The Little Mermaid on Broadway

[xxhplinkxx]

Not very well.

Great.

[SpringHeelJack]

Are you kidding? If kids didn't go to Broadway, Disney would have no market for any of their stage shows.

I think Disney could try to pull off shows more for an adult audience, and I think The Lion King serves adults enough. At least The Hunchback of Notre Dame looks like it may need older audiences.

Oh, I'm not saying they can't do something that appeals to a wide audience, but I mean, the average business man who happens to be in New York and wants to take in a show is going to hit up something like "Avenue Q" or "The Producers" (before it closed) or "The Phantom of the Opera" (because it's an unstoppable juggernaut) as opposed to the latest Disney movie-turned musical. You'll get the occasional couple on a date, but they certainly don't make up the majority of the audience.

[Disney Duster]

Oh, Brendan, I thought you meant that Disney needed to market their shows to children, but you meant without the children they wouldn't be able to stay on the Great White Way. Hopefully they'll think they have enough money from all the kids at other shows to risk Hunchback of Notre Dame.

[Disney's Divinity]

I enjoyed the review, Disney Duster. Unfortunately, I'll most likely never see this show, with the original cast anyway. Despite my apparent dislike for Scott's portrayal of Ursula, I would still have liked to see it once. But, hey, I've always got the movie!



I also agree that Scott's desire to have the film become more feministic shouldn't have influenced the show. In my personal opinion, the movie's already a feminist's dream (and even if Ariel does get help in destroying Ursula, why is it that people expect a person to never receive help?).

[tsom]

Very great review Disney Duster! I'm glad you like the show.

Just curious, what were your favorite and least favorite of the new songs? What change from the movie did you like? Also, so do you think "I Want the Good Times Back" is better than "Wasting Away" or vice-versa?

Everyone else can answer these questions.

[Ariel'sprince]

So,Disney Duster,how was She's In Love? .

They had yellow, bouncy dresses, and I think it was supposed to remind us of yellow chicks,

.
From the clips on YouTube it looks like sponges.

[WickedElphie]

Great and honest review DisneyDuster! Just a small point:

Rob Paulson is the voice actor who did Eric in The Little Mermaid 2. Sean Palmer is the actor who originated the part on Broadway.

I totallly agree that Eric loses a lot of his daring in the show. I wish that for example, in the storm sequence, instead of just falling off the ship, he would be trying to pull Grimsby back from falling overboard only to go over the side himself. Also in the end, I feel like instead of coming down on the ship, which makes no sense anyway, he could have 'swum' down and hit Ursula with the harpoon like in the movie, or taken a hit from the trident to protect Ariel or SOMETHING.

That said, it didn't bother me quite so much as I was watching the show 'cause I really liked Sean. He played Eric as really sweet, but hesitant and unsure about what he wants to do with his life. During his "One Step Closer" with Sierra (which was one of my favorite new scenes) I thought I was going to die from the cute.

[Disney Duster]

Thank you to those who read and said they enjoyed my review!

Disney's Divinity, sorry to hear you may not see the show or Sherie Rene Scott as Ursula. But at least you have those...online videos...

I actually wouldn't have minded the feminism if it didn't feel so forced, obvious, put in regardless of whether it made the show more enjoyable or not, and didn't influence the lines so much. The original movie has a heroine who starts out rather feminist but men turn out to be necessary for her happiness, similar to Belle who started out feminist but lost it. But they are just stories and if you don't have feminist goals, all that matters is what you do to achieve your goals, because it's about making yourself happy, in which case Ariel would be a good example...even though in the end she needed her dad to make her happy, but it was only after she showed how much she wanted that happiness...this just goes on and on! I liked what you said about "what's wrong with a character recieving help?" It depends on how much help, I guess.

Tsom, I can't believe I forgot the songs, when I tried to cover all aspects in my review! I like "The World Above", except that it kind of makes Ariel's original "I want song" less meanigful. I like "I Want The Good Times Back" but I don't think it fits in enough with how I think of "The Little Mermaid" and I like it way less than "Wasting Away", from what I remember. I do like "Her Voice", but more because of the melody than what it's really about, I guess it needs to cover more than just "this voice is soooo wonderful". "She's In Love" was a really great song, but once again it doesn't fit into how I think of "The Little Mermaid". King Triton's reprise of "That World Above" wasn't really worth it, the song almost stalled the drama. I didn't really like "One Step Closer" or the new take on "Les Poissons". It looks like the only other one I really liked was "If Only", but I don't think it worked much for Triton or Sebastian. I like the song because it's beautiful and because Ariel gets to convey real frustration over this clueless man who her fate is riding on! Of course I didn't like "The Contest" that much because it's this change in the plot I don't like set to the same melody as "Part Of That World", but I did think it was funny. I think I liked whatever new was added to the finale, but it wasn't that much. It should have been just like it was on the demo (and the DVD's deleted scene), with Ariel running to Eric singing, "Now we can walk, now we can run..." and somehow I don't remember if they did that!

