The Little Mermaid – an awesome classic Disney animated movie, remade and turned into a musical! This version was produced and performed by the amazing folks at Glasgow High School, a public high school in Newark, Delaware. I personally attended this play, and I had a great time! The acting was spectacular and the performance went smoothly–it’s too good for me not to tell you about it.
Plot
Surely you already know the story of The Little Mermaid, but for those of you that don’t, it is a very interesting story! Based on the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, The Little Mermaid is the story of a teenage mermaid name Ariel. Born into royalty, she is very dissatisfied with underwater life, and longs to go above the surface, to learn more about human life.
Her mother, Queen Triton, despises humans and forbids her from going above the surface. She misunderstands humans, for when Ariel was younger, her father was killed by a human hunter. Ariel sees past it, though. She, along with her best friend Flounder, travel to the surface every once in a while in order to collect human artifacts and visit their companion, a seagull named Scuttle. She has a huge collection that she absolutely admires, and sings the song “Part Of Your World” in order to describe her sorrows.
“Part Of Your World” performed by Liz Hamil
Sebastian, a crab working for Queen Triton, is assigned to look after Ariel. Meanwhile, Ariel is busy longing about the beautiful man she saw when she went to the surface, a prince named Eric. Unknowingly, Eric spotted Ariel as well, and is also obsessing over her. He is amazed by how beautiful she is, and vows to come back and find her.
Soon after, Ariel meets her mother’s evil sister, Ursula. Ariel is desperate to go and find Prince Eric, so she strikes a deal with Ursula–she will give her legs and the ability to walk on land like a normal human, just as she’s always wished. But, in exchange for being a human, Ursula gets to keep Ariel’s voice, rendering her mute. If she can get Eric to kiss her within 3 days, she will remain a human forever and get her voice back. If not, she will turn into a mermaid again and her soul will belong to Ursula forever.
The Little Mermaid is an enchanting play that teaches love, acceptance, and friendship. It’s something that all family members can enjoy, and it was performed really well right here. The musical aspect of it was amazing as well; I applaud the orchestra for doing as good a job as they did!
Cast & Crew
Everyone involved did a spectacular job! I’m really proud of them for working so hard and putting on such a great show. The costumes were as accurate as possible, and did a really great job of bringing the play to life. Here are pictures and descriptions of the main cast and crew:
Ariel – Elizabeth Hamill
Prince Eric – Jacob Zervas
Sebastian – Ernest Drake
Flounder – Sabina Troncone
Ursula – Julian Turner
King Triton/Queen Triton – Ahlyssa Sooy-Mattson
Scuttle – Nathalie Balog
Grimsby – Scot Nordmeier
There are many more than just those above, of course! I will include pictures of the entire cast in the credits at the bottom of this post. More photos will also be uploaded in a photo gallery that I will upload later.
Interview
Luckily, I got the chance to interview one of the star cast members. Jacob Zervas, a senior at Glasgow and the actor who played Prince Eric. He’s also a personal friend of mine who I’ve known since a very young age. He was open to answering any questions that I had for him, so I decided to do a mini interview and ask a couple questions about the play, the production, and the experience as a whole. Here are the questions and answers below.
Q: So Jacob, that was a really awesome performance you put on last weekend, needless to say. How long were you working on it? How often did you practice?
A: We start rehearsals in November and work scene by scene with occasional run through of what we know. As we get closer to the play we begin having everyone at rehearsal and run either act one or two for 2 weeks and extend practice from 4:30 to 5. The last week before the show has 3 rehearsals that run from 2-9 at night and two Saturdays 9-1. As for the sets,the art teacher and a variety of cast and parents all start helping in build days, mainly Saturdays, building, painting, and doing everything in between, as all of our sets are made from scratch. Both rehearsals and set creation takes up to essentially the night of the show, same deal with costume creation/collection.
Q: Very nice. How difficult was the acting for you? Did you have trouble with any specific parts?
A: I was very nervous with signing in general. I’ve never been a great singer per say, but my confidence and vocal range improved drastically throughout making the show.
Q: I see. Was the kissing part difficult, or did you guys have a sort of unspoken agreement?
A: Well me and Liz have dated before and we’re super comfortable around each other so we both knew at the beginning that the whole kissing thing would be a piece of cake.
Q: Lastly, how would you rate the entire experience, on a scale from 1-10?
A: Everything has there rough spots. There’s always alot of stress when getting down to the wire. But the payoff is so amazing. So 9.5!
If you missed the showings of this play, no need to worry! If you are in or around the northern Delaware area, in early march, then you will be able to catch the play put on by the Glasgow High School drama team. They do something different every year, and each one is just as amazing as the last! If I get the chance, I’ll surely blog about the one they have next year. It’s sure to be a 10/10 performance that you and the whole family will love!
Credits
(Photo credits are at the bottom. If I used one of your photos, please notify me so that I may give you the proper credit.)
Cast
Ariel – Elizabeth Hamill
Prince Eric – Jacob Zervas
Flounder – Sabina Troncone
Grimsby – Scot Nordmeier
Queen Triton – Ahlyssa Sooy-Mattson
Sebastian – Ernest Drake
Ursula – Julian Turner
Flotsam – Gabrielle Lalondriz
Jetsam – Daria Syphrett
Chef Louis – Adam Goldman
Scuttle – Nathalie Balog
Winward – Devonte Moore
Leeward – Zackary Curles
Mersisters – Amanda Leonhard, Audrey Hernandez, Swetha Surampudi, Delilah Jones, Amanda Ewing, Brooke Ahlstrom
Ensemble
Fiona Piper, Noelle Tinkler, Yasin Ahmad, Dominick Jones, Bailey Hiller, Jennifer Leonor, Morgan Wilson
Pit Orchestra
Christopher Celfo – conductor
Carol Stiltz – Flute, piano
Matthew Hetzler – Clarinet, Bass
Kirsten Haden – Oboe, English horn
Andrew Hetzler – Violin
Brian Williams – Trumpet
Amy Boyd, Stephen Bockius – French horn
Misty Fiske, Keith Gallion – Piano/keyboards
Behind The Scenes
Stage Managers – Danielle Nichols, Nicole Kyle
Sound Technicians – Connor Vanderslice, Michael Just
Lighting Technicians – Robert Garrison, Carly Korup, Skyler Ross
Curtain – Brennan Nichols
Stage Crew – Jarel Acosta, Connor Hartland, Robert Davis, Brennan Gallamoza, Ashleigh Baaden, Kayla Davisson
Chief Set Build/Design – Brennan Gallamoza
Student Set/Build Design – Michael Just, Zach Curles, Delilah Jones, Dominick Jones, Kristie Yarnall, Yanaidis Jaime, Shakire Ortiz, Scot Nordmeier
FX Technician: Adam Goldman, Herb Goldman
Production Assistant – Carly Adams
Additional Credits
Music/Orchestra Director – Christopher Celfo
Drama Director – Scott Staab
Choreographer – Nichelle Lanier
Costume Design/Alteration – Marti Diffley
Student Director – Heather Wilson
Photo Credits – Carly Adams, Samantha Saville