The Little Mermaid on Broadway

[The Little Merboy]

Sucks that it's closing. Never got any celebrity to play Ariel, always wondered who might play her there. LOL.

Hopefully Mermaid stops by Tx, would love to see it again.

[UmbrellaFish]

It is closing because it is very expensive to run. The end of summer always marks the lowest period of attendance to Broadway shows. Typically, shows drop to about 70% attendance. I'm assuming that to turn a profit on a performance, Disney would need to sell more than that and therefore have decided to end the run. I know this wasn't planned in advance because Sean Palmer, the original Prince Eric, was scheduled to return to the show on September 1st, the day after Drew Seeley's run was to end. I am also assuming that this is why August 30th was chosen.

My boyfriend booked our hotel and our plane tickets. My mom and brother want to come, so I am waiting for confirmation from them to get tickets for my Birthday. I'm so excited! I haven't been to New York since April 2001 (we stayed in the World Trade Center).

That's what I thought- Good attendance, just not good enough for the expensive cost of the show.

[tsom]

I'm not worried though. The planned tour is going to make lots and lots of money for Disney, so it's all good.

[ChrisLyne]

I'm really sad to see it closing so soon, I was honestly hoping that this show would have a long run like BATB did (which apparently is rumoured to be coming back to Broadway for the holidays).

Jane and I have brought our holiday forward (thank goodness we didn't book it last month!) so I'm happy we'll get to see it one more time on August 30th. I just feel really sorry for everyone that wasn't able to see it, or worse had holidays booked later in the year so they could see it.

At least it's touring rather than just closing, unlike Tarzan.

I wonder if the fact that they've just closed 2 animated adaptations in as many years will put Disney off trying more? They were meant to be working on HOND and I'd love to see Aladdin done on Broadway.

But in positive news Sierra has been confirmed as starring in Phantom 2.

[Marianne81]

I just read on the website for the show that it will close at the end of August. I can't believe that's it's already going to end its run. I thought the Disney shows were the ones that weren't hurting. This is sad. I obviously don't know what the live show is like, but I LOVE the soundtrack of the cast recording.

Does anyone know if they will do a tour? Or will the short run affect that possibility? I was really hoping it might sometime come here to San Diego, or at least L.A. as Mary Poppins is in Nov. I am lucking enough to have gotten tickets for that.

[PeterPanfan]

1). Yeah, it's closing, and it's been announced for a while.

2). Yep, there is a tour. It wouldn't matter that the show in New York closed as that doesn't affect the tour.

[SwordInTheStone777]

When I was in New York last week, the hotel I was staying at was the Marriot Marquis, and right around the croner was the Lunt-Fontanne Theater, I could see the top of the theater from my hotel room. I saw previews of this show on the Broadway previews channle and at www.broadway.tv

The show looked really interesting, but I wanted to see Mary Poppins more, but I only got to see Shrek the musical, which was really good and fun. Since The Lion King is still playing on Broadway, then it could return sometime in the near future.

[PeterPanfan]

When I was in New York last week, the hotel I was staying at was the Marriot Marquis, and right around the croner was the Lunt-Fontanne Theater, I could see the top of the theater from my hotel room. I saw previews of this show on the Broadway previews channle and at www.broadway.tv

The show looked really interesting, but I wanted to see Mary Poppins more, but I only got to see Shrek the musical, which was really good and fun. Since The Lion King is still playing on Broadway, then it could return sometime in the near future.

Um, what? The Lion King never closed...

[Cordy_Biddle]

Yes, it's pretty sad. Especially since (with the possible exception of Drew Seeley's Prince Eric), the show currently has the strongest cast it's ever had - Chelsea Morgan Stock as Ariel, and the divine Faith Prince as Ursula.

[The Little Merboy]

Sad to see it go!

[pinkrenata]

Since The Lion King is still playing on Broadway, then it could return sometime in the near future.

<i>The Little Mermaid</i> was never the hit <i>The Lion King</i> was. I'm not too sad to see it go. The soundtrack wasn't terrible but definitely nothing special, I thought. I was in New York once or twice during its run, and while I would have jumped to see it for free, I was pretty apathetic towards spending money on it. I imagine it's similar to <i>Mary Poppins</i>, awesome by Disney park stage show standards, but a little empty and unoriginal when looking at it from a theatrical viewpoint.

[Cordy_Biddle]

Has anyone else heard the rumour that BEAUTY AND THE BEAST is headed back to Broadway for a special limited holiday season? I've also heard loud rumblings that it's coming back for an open-ended run next year...

[Disney Duster]

Or maybe Cordy_Biddle, that strong cast you speak of had something to do with the show closing, or at least, didn't stop it at all.

