With all this summer heat, all we want to do is strip down and jump in the ocean … but the Little Mermaid still wants out of the water. I don’t think she’s checked the weather … but we did check the schedule at the Adrienne Arsht Center, where a new “Little Mermaid” musical is taking the stage. Deco’s Alex Miranda is here with the fishy tale.
The classic story is being told in an immersive, in-the-round, and sometimes above-your-head show.
The Little Mermaid…
Halle Bailey (as Ariel, singing): “Part of your world!”
…is a big movie star.
Jodi Benson (as Ariel, voice, singing): “Legs are required for jumping, dancing.”
But Ariel has also swum her way out of Biscayne Bay and into the Adrienne Arsht Center.
Josslyn Shaw: “It’s great to be a princess, gotta say.”
Josslyn Shaw plays the curious collector caught between land and sea.
Josslyn Shaw: “She is curious and brave, which I love that combination.”
Henry Thrasher plays Prince Eric.
Henry Thrasher (singing to Alex): “And her voice is sweet as angels sighing, and her voice is warm as summer sky, and that sound, it haunts my dreams and spins me round until it seems I’m flying.”
Look at this stuff. Isn’t it neat?
Josslyn Shaw: “This is something you’ve never seen before, something really amazing. I’m sure you can see by the set here.”
Area Stage has set the beloved Hans Christian Andersen musical inside a seaside tavern.
Alex Miranda: “Does is make it more nerve-racking when you have all of the audience all around you? You’re walking through them and all of that.”
Josslyn Shaw: “Yeah, it’s definitely a surreal experience, scary in a good way. The audience is part of the show with us.”
Henry Thrasher: “I think they’re going to be overtaken with everything that’s happening around them, but I think it’s really going to feel like you’re in this world we’ve created.”
Sailors and pirates share tales of mermaids and adventure! Arr!
Josslyn Shaw: “You can count on dancing, hoot and holler for your favorite characters. I know you’ll cheer on your favorite mersister.”
And probably tear up over the hauntingly beautiful love story.
Henry Thrasher: “He loves everything to do with seafaring and being out in the open ocean, and Ariel kind of represents that to him.”
Gracie says it should probably win a Tony.
Alex Miranda: “Who’s your favorite princess?”
Gracie: “Ariel, because I love mermaid tales, and I wish I could be a mermaid just like her.”
Alex Miranda: “I think you are a little mermaid.”
Gracie: “I think I am, but…”
Alex Miranda: “Does Ariel sing really pretty?”
Gracie: “Yeah.”
Standard tickets cost $84. Premium are also available for $110.
Alex Miranda: “Do you collect anything?”
Josslyn Shaw: “Do I collect anything? Kind of, but not really.”
Alex Miranda: “Aside from rave reviews.”
Josslyn Shaw: “Thank you.”
Alex Miranda: “But anything else?”
Josslyn Shaw: “I love milkshakes, so I try to go to all different places that have milkshakes, and I score them.”
There are less expensive ticket options for children and students.
FOR MORE INFO:
Disney’s “The Little Mermaid”
Presented by Area Stage Company
Aug. 9 – Aug. 27, 2023
Carnival Studio Theater
Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County
1300 Biscayne Blvd.
Miami, FL 33132
305-949-6722
arshtcenter.org/tickets/2022-2023/the-little-mermaid/disneys-the-little-mermaid
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