Everyone’s favorite royal redhead is back, with the songs and characters you know and love — and a few surprises you won’t see coming.
Bainbridge Performing Arts will present its production of Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” on stage May 13 through May 29, with shows at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays.
Featuring a score by eight-time Academy Award-winner Alan Menken and the talented trio that led BPA’s production of “The Drowsy Chaperone” last season — director Joanna Hardie, music director Josh Anderson and choreographer Debbie Pierce — “The Little Mermaid” is a refreshingly updated combination of the original Hans Christian Andersen story and the classic animated film version.
“There are definitely some differences between the movie and the stage play,” Anderson said. “There’s a lot more music. We get to learn so much more about the characters and the motivation that Ursula has to be so awful.
“We get more information about the universe in the show,” he added. “It’s a much richer experience of the story that people love.”
The cast is comprised of newcomers and BPA veterans, including Myriah Riedel, Riley Donahue, Jasmine Joshua, Rachel Brinn, Jesse Smith, Matt Eldridge, Trey Field Bennett, Gregory Conn, Joey Chapman, Teagan Howlett, Barbi-Jo Smith, Jordyn Carrillo, Mikeala Karter, Tina Kirkpatrick, Alana Morrison and Rebecca DuRivage-Jacobs, among others.
A love of the source material brought the director on board, her first BPA show since “Chaperone.”
“I love the movie, of course, but then, when I started doing some research into it, they had made some changes and rewritten the script a little bit so there are some subtle differences that make Ariel a little bit more interesting [and] more in charge of her destiny,” Hardie said. “She doesn’t get saved by the prince. She saves herself. That appealed to me a lot, how they brought it into the present.”
Anderson agreed, saying that “Mermaid,“ which premiered in 2007, was one of the best updated Disney shows of Menken’s career.
“You look at Belle or Jasmine [and] these are all independent sort of powerful female roles,” he said. “I think that can be attributed to Alan Menken’s involvement. He based the character of Ursula on Divine, which makes a clear statement: We’re going to be progressive and we’re going to be feminist and we’re also going to pay tribute to this last decade of losing all these big gay performers.
“The ‘80s was really rough, and if you were gay in the ’80s and you made it through, you were one of the few,” he added. “So being able to put into American popular culture this idea of strong women and drag queens and a camp sensibility really has impacted the way that we think about these fairy tales.”
Choreographer Debbie Pierce attributed the story’s continual success throughout multiple mediums to its universal themes.
“It’s a relatable story,” she said. “There are things that happen in this story that we can relate to in our own lives — such as the dissension between Ariel and her father [and] loving somebody who’s different.
“It will be a huge spectacle,” she added. “It’s great because it leaves you with a good feeling when the show is over. You’re happy. There’s resolve. Who doesn’t want to leave with a happy ending?”
Anderson agreed, saying that the iconic characters make deep, emotional issues easier to portray.
“When you’re under the sea and you’ve got all these iconic characters it’s a joyful experience, it makes these positive stories,” he said.
“It is a really potent story of that yearning for love that I think speaks universally to a lot of people,” Anderson added. “There is this idea in the story that if we give something up we’ll get something in return, but that we have to make sacrifices for love. Ultimately, this story ends much happier than the original Hans Christian Andersen story does.”
The show marks Anderson’s final production at BPA prior to pursuing creative opportunities out of state. Tickets — $27 for adults, $22 for seniors, and $19 for students, youth, military and teachers — may be purchased online at www.bainbridgeperformingarts.org or by phone at 206-842-8569.
Catch a classic
What: Bainbridge Performing Arts’ production of Disney’s ‘The Little Mermaid.’
When: May 13 through May 29, with shows at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays.
Where: Bainbridge Performing Arts (200 Madison Ave. North).
Admission: Tickets — $27 for adults, $22 for seniors, and $19 for students, youth, military and teachers — may be purchased online at www.bainbridgeperformingarts.org, by phone at 206-842-8569 or in person at BPA.
