, wigs, and makeup., not to mention keeping up with everything between shows.
This production is in conjunction with Public Works, an outreach program of Dallas Theater Center. Public Works affords community members from grandparents to youngsters a chance to be on stage, most often for the first time. As a volunteer for the 2019 Public Works production, I got to see firsthand the pride and happiness it brings to the participants. That happiness is palpable and spills over into the audience as a hundred or so stage neophytes become starfish. Joining the first timers are many terrific actors from the DFW community as well as members of DTC’s Brierley Resident Acting Company. For a list of all cast, crew, and creatives. click on the “View the Program” button.
Christina Austin Lopez is the mermaid princess Ariel who longs for love and legs. Ariel is a romantic young woman with a definite stubborn streak and Lopez captures both aspects of her personality beautifully, almost as beautifully as she sings. Her lovely soprano almost brought me to tears during “Part of Your World.” Lopez’s Ariel is fun and feisty. She’s the very picture of a teenager in love whether on land or sea.
The object of Ariel’s affection is the dashing Prince Eric portrayed by Kevin Solis. Solis has a big musical theater voice that is thrilling to hear. He has a wonderful likeability factor on stage, and he projects both the strength and the vulnerability of the reluctant royal. His courtship scenes with Ariel are beyond charming.
Bob Hess is the commanding Triton, King of the Sea, who is revered for his powers. He is also the father of Ariel. Hess rules the stage as well as the sea here. Looking like a hero from a Marvel movie, Hess’s powerful voice gives the king even more strength. Hess is such a marvelous actor that he takes this fairytale character and imbues him with Shakespearean gravitas.
There’s got to be a villain in every fairytale and Ursula the Sea Witch is definitely a classic villain as she schemes to take Ariel’s voice from her. The amazing Liz Mikel as Ursula is that sort of creepily funny, campy, scary, nefarious character in the vein of Cruella DeVille. Mikel struts around the stage shouting commands to her minions as she plots and plans. She relishes being the evil sister to Triton. You will be a “Poor Unfortunate Soul” if you miss Liz Mikel as Ursula.
Sebastian the Crab, a servant to the royal family, is a proud, talented, and officious young crustacean. In the hands of the unbelievably talented Zachary J. Willis, Sebastian also becomes a scene stealing, stage filling wonder with a glorious voice that makes “Under the Sea” and “Kiss the Girl” big, crowd-pleasing numbers. It is hilarious to watch Willis maneuver around the stage. He seems to take the tiniest of steps but move with incredible speed. He’s everywhere at once, spreading theater magic in his wake, a one-man tsunami of talent.
All the physical aspects of the play work well. From the aforementioned set and costumes to Amanda West’s lighting and Claudia Jenkins Martinez’s sound, everything is first rate here.
The musical is filled with surprises that are sure to delight young theatergoers. Director Moriarty has the characters popping up all over the Wyly. There are thousands of bubbles in the air at times and confetti, too. You even get to sing and dance along with the characters at the end of the play.
There’s nothing fishy about it. Disney’s The Little Mermaid is an effervescent, high-spirited tale for the entire family.
