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face=Georgia><FONT color=#333333>Mercury Theatre’s ‘The Little Mermaid’
flounders </FONT></FONT></SPAN></B></P>
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color=#333333 face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
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align=center><SPAN
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face=Georgia>Bob Abelman</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'></SPAN></P>
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align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
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face=Georgia>Cleveland Jewish News, The News Herald, The Morning
Journal</FONT></SPAN></I><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'></SPAN></P>
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face=Georgia>Member, International Association of Theatre
Critics</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: "><FONT face=Georgia>As tempting as it is for local theaters
to stage adaptations of animated Disney films, it is a near-impossible uphill
climb to capture the cinematic majesty of the movies and the big-budgeted
spectacle of the Broadway productions.</FONT></SPAN></P>
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style="FONT-FAMILY: "><FONT face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: "><FONT face=Georgia>Some theaters wisely opt to re-envision
the work in the hope that simplification and creativity can capture the heart of
the original.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Re-envisioning
happens to be Mercury Theatre’s strong suit, best seen in this season’s
marvelous “Finnian’s Rainbow” and a recent, ingenious production of “<SPAN
style="COLOR: "><FONT color=#333333>Peter Pan: The Musical
Adventure.”</FONT></SPAN> <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
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style="FONT-FAMILY: "><FONT face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><FONT
face=Georgia><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: ">But for its current production of “The
Little Mermaid” – based on </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none; BACKGROUND-REPEAT: repeat; BACKGROUND-ATTACHMENT: scroll; BACKGROUND-POSITION: 0% 0%; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial"><FONT
color=#252525>the 1989 Disney film that is based on Hans Christian Andersen’s
classic story<SPAN class=apple-converted-space> </SPAN>about a young
mermaid who dreams of the world above the sea and gives up her voice to find
love – </FONT></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: ">director Pierre-Jacques Brault
has opted</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none; BACKGROUND-REPEAT: repeat; BACKGROUND-ATTACHMENT: scroll; BACKGROUND-POSITION: 0% 0%; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial"><FONT
color=#252525> for </FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ">opulence.</SPAN></FONT></P>
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style="FONT-FAMILY: "><FONT face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></SPAN><FONT face=Georgia><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style='BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; FONT-FAMILY: ; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; COLOR: ; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-TOP: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: arial; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in'>For
more of this review, go to </SPAN></I><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style='BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; FONT-FAMILY: ; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; COLOR: ; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-TOP: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: arial; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in'><FONT
color=#0563c1>www.clevelandjewishnews.com/columnists/</FONT></SPAN></I><I
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