<html><head></head><body><div style="font-family:Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:small;"><div>
<!--StartFragment-->
<p class="ydp293aa93dMsoNormal" style="text-align:center" align="center"><b>A Seeworthy Vessel of Enchantment</b></p>
<p class="ydp293aa93dMsoNormal" style="text-align:center" align="center">By Tom Wachunas</p>
<p class="ydp293aa93dMsoNormal" style="text-align:center" align="center"> </p>
<p class="ydp293aa93dMsoNormal"><span> </span>Translating a
classic cartoon into a live stage production, such as Disney’s <i>The Little Mermaid, </i>can be a
particularly daunting endeavor for any director, if only due to certain (inviolable?)
expectations on the part of the audience. Understandably enough, we might look
to be immersed in all the splashy special effects presumed to be necessary for
evoking the experience of pure enchantment remembered from watching the
animated film.</p>
<p class="ydp293aa93dMsoNormal"><span> </span>In this case,
however, director Jonathan Tisevich and his production team (including scenic
design by Joshua Erichsen, lighting and sound by Scott Sutton, and costumes by
Stephen Ostertag) have opted for a relatively more reductive approach. Call it
an understated if not raw abstraction of a fantasy water world. An aesthetic
gamble to be sure, the ocean kingdom is largely symbolized by wooden sculptures
- <span> </span>curved ramp-like structures that sweep
vertically upwards to subtly suggest both big waves and sailing ships. Yet for
the most part, the gamble pays off. <span> </span>Including the use of simple, unimposing
mechanical hand puppets for some of the characters (designed and created by
Kevin Anderson) rather than elaborate full-body costumes to imitate the film, the
overall minimization of expected dazzling visuals becomes a curiously special
framing effect in itself. It’s a directorial decision that maximizes our focus
on the story and the flesh-and-blood characters as played out by the cast
members, all thoroughly captivating and indeed delightfully real in their own
right.</p>
<p class="ydp293aa93dMsoNormal"><span> </span>With a deftly
soaring voice that cuts to the heart, Kaelin Curran is mesmerizing in her role
Ariel, the mermaid who yearns to be human. Her singing is an intense, wholly
believable embodiment of longing to be with the man, Eric. As Eric, the
charming earthly prince who feels out of place in the royal trappings of his
own world, Zach Stark turns in an equally compelling performance. Late in Act
II, for the song “If Only,” Curran and Stark are joined by the marvelously
sonorous Mark Dillard (playing Ariel’s father, King Triton) and Matthew
Horning, who holds his authentic Jamaican accent very well throughout the
evening as he plays Sebastian, the lovable crab who’s as skittish as he is
watchful. The quartet’s stirring emotive harmonies take on a particularly
spiritual dimensionality.<span> </span><span> </span></p>
<p class="ydp293aa93dMsoNormal"><span> </span>Meanwhile, Stanley
Niekamp is notably endearing as he brings delicious flavor to the youthful
Flounder, who clearly has a schoolboy crush on Ariel.<span> </span>As the frenetic seagull, Scuttle, Bobby
Severns is a jubilant purveyor of goofy malapropisms, declaring a salvaged fork
to 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 hilarity
ensues when cleaver-wielding Tyler Ferrebee, as Chef Louis, cavorts about the
stage during “Les Poissons,” singing his praises of all the seafood he’s
preparing (including a nearly boiled-alive Sebastian) for a royal dinner. <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></p>
<p class="ydp293aa93dMsoNormal"><span> </span>Especially
memorable 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) in
constant tow, she’s a tentacled, luminous wonder whose every word, giggle, and
guffaw 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.</p>
<p class="ydp293aa93dMsoNormal"><span> </span>The live orchestra
under the direction of Steve Parsons is consistently excellent in navigating
the score’s sparkling mélange of musical genres. Similarly, the choreography by
Michael Lawrence Akers is performed with infectious abandon, including the
ensemble tap dancing choreographed by Molly Weidig for “Positoovity,” a giddy
number led by Scuttle. When not dancing, ensemble members still often convey a
sense of moving through water via the gentle, waving motions of their hands and
arms as they traverse the stage. <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></p>
<p class="ydp293aa93dMsoNormal"><span> </span>After all was
said, sung, danced, and done on opening night, I looked to my wife and our
accompanying grandchildren. Standing in ovation, we smiled at each other and
nodded our agreement that this evening was positoovely enthrallimizing.</p>
<p class="ydp293aa93dMsoNormal" style="text-align:center" align="center"> </p>
<p class="ydp293aa93dMsoNormal"><span> </span><i>Disney's The Little Mermaid / </i><span> </span>Players Guild Theatre Mainstage, Cultural
Center for the Arts, 1001 Market Ave. N, Canton, Ohio / <b>through May 28</b> / Shows at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m.
Sunday TICKETS: $27 adults, $19 ages 17 and younger, $24 seniors, at <span> </span><a href="http://www.playersguildtheatre.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.playersguildtheatre.com</a><span> </span>and 330-453-7617.</p>
<p class="ydp293aa93dMsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="ydp293aa93dMsoNormal"><span> </span>For other
commentaries by Tom Wachunas on the arts in the greater Canton area, please
visit his blog, ARTWACH, at <span> </span><a href="http://www.artwach.blogspot.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.artwach.blogspot.com</a> </p>
<!--EndFragment-->
</div></div></body></html>