The Little Mermaid: Tickets go on sale to the general public at 9am today

Tickets go on sale to the general public at 9 am today for Walt Disney's The Little Mermaid, a new musical based on the Disney animated movie.

The musical, which was originally announced to begin previews on 3 Nov 2007, will now preview from 7 Nov at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, and open on 6 Dec 2007 as scheduled. The show is currently selling tickets through to 30 Mar 2007.

The musical will replace Walt Disney's Beauty and the Beast, which will end its 13 year Broadway run when it closes at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on 29 Jul 2007.

The Little Mermaid is loosely based upon the story by Hans Christian Andersen. Ariel, youngest daughter of King Triton, is dissatisfied with life in the sea. She longs to be with the humans above the surface, and is often caught in arguments with her father over those 'barbaric fish-eaters'. She goes to meet Ursula, the Sea Witch, to strike a deal, but Ursula has bigger plans for this mermaid and her father.

As previously announced the principle cast features Sierra Boggess who is to star as 'Ariel', the musical's title role. Joining her are Sean Palmer as �Prince Eric,� Norm Lewis as �King Triton,� Tituss Burgess as �Sebastian, Eddie Korbich as �Scuttle,� Jonathan Freeman as �Grimsby,� Derrick Baskin as �Jetsam,� Tyler Maynard as �Flotsam,� Cody Hanford and J.J. Singleton as �Flounder,� and Sherie Ren� Scott as �Ursula.�

The emsemble features Adrian Bailey, Cathryn Basile, Heidi Blickenstaff, James Brown III, Robert Creighton, Cicily Daniels, John Treacy Egan, Tim Federle, Merwin Foard, Bahiyah Sayyed Gaines, Ben Hartley, Meredith Inglesby, Michelle Lookadoo, Joanne Manning, Alan Mingo Jr., Zakiya Young Mizen, Betsy Morgan, Arbender J. Robinson, Bret Shuford, Jason Snow, Chelsea Morgan Stock, Kay Trinidad, Price Waldman and Daniel J. Watts.

The Little Mermaid will be directed by Francesca Zambello and feature choreography by Stephen Mear. The creative team includes set design by George Tsypin, costumes by Tatiana Noginova and lighting by Natasha Katz and sound by John Shivers.

Led by director Francesca Zambello, the musical's creative team will gather in Denver this summer, prior to its bow on Broadway, to create The Little Mermaid, where the musical is to begin a seven week pre-Broadway engagement at Denver's Ellie Caulkins Opera House from 26 July - 9 Sep 2007, before opening on Broadway.

The score will feature the songs 'Part of Your World,' 'Kiss the Girl' and the Academy Award -winning Best Original Song, 'Under the Sea,' composed by eight-time Academy Award winner Alan Menken and his frequent collaborator, the legendary Howard Ashman. There are 11 new songs by Mr. Menken and lyricist Glenn Slater. The book for the new musical is by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning playwright Doug Wright.