Trent Mills and Leianna Weaver Photo by Jason Niedle

After the phenomenally successful stage adaptations of their animated films Beauty and the Beast (1994) and The Lion King (1997), the Disney organization was eager for a third screen-to-stage venture and selected The Little Mermaid. The 1989 film had been a huge success, credited with launching a renaissance in Disney animated feature films after a couple of lackluster decades. The Little Mermaid movie also came with a musical pedigree, its Oscar winning score by Alan Menken and Oscar winning song by Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman.

The Little Mermaid began its Broadway run in 2007. It did not receive the critical acclaim, nor did it draw the rapt audiences of Beauty and Lion King, and it closed after 685 performances and 50 previews, a longish run, but not a hit. For a musical full of characters whose fluid motion is a major characteristic, the show was sadly stuck to the ground.

The question of how to present a live show with characters, including its heroine, who spend their lives underwater had posed a challenge. Disney turned to Francesca Zambello, known principally as a director of operas, to helm the musical. Zambello's solution was to put the underwater characters on Heelys, footwear with built-in wheels, so the actors could be seen gliding, rather than walking, across the stage. It was discovered, too late, that gliding and swimming are two different things.

After The Little Mermaid closed on Broadway, director Glenn Casale was given a shot at it. Casale had great success directing the musical Peter Pan, giving gymnast Cathy Rigby a career in musical theatre. Peter Pan famously has characters that fly above the stage and off into the wings. Taking his cue from Peter Pan and Wendy, Casale, working with flight choreographer Paul Rubin to put the aquatic characters in harnesses. Only their movement through the air signifies swimming, rather than flying–with the actors contributing appropriate body movements to firm up the impression.

And it works. Sure, we know they aren't really swimming, just like we know Peter Pan isn't really flying, but the effect allows us to suspend our disbelief and dive in (no pun intended) to the story. That, plus Charlie Morrison's phenomenal lighting, Kevin Foy's sets that make splendid use of scrims, and Amy Clark and Mark Koss's costume designs, place Ariel, the little mermaid, in a watery world.

In the plot loosely based on the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, Ariel is the youngest daughter of Triton, King of the merpeople and all of Atlantica. Ariel is the kindest and most beautiful of Triton's seven daughters, and she has the most beautiful singing voice–for some reason, a quality greatly prized by the merfolk. However, she is headstrong, with an unnatural and, in the eyes of her father, dangerous interest in the humans who live above. Against his wishes, she swims to the surface whenever she has a chance to observe them, and dreams about being "Part of Their World."

When Ariel espies the human Prince Eric on a sailing ship, she is instantly taken by his handsome visage. A sudden storm sends the prince overboard and Ariel rescues him. She places him on shore and waits on the surf until he regains consciousness, then retreats, allowing him to catch just a glimpse of his savior's face, but he also hears her beautiful song. By now, she is in love with Eric, and he states that he must find the girl with the beautiful face and voice that saved him, in spite of the fact that in three days he will turn twenty-one and be required to select a bride and assume the throne as king.

The story that ensues hinges on Ariel making a devil's bargain with Ursula the sea witch in order to fulfill her desire. Also in the mix is the high-strung choral director crab, Sebastian, whom Trident charges with keeping an eye on Ariel; Scuttle, a gull who gives Ariel regular reports about life above the surface, full of misinformation; Flounder, a teenage fish with a crush on Ariel; Ursula's two electric hench-eels, Flotsam and Jetsam; and Grimsby, who has been Prince Eric's guardian since the king's death years before.

They all are given a chance or two to sing and dance–and those who are not human, to swim or fly. The plot offers moments of suspense, romance and comedy–the latter particularly in a madcap musical number in which Sebastian faces off against the royal chef to avoid becoming Prince Eric's dinner. The other songs that are holdovers from the original film are terrific–Sebastian and company's pean to the life aquatic, "Under the Sea," lavished with a marvelous production number; Sebastian and Flounder's calypso beat efforts, joined by other animals, to get Prince Eric to "Kiss the Girl"; Ursula's tour-de-force declaration of her creed, "Poor Unfortunate Souls"; and Ariel's Oscar winning "I want" song, "Under the Sea." The staging for "Under the Sea" is the one moment in the show when I wished Ariel would stop swimming and stay still so that the importance of her statement, as well as the loveliness of Menken's melody, could be fully conveyed.

