From the Director
When Hans Christian Andersen created his original tale of The Little Mermaid in 1836, he conceived it as a very dark morality play to scare children into good behavior. The Oscar-winning 1989 Disney animated feature and, later the 2007 Tony Award-nominated Broadway musical remade the tale into a hopeful and colorful story with far greater reaching themes. Overcome prejudice and fear, and find true love. Too often, we fear people and things that are different from us. That fear, ignorance, mystery and history can divide us and oppress us and make it seem as though our worlds are as different as land and sea. But sometimes a fascination and immeasurable curiosity for these differences and the bravery to overcome evil to explore them can give love the power to plunge to the deepest depths of the ocean and soar to the highest peaks of the Earth to conquer fear and bring these worlds together. That’s what Ariel discovers. She asks the question that so many of us have pondered. What if home isn’t the place you were born? What if it’s a place you have to discover for yourself? Imagine what an amazing and wonderful world we would live in if we all had her bravery, open eyes and open heart. We should all be a part of that world.
Thank you so much for being here! All of us are truly grateful for your time and willingness to shed the shackles of reality for a little while to come with us on this beloved “under the sea” adventure. Whether this is your first time seeing the story, or you can recite every line, your playful imagination is as vital a part of your experience with us as anything on the stage. Let yourself be free to play for a little while. Believe mermaids exist. Because here and now, they do.
Christopher Sperat
From the Producer
Wow! What a thrilling adventure “Under the Sea” this production has been! Two years ago, when we produced The Wiz, several people told me that we would never be able to top it. I think you will agree that we certainly have! This production of Disney’s The Little Mermaid was bound to be different than any other from the start. First, it is an All-District Musical including cast members from 4th grade through adult (not many other districts do this). Secondly, we decided to have performances spanning two weekends (again – not many others do this). Finally, we decided to do it BIG!
Being a “numbers” guy, I thought I would share some numbers with you to demonstrate just how BIG.
There are a total of 97 cast members on the stage. They are backed up by a stage crews, art and scenery crews, costumers, orchestra members, etc. In all, there were 131 students and 56 adults involved in this production. There are well over 200 different costumes! 6 cases of spray foam were used to create the “coral”. By opening night, students alone will have spent in excess of 10,000 hours rehearsing, painting, sawing, nailing, singing, and dancing! Ten-Thousand hours!
I am sure you will agree with me that all of that effort has resulted in something truly spectacular. Thank you for allowing us to entertain you and be sure to watch for future productions.
Robert Decker
