The Cast of Disney's The Little Mermaid Live!

New York Theatre Guide recommends Disney's The Little Mermaid Live!

"The Little Mermaid Live!" is scheduled to air on ABC on Tuesday, November 5, 2019 at 8pm (EST).

Tom Millward
Tom Millward

"Under the Sea" and onto the small screen! Another chapter in the live televised musicals saga will be written tomorrow night, as Disney presents a first-of-its-kind production for television audiences. The New York Theatre Guide heartily recommends "The Wonderful World of Disney Presents The Little Mermaid Live!" which is scheduled to air on ABC tomorrow, Tuesday, November 5 from 8pm (EST). The production is directed by Hamish Hamilton and produced by Done+Dusted.

In celebration of the 30th Anniversary of Disney's 1989 animated classic "The Little Mermaid," the TV special will feature a unique hybrid of live musical performances and animation, with each live segment woven into the presentation of the feature film. The format is similar to Disney's previous live stagings at The Hollywood Bowl (The Little Mermaid in Concert in June 2016 and The Little Mermaid: An Immersive Live-to Film Concert Experience in May 2019), where a host of prolific names from Sara Bareilles to Darren Criss to Harvey Fierstein made guest star appearances to give their own renditions of the film's musical numbers. And the cast of "The Little Mermaid Live!" is equally as star-studded, as you might imagine.

Auli'i Cravalho, who shot to fame as the voice of Disney's Moana and who also starred as Lilette Suarez on NBC's musical series "Rise," takes on the titular role of Ariel for the live telecast. She'll be joined by none other than Queen Latifah as the wicked sea-witch, Ursula. No stranger to musicals, the Grammy Award winner has earned Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for her performance as Matron "Mama" Morton in "Chicago" and has gone on to star as Motormouth Maybelle in "Hairspray" and the titular role in NBC's "The Wiz Live!" in 2015. Starring as Sebastian the Crab is Grammy Award-winning reggae artist Shaggy, whilst "The Good Wife" star Graham Phillips, who has previously starred on Broadway in 13, is set to portray Prince Eric. Rounding out the principal cast and reprising his performance as eccentric Chef Louis from The Hollywood Bowl production is "Full House" and "ER" star John Stamos. It has also been reported that "Glee" star Amber Riley will host the TV special, whilst Jodi Benson, the original voice of Ariel, is also reportedly set to make a special appearance.

Broadway fans will be relieved to hear that "The Little Mermaid Live!" will not only feature the beloved Alan Menken-Howard Ashman songs from the animated film, including "Under the Sea," "Part of Your World," "Poor Unfortunate Souls," and "Kiss the Girl," but also songs from the 2008 Broadway musical adaptation (with lyrics by Glenn Slater), which starred Sierra Boggess as Ariel, Tituss Burgess as Sebastian, and Norm Lewis as King Triton.

So, get ready to make this exciting new take on live televised musicals a Part of Your World, Broadway fans!

Check out the official ABC trailer here...

(Artwork courtesy of ABC)

 

Originally published on

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