The rest of the songs, written for the stage musical, with lyrics by Glenn Slater (Ashman died of complications from AIDS in 1991) are hit and miss. Strongest among them are "If Only (Triton's Lament)"; "Positoovity" in which Scuttle, joined by a few gull-friends, boosts Ariel's confidence in finding her sea legs; "One Step Closer," which opens up into a beautifully staged dance between Ariel and Eric; and a reprise of "If Only" as a quartet in which Ariel, Eric, Sebastian, and King Triton each express their hopes and fears. All of the songs are beautifully performed by a twelve-member orchestra conducted by Brent Canyon, including that rarity, an actual overture at the top of the show.

The one weak element in the production is the sound leveling, with the orchestra at times making it difficult to hear actors' voices, and their voices themselves sometimes sounding muddled while singing so that lyrics become indistinct.

Leianna Weaver is a winning Ariel, with a lovely voice and a feisty personality that fuels Arial's desires. She is an extremely agile "swimmer." Christian Probst is a well-matched leading man as Prince Eric, conveying a decency and a dreaminess along with a strong tenor voice ideally suited for romance. Dana Orange is terrific as Sebastian, giving a performance that melds clowning with genuine emoting, and a lilting voice that adds spice to "Kiss the Girl" and "Under the Sea." Liz McCartney, a Broadway veteran, makes a scrumptious meal of Ursula, dripping with sinister intent and vile ambitions. Trent Mills as the stern King Triton, Quintan Craig as the loopy gull Scuttle, and Kevin Symons as Grimsby all pitch in with noteworthy work.

The Little Mermaid is a good, entertaining musical, and a good choice for family fare, though one might want to assure their children that Ariel's decision to sacrifice so much for Prince Eric based on nothing more than his matinee idol looks is not a lesson to bring home. The staging, in particular the underwater effects, lively production numbers, dazzling design work, and solid performances, along with the chance to hear several favorite songs from the Disney catalog in the context of the story they are meant to tell, are all good reasons to catch The Little Mermaid before the tide goes out.

The Little Mermaid runs December 29, 2024, at Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, 345 Washington Street, Saint Paul MN. For tickets and information, please call 651 224-4222 or visit www.ordway.org.

Book: Doug Wright; Music: Alan Menken; Lyrics: Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater; Director: Glenn Casale; Choreography: John Macinnis; Flying Sequences Choreography: Paul Rubin; Music Director/ Conductor: Brent Crayon; Scenic Design: Kenneth Foy; Costume Design: Amy Clark, Mark Koss; Lighting Design: Charlie Morrison; Sound Design: Julie Ferrin; Wig and Hair Design: Kaitlin Yagen; Makeup Design: Madison Medrano; Associate Lighting Design: Gary C. Echelmeyer; Associate Choreographer: Josh Zacher; Assistant Choreographer: Helen Tait; Orchestrations: Danny Troob; Incidental Music and Vocal Arrangements: Michael Kosarin; Dance Arrangements: David Chase; Casting: Lindsay Brooks; Production Stage Manager: Jill Gold; Assistant Production Managers: Phil Gold, Audrey Colindres.

Cast: Kevin Corte (ensemble), Quintan Craig (Scuttle), Katie Criz (Arista/ensemble), Cristyn Dang (Adella/ensemble), Christopher Diem (Jetsam), Daniel Dawson (Gull/ensemble), Andrea Dobbins (Andrina/ensemble), Mitchell Lam Hau (Flotsam), Christopher Ho (ensemble), Kurt Kemper (Gull/ensemble), Kevin Kulp (Flounder), Edgar Lopez (Gull/ensemble), Liz McCartney (Ursula), Tayler Mettra (Aquata/ensemble), Bailey Renee Miller (Attina/ensemble), Trent Mills (King Triton), Dana Orange (Sebastian), Christian Probst (Prince Eric), Madison Miyuki Sprague (ensemble), Kevin Symons (Grimsby), Helen Tait (swing), Candace J. Washington (Alana/ensemble), Leianna Weaver (Ariel), Jason Weitkamp (Chef Louis/Pilot), Christopher Henry Young (ensemble), Josh Zacher (swing).