A Review by Barbara Mehlman and Geri Manus.
"Look! It's not a lion! It's not a beast! This time, it's a mermaid!" Gliding onto a Broadway stage with movements more suited to a Disney on Ice extravaganza, newcomer Sierra Boggess -- whose big claim to fame was her smashing performance in "Phantom -- The Las Vegas Spectacular" -- captures the hearts of little girls as the beautiful Ariel in this new glitzed-out production of "The Little Mermaid." Problem is, those are the only hearts she captures.
Parents and grandparents will feel like they¹ve paid money to see, not a real Broadway musical, but a stage show that's really a cross between "Small World," and "Adventureland," finding themselves more curious about how the actors make their way across the stage than what they are actually doing on it.
Ariel moves her arms and sequined fins in vapid swimming motions, designed to make us believe she is "under the sea." This fishy choreography, however, is mitigated with the ingenious use of heelys, or "merblades," as the production has renamed those sneakers with built-in wheels, to make her mobile. Fits right in with a Disney ride concept, which unfortunately, is the overwhelming subtext of this show.
Ariel traverses what appears to be lighted Mylar shower curtains simulating waves and water, not unlike the technique used for the shipwreck in the ill-fated "Tarzan." Her colorful, albeit stiff plasticized costume, designed by award-winning designer, Tatiana Noginova, was more entertaining when it was spoofed in "Forbidden Broadway" than it is in this $15,000,000 production.
But Ariel, like Belle in "Beauty and the Beast," is a truly formidable and appealing female character, one that speaks to budding feminists, and the one redeeming quality of the overblown musical. She rebels against a tyrannical father and insists on making her own decisions. Though her destiny is to be a siren, she finds this role too confining and ventures to the surface, defying family and friends -- not to mention gravity -- in a simulation worthy of another ride through scrims and scenery, and saves the tempest-tossed Prince Eric.
To her credit, as taken as she is with him, her goal to live in "The World Above," overrides her romantic desires. These ideas are inspiring for young girls, but the kudos for this wonderful character goes, not to Disney, but to Hans Christian Andersen and the beloved animated film scored by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken.
The other actors, unfortunately, are commodities and none has star power, with the obvious exception, of course, of Sherie Rene Scott, who wowed audiences in "Aida" and "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels."
Scott is a deliciously evil sea witch in all her tentacled glory, and her rendition of "I Want the Good Times Back" may become a new standard for belters on Broadway. This character is larger than life, and as Scott herself has admitted, she¹s transformed in this role. But her transformation is more a result of being enmeshed in an enormous costume beset with moving
parts than a character driven reaction to events onstage.
The clever choreography of the dancers sans legs is also a victim of technology, dwarfed by the specter of the moving set. Dancers are forced to duck and twirl amongst its arms as if running through whirling saucer rides in Disneyland. In the more elaborate production numbers, gimmicks and timing are everything.
As actors wheely about, led by Tituss Burgess in the role of Sebastian the Crab (though he looks more like a lobster), the real star of his show-stopping number, "Under the Sea," is the multi-tiered serpentine contraption upon which the actors writhe. Beautifully constructed star-studded clamshells mechanically open and close revealing actors in every would-be pearl producer.
You get the idea. "The Little Mermaid" is really about fabulous feats of engineering, and a merchandising vehicle for toys, dolls, and eventual theme-park rides. So, if the kids hound you, take them to see the show, take earplugs, and maybe a magazine. Or better yet, put the few hundred dollars you'll spend on tickets towards a trip to Disneyworld and make everyone
happy.
Barbara Mehlman & Geri Manus
