[NEohioPAL] REVIEW: Disney's The Little Mermaid, at Canton Players Guild Theatre

[Tom Wachunas via NEohioPAL]

A Seeworthy Vessel of Enchantment

By Tom Wachunas

 

    Translating aclassic cartoon into a live stage production, such as Disney’s The Little Mermaid, can be aparticularly daunting endeavor for any director, if only due to certain (inviolable?)expectations on the part of the audience. Understandably enough, we might lookto be immersed in all the splashy special effects presumed to be necessary forevoking the experience of pure enchantment remembered from watching theanimated film.

   In this case,however, director Jonathan Tisevich and his production team (including scenicdesign by Joshua Erichsen, lighting and sound by Scott Sutton, and costumes byStephen Ostertag) have opted for a relatively more reductive approach. Call itan understated if not raw abstraction of a fantasy water world. An aestheticgamble to be sure, the ocean kingdom is largely symbolized by wooden sculptures-  curved ramp-like structures that sweepvertically upwards to subtly suggest both big waves and sailing ships. Yet forthe most part, the gamble pays off.  Including the use of simple, unimposingmechanical hand puppets for some of the characters (designed and created byKevin Anderson) rather than elaborate full-body costumes to imitate the film, theoverall minimization of expected dazzling visuals becomes a curiously specialframing effect in itself. It’s a directorial decision that maximizes our focuson the story and the flesh-and-blood characters as played out by the castmembers, all thoroughly captivating and indeed delightfully real in their ownright.

    With a deftlysoaring voice that cuts to the heart, Kaelin Curran is mesmerizing in her roleAriel, the mermaid who yearns to be human. Her singing is an intense, whollybelievable embodiment of longing to be with the man, Eric. As Eric, thecharming earthly prince who feels out of place in the royal trappings of hisown world, Zach Stark turns in an equally compelling performance. Late in ActII, for the song “If Only,” Curran and Stark are joined by the marvelouslysonorous Mark Dillard (playing Ariel’s father, King Triton) and MatthewHorning, who holds his authentic Jamaican accent very well throughout theevening as he plays Sebastian, the lovable crab who’s as skittish as he iswatchful. The quartet’s stirring emotive harmonies take on a particularlyspiritual dimensionality.   

   Meanwhile, StanleyNiekamp is notably endearing as he brings delicious flavor to the youthfulFlounder, who clearly has a schoolboy crush on Ariel.  As the frenetic seagull, Scuttle, BobbySeverns is a jubilant purveyor of goofy malapropisms, declaring a salvaged forkto be a “dinglehopper” for combing Ariel’s tresses, and a tobacco pipe a“banded, bulbous snarfblatt,” to be blown as a horn. And gut-splitting hilarityensues when cleaver-wielding Tyler Ferrebee, as Chef Louis, cavorts about thestage during “Les Poissons,” singing his praises of all the seafood he’spreparing (including a nearly boiled-alive Sebastian) for a royal dinner.       

   Especiallymemorable is Loralee Myers in her role of the diabolical Ursula - a large,electrifying presence in every way. With her snaky, sycophantic attendants(Flotsam and Jetsam, played by Matti-Lynn Chrisman and Justin James Ollis) inconstant tow, she’s a tentacled, luminous wonder whose every word, giggle, andguffaw is delivered with show-stopping bravura. Her powerful renditions of“Daddy’s Little Angel” and “Poor Unfortunate Souls” are gripping moments,infused with equal parts dark sarcasm and palpable menace.

   The live orchestraunder the direction of Steve Parsons is consistently excellent in navigatingthe score’s sparkling mélange of musical genres. Similarly, the choreography byMichael Lawrence Akers is performed with infectious abandon, including theensemble tap dancing choreographed by Molly Weidig for “Positoovity,” a giddynumber led by Scuttle. When not dancing, ensemble members still often convey asense of moving through water via the gentle, waving motions of their hands andarms as they traverse the stage.    

    After all wassaid, sung, danced, and done on opening night, I looked to my wife and ouraccompanying grandchildren. Standing in ovation, we smiled at each other andnodded our agreement that this evening was positoovely enthrallimizing.

 

 Disney's The Little Mermaid /  Players Guild Theatre Mainstage, CulturalCenter for the Arts, 1001 Market Ave. N, Canton, Ohio / through May 28 / Shows at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m.Sunday TICKETS: $27 adults, $19 ages 17 and younger, $24 seniors, at  www.playersguildtheatre.com   and 330-453-7617.

 

  For othercommentaries by Tom Wachunas on the arts in the greater Canton area, pleasevisit his blog, ARTWACH, at  www.artwach.blogspot.com 
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