If they did that, that would be a change from the film I liked. I don't think I really liked any change from the film except maybe the longer King Trition's concert, more talk of Ariel's mother, more backstory on Ursula, and more emphasis placed on Ursula's magic shell. I guess "If Only" is also a great change because it has Ariel expressing her feelings about this whole situation and Eric singing of how he has to decide between the voice and Ariel. But Ariel almost got a kiss that day so I can believe she was content that night, since the movie has no contest for her to worry about.

From the clips on YouTube it looks like sponges.

You know, they're supposed to be cleaning her, and they even have sponges on sticks they use to wash her...I think maybe they are supposed to look like sponges! That was really good! I'm going to add that to my review.

WickedElphie, thank you, I can't believe I made that mistake, I will change my review accordingly! Also, your idea of Eric trying to swim down was good. He was lowered from the ship when he drowned so we know he could come down alone, and maybe Ursula could prepare to do him in and Ariel gets her voice back from the shell to warn him. Then he runs out of air and must go back up, and Ariel deals with Ursula...who does something more spectacular than they have now.

[Princess Forever]

So is it worth the price of tickets and a car ride to NY? I'd love to go see the show, but since money is tight it would have to be really really great for me to go...

[Ariel'sprince]

From the clips on YouTube it looks like sponges.

You know, they're supposed to be cleaning her, and they even have sponges on sticks they use to wash her...I think maybe they are supposed to look like sponges! That was really good! I'm going to add that to my review.

Thanks I"m glad you added that .
About the song-they did should have used the ending when Ariel sings "Now we can,now we can run,now we can stay allday in the sun",The World Above Repirse is funny because "World AABBBOOVVEE!!!! *Everything is destroyed*".
If only I could see it .

[Thomas J]

They re-did the website, and it looks FANTASTIC!

So far, what I recognized as being new is:
-A very helpful bit of information at the top next to the 'Tickets' button, which states what the best seat locations are for that weeks performances.
-A new music box, which lets you easily select what song you want to preview.
-Disney 365 added into the newly (and nicely) organized 'Video' section.
-"The Stage Door Experience" article in the 'News' section.
-A 'Lunt-Fontanne Theatre' section.
-Famous guest pictures in the 'Scrapbook' section.
-The 'Store' link leads to Disney's new Broadway store page, which lets you select which show you'd like to visit the shop of. The shop itself for The Little Mermaid is the same, though.

It seriously looks great.

http://disney.go.com/theatre/thelittlem ... tml#/home/

Edit: They also changed The Little Mermaid's Ticketmaster page:
http://www.ticketmaster.com/artist/1127 ... OWHOMEPAGE

[amazon980]

When will this go on tour?

[SpringHeelJack]

Uh... maybe in like a year. Most likely later. It depends a lot on the financial success of the show.

[Atlantica]

Oh wow, thank you for pointing out the new website ! It looks so fantastic ! It just makes me so sad that it will be YEARS before I can get to see it

I just have one question regarding Sean Palmer as Eric - how is he in the show ? You guys don't really talk about him much. His songs sound amazing, but after seeing him speak on the Red Carpet, I just cant imagine him as Eric! I don't know why !

[Ariel'sprince]

atlanticaunderthesea-You"ll have it on UK? if only I could see it .
The new website is great the sea horse in the shopping website is very cute .

[Thomas J]

Oh wow, thank you for pointing out the new website ! It looks so fantastic ! It just makes me so sad that it will be YEARS before I can get to see it

I just have one question regarding Sean Palmer as Eric - how is he in the show ? You guys don't really talk about him much. His songs sound amazing, but after seeing him speak on the Red Carpet, I just cant imagine him as Eric! I don't know why !

Well my friend and I were discussing him, since she saw the show after me, and we both came to the agreement that he was good for what he was, but was a slightly awkward Eric. I always had the feeling that he was never really into the part, but that could just be his general attitude. When you see him in interviews, he seems like it's just another day, whereas Sierra truly seems to think she's blessed to be where she is, which is probably why so many of us love her. All in all, he was good, but I do think they could have easily chosen someone else. Who? I'm not sure, but he is replaceable, in my opinion.

[yukitora]

Wow, thanks for the extensive review Duster! The changes seem quite interesting, but I sort of hoped they were more faithful to the movie. The "feminist" influence seemed to undermine the plots internal logic... it's Disney, it should be simple, yet sophicated

[Thomas J]

I truly think the fact that Ariel saves herself basically was an excellent addition to the plot; it may not have been true to the movie, but it was an incredible way to end an incredible show.

I want to go see it again really soon.

[Ariel'sprince]

I truly think the fact that Ariel saves herself basically was an excellent addition to the plot; it may not have been true to the movie, but it was an incredible way to end an incredible show.

I want to go see it again really soon.

You know,that's the only bad thing about the film-She needs to kill Ursula,not Eric.

[yukitora]

I truly think the fact that Ariel saves herself basically was an excellent addition to the plot; it may not have been true to the movie, but it was an incredible way to end an incredible show.

I want to go see it again really soon.

Scrap what I said earlier. Put this way, it sounds awesome