A NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR
“I think ‘Mermaid’ boasts one of the most tuneful, exuberant Broadway scores in recent memory. It only just happens that the score was written for an animated film.” - Doug Wright (Denver Post, July 22, 2007) In his book Hollywood Rhapsody, Gary Marmostein writes that Disney’s success was “founded on music almost as much as animation.”
Walt Disney understood the importance of music to storytelling. He wanted songs for his films that were not only memorable, but also helped to give his characters personality and move the story forward. When he created Snow White, Disney was determined that songs had to serve another purpose, to tell us something new about the character. “Really we should set a new pattern – a new way to use music – weave it into the story so somebody doesn’t just burst into song,” commented Disney (as quoted in The Musical World of Walt Disney by David Tietyen). “It was Disney’s objective that the songs would either offer exposition [or] develop characters and situations, rather than be musical interludes randomly injected into the film,” writes Tietyen.
This approach, of course, became the standard in musical theatre, reflected in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s now classics such as Oklahoma! and Carousel. But Disney films had already set a high bar. Utilizing top name musical theatre songwriters such as the Sherman Brothers, Elton John, Stephen Schwartz as well as Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, Disney animated features develop around a central tenet: the songs must help tell the story.
That is also our goal as a productions company; to tell the story. We want the audience to be transported to another world or another time. We want our audience to feel for the characters and long to be part of their world. Why? Because “stories are how we think. They are how we make meaning of life. Call them schemes, scripts, cognitive maps, mental models, metaphors, or narratives. Stories are how we explain how things work, how we make decisions, how we justify our decisions, how we persuade others, how we understand our place in the world, create our identities, and define and teach social values.” - Psychology Today
Soon after the Little Mermaid opened in theatres, the first number I ever choreographed in college for the Weber State Singers was UNDER THE SEA. We used a giant piece of blue fabric and Angie Holtry (whose daughter, Kaylee, is now in our cast) swam across the top of that fabric lifted up by members of the group and was chased by a shark fin on a stick. I have always loved the story of THE LITTLE MERMAID… Ariel had a dream and had the courage to pursue it. To my seniors: I wish you all the success in the world. Find your dream, have courage and pursue it – YOU HAVE EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO BE INCREDIBLE AND SUCCESSFUL IN THIS LIFE! I love you and will miss you! To my juniors: Sorry that you have to put up with me for another year – but we have big plans and look out world, here comes Audrey II. (Little Shop of Horrors 2018)
Thank you to everyone who has helped make this production a success. I couldn’t do this without the incredible team I have by my side. Thank you to all the parents willing to help. Your time and talents are a treasure to our department. Melanie: Thank you for sharing this experience with me. You are an amazingly gifted teacher, director, and talented designer. Your students at Box Elder are lucky to have you and I thank you for being my colleague and friend! Mandie: thanks for being an amazing student teacher, assistant, and mentor to these kids! Jake: It was so fun working with you. You are going to make a GREAT music teacher one day. Lindsey: I would be lost without you as my assistant, choreographer, and friend! Thank you for keeping me grounded and putting up with my insanity! - Mark Daniels