I saw and heard some Faith Prince as Ursula. She wasn't interesting or entertaining or fun or just plain as good as Sherie Rene Scott. Maybe she does a better emotional death scene I heard, but Ursula's not even supposed to have a sad death scene, and I don't think it could save her uninteresting acting and singing for the rest of the show.

And if you don't agree with that, Sherie seems to be the stronger, and yea, better singer. Maybe Faith is a great actress, but not as great as Sherie in the role of Ursula.

I listened to some of Chelsea as Ariel and yech...it's undeniable Sierra had more soaring, crystaline vocals. And from what I could hear and see, she just sounded and acted better, more appealingly.

And it's funny you say Chelsea was better when she was the understudy, and Sierra's the one who was praised so much for her acting, especially when she went silent!

[Cordy_Biddle]

Hey...you know, I didn't mean to knock the original cast in my first post. I think it's really sad that Sean Palmer was scheduled to return as Prince Eric the day after the show closes...and I wish Sierra Boggess nothing but the highest praise as she prepares to play Christine in PHANTOM: LOVE NEVER DIES.

As for Sherie Rene Scott, I've heard conflicting reports that she got bored very early in the show's run and couldn't wait to leave. People started complaining that her performance started getting very by-the-numbers.

[Disney Duster]

Oh...hey, have you even seen the show, actually?

I did. Sierra was great and sang beautifully, but Sherie was the real one that stood out and that I liked in the show. It may be she was the one who wanted to bring the most new to it, and probably aimed to be more grown up than the others thought of.

But anyway, she was great. I don't think she was bored then, but I did think that she would want to leave because the show, overall, did need some changing in the sets, costumes, songs, and book to be very good, and like I said, she seemed to aim more for adults while I felt the others were...almost playing with kids in mind, or only kids in mind.

But if she was doing it by the numbers when I saw her, which was rather early in the run, March, after it opened in January, then those were very good, entertaining numbers!

[Cordy_Biddle]

I did see the show, while staying with relatives in Chicago. It was a few weeks before Sherie left and you could tell she was bored. I loved Sierra and she'll do a fantastic job in the PHANTOM sequel (hope I'll be able to see it); and as far as the show goes, it was quite wonderful. But I totally understand completely why it never had the staying-power of THE LION KING or BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.

[SpringHeelJack]

Sherie was less enthused as she went on. She was apparently never enamored with the show / material from the boot. Faith Prince was mostly interesting in the sense that she played it differently from Sherie.

Frankly, NO Prince Eric has been that good. Sean Palmer was just miscast, and Drew Seeley had no idea what the hell he was even doing.

[Disney Duster]

That's something I don't get. Why would Sherie Rene Scott take the part if she didn't like what they were telling her the show would be like...did she even like the original movie or story?

Did they really, really say they wanted her, or did she show interest and audition for the part herself...?

[PeterPanfan]

That's something I don't get. Why would Sherie Rene Scott take the part if she didn't like what they were telling her the show would be like...did she even like the original movie or story?

Did they really, really say they wanted her, or did she show interest and audition for the part herself...?

Honestly, while Sherie is popular in the B'Way community, she hasn't been doing much recentley. It's possible that she knew it would do well, and just wanted a job.

[Disney's Divinity]

But anyway, she was great. I don't think she was bored then, but I did think that she would want to leave because the show, overall, did need some changing in the sets, costumes, songs, and book to be very good, and like I said, she seemed to aim more for adults while I felt the others were...almost playing with kids in mind, or only kids in mind.

It's funny, because I would almost say the opposite. To me, she seemed to be focusing the character mostly towards the kids, with the way she would try to sound like a stereotypical witch. I know some have said she plays the role as some kind of fading diva, but it doesn't come across that way to me. And I can't blame the jokes on her (I'm sure she didn't write them), but the whole act seemed childish to me. In fact, the whole show felt that way, and, to me personally, that hit home most with Ursula as done by Sherie Scott.

Don't get me wrong, I agree that Sherie is a very powerful singer. But she isn't Ursula and I wonder if she ever could have been? Maybe she had the wrong idea in mind, or maybe the creators of the show had the wrong idea, but regardless it turned out horribly. And maybe it's that bitterness that gives me some vindictive pleasure in seeing the show fail/end.

To be honest, I haven't seen the show (nor any other Disney show on Broadway), which is why I mostly focus my opinions on the voicework and leave off the designs/technical bits. But I don't think think judging a show on its cast recording is that off-base, because if you can't create the (proper) emotions and enthusiasm with your voice even without being seen, you really shouldn't be in a Broadway show. Maybe this was just one miss in Scott's career, because I've heard a lot of praise for her in other roles.

Personally, I'm not sad to see it go. But, imo, the music for the show far exceeded Beauty and the Beast, although maybe B&tB was better to watch? To me, Mary Poppins and The Lion King have been the only good ones that I've heard so far.