Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Review: "The Little Mermaid"
The Denver Post: "'Mermaid' was greeted by a thunderous and appreciative (and undemanding) Denver audience. How likely that love is to carry over to New York in December depends on how willing the creative team is to accept that their very adorable little guppy has not quite yet found its full sea legs."
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5 comments:
It seems to be interesting how Disney keeps churning out these musicals. I wonder how successful they are in the aggregate. I know that Tarzan didn't do particularly well. These shows are good for families, but how do they do in terms of the greater theatrical spectrum.
I guess the issue for the Disney is to think is what can they provide to the audience who have already seen the movie. As we know, the plot, the characterization are all the same with the movie which I think is the worst idea. Not until they come up with other ideas to present the new ways, there won't be another Lion King.
I agree that this show is bound to be successful based simply on the name of the show. I am very curious to see how the show is, but I feel that the lighting should deliver, and hopefully the scene design will as well. The pictures don't make the set look particularly impressive, but hopefully it will be better in person.
this is something that i have commented on in the past and seen it as almost a sellout for the theatre industry to be capitalizing off such obvious choices, but i had never really considered the design challenges involved with this seemingly "shallow" show. george tsypin constantly surprises me, and since an introduction to him a few years ago i have been following his work. impressive, imaginative. i wonder what the changes will be should the show be successful in new york and on broadway. its actually turning into a very interesting show as there are endless possibilities... i remember a discussion i attended with Pamela Howard in prague about water operas and the challenge they create and test and go process in which they discovered helium filled silk pillow cases create an uncanny resemblance to floating objects...what an exciting thing to be faced with, how do we make water on-stage? there's obviously only more improvement to come from this... very exciting.
I feel like with the Little Mermaid Disney once again had a great opportunity to push the envelope on what they can do. There is the whole factor of underwater swimming that could be a fun challenge, and the whole element of moving from land to sea. It seems the show has gone with the easy answers instead of the creative. When a show is guaranteed to have "butts in seats" even before it opens, why not push the envelope and take the big risk in creativity. People are still talking about Lion King today because that's exactly what they did.
Sarah Boyce
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