Dive into the water with this magical Disney musical playing at Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds!
Disney’s The Little Mermaid is the 2008 Broadway musical based on the classic Disney film, inspired originally from Hans Christian Anderson’s fairytale, The Little Mermaid. The story follows a young mermaid named Ariel, the youngest daughter to King Triton, who dreams of the world above the water. When a ship is struck, Ariel saves Prince Eric and falls in love. However, to be human she must first make a deal with the meddling sea witch Ursula. Will Ariel make the right choice and live happily ever after? Disney’s The Little Mermaid is a musical that I feel fond of and is my personal favourite Disney renaissance movie. The show is produced by Suffolk Young People’s Theatre, a group that encourages the highest quality of their members. This production is directed by Erica Dupuy, choreographed by Daisy Beckett and Freya Berry and has musical direction by Nicholas Sheehan. It is clear that this team has worked incredibly hard to get the show to the high quality it was today and the young actors’s hard work must be rewarding.
To start, the fact this was rehearsed in such a a small amount of time is unbelievable as the quality is West End like. Everything from the lighting, costumes and set was absolutely perfect for The Little Mermaid and what made this all work was the young performers on stage. The way they embody the characters is phenomenal whilst also looking to have a great time doing this musical together. The ensemble work incredibly hard to maintain costume changes and perform strong choreography without a single mistake. This allowed the stage to feel alive and maintained the audience attention throughout!
King Triton’s other daughters, The Mersisters, are played by Lucy Quirke, Anya Perry, Ellie Morris, Phoebe Harpur-Davies, Elsie Farrell and Kelsey Bristow. All of them were fantastic in ‘Daughters of Triton’ and in ‘She’s In Love’: with a range of strong vocals across the group. The crazy crab hungry Chef Louis is played by Laurelle Matthews-Sole. Matthews-Sole was able to become Louis and ‘Les Poissons’ was a joy to watch. Ursula’s evil henchfish, Flotsam and Jetsam, are played by Ashley Bell and Elizabeth Kennell. I thoroughly enjoyed their menacing stances and choreography during Ursula’s songs: they were great henchfish. Prince Eric’s advisor Grimsby is played by Hannah Green. Green brings maturity to the role which is needed for Grimsby, working well with Peake.
Ariel’s best friend Flounder is played by Tegan Collen. I’ve seen ‘She’s In Love’ a few times and it is not a particularly easy song to sing. Collen makes this look easy and continues to have the bubbly personality Flounder should have. The intelligent, slightly quirky seagull, Scuttle, is played by Fliss Markham-Lee. Markham-Lee was confident as Scuttle which allowed the dialogue to flow smoothly. ‘Positoovity’ was also a great Act 2 opening with strong vocals from Markham-Lee. The King of the sea, Triton, is played by Deacon Fisher. Fisher was mature in his delivery which helped portray the King very well. His vocals alongside Dalgoutte, Peake and Ratcliffe in ‘If Only (Quartet)’ were also fantastic. Royal advisor Sebastian the crab is played by Eve Dalgoutte. Dalgoutte’s Sebastian worked really well and I thoroughly enjoyed ‘Under The Sea’: especially the belt towards the end.
The wicked, manipulative sea witch Ursula is played by Florence Cano-Carballar. The confident, villain energy Cano-Carballar was phenomenal and matches Ursula perfectly. As well as great acting choices, Cano-Carballar’s vocals in ‘Daddy’s Little Angel’ and ‘Poor Unfortunate Soul’ were stellar: stealing the show! The noble young Prince Eric is played by Finn Peake. Eric’s material is difficult to sing but Peake made it look easy especially during ‘Her Voice’. His characterisation of Eric was also brilliant. The stand out performance must be the curious young mermaid, Ariel, who is played by Francesca Ratcliffe. Leading the show is always a challenge but Ratcliffe takes this in her stride: offering wonderful vocals and believable acting choices. Her voice is outstanding, especially in ‘Part of Your World’ and ‘Beyond My Wildest Dream’. It is essential Ariel is cast well and SYPT has perfected this.
Disney’s The Little Mermaid continues to swim until Saturday 1st August. Don’t miss this spectacular production. Book your tickets here!
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