The Litte Mermaid Official RSS Feed Mon, 15 Sep 2008 04:05:17 -0700 http://theater.disney.go.com/thelittlemermaid/#/news/ en-us By Michael Lassell
You may not know his name, but if you make a habit of attending Broadway musicals, the chances are you've seen his work. He's certainly known to the tribe of gypsies who make New York's theatre district its stomping ground: he's been in some of the best-known shows of recent decades and he's even got a caricature on the wall at Sardi's, a certain sign of having arrived. At the moment he's playing at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on West 44th Street in New York City, as Grimsby, Prince Eric's faithful majordomo, in Disney's hit musical-stage version of THE LITTLE MERMAID. The altogether congenial and somewhat larger than life Jonathan Freeman made his first entrance during the post-World War II baby boom in Cleveland, Ohio. As an adult, he's appeared on television, on shows like Law & Order: CI and in such films as The Ice Storm. But at heart he's a stage actor. He's appeared in dozens of plays, classical and contemporary, in New York and out, on Broadway and off. On the Great White Way, he costarred with Matthew Broderick in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying; earned a Tony nomination for his hilarious performance in She Loves Me; strode the boards in 42nd Street and On the Town; took a full-throttle turn as camp director Roger DeBris in The Producers; and, before moving on to THE LITTLE MERMAID, served a semester as Cogsworth (the clock) in Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (which Disney Theatrical Productions closed after a run of more than 13 years so that THE LITTLE MERMAID could play in the same theatre). Even if you've never seen Jonathan Freeman before, you probably know the actor's voice. Nearly everyone has heard it. But more on that later. Cleveland, Ohio may not seem the best place to begin a career in theatre, but Jonathan Freeman wants to quell the misconception. "The Cleveland Playhouse is the oldest regional theatre in the United States," points out the proud native of the Buckeye State. There was also a well-regarded company for kids, the Children's Theatre in the Heights. And if that wasn't enough, young Jonathan was able to go with his parents and grandparents to the local road house, the Hannah Theatre, which is where he saw his very first Broadway productions. "This was in the days," Freeman remembers, "when shows had short Broadway runs and then went out on tour, and the first national tour usually had the original cast. The Hannah was always a big stop, and that's where I started seeing musicals when I was seven or eight years old." But seeing them wasn't enough for this born performer. "One day I went to see a play, and I happened to mention to my parents, 'I'd really like to do that.' And," he snaps his fingers, "the next day I was enrolled at Children's Theater in the Heights." As a kid, Jonathan played adults in children's plays and kids in adult productions at the Cleveland Playhouse. He was a big kid (now six feet one) and always had a deep voice ("I don't remember it ever changing," he says). "In a very funny and weird say," he says, I'm now playing the kinds of roles I grew up playing as a kid. Like the Lord High Chamberlain, somebody's best friend, Mr. Darling in Peter Pan. I did all those parts. I was forty when I was ten," he laughs. "When I got out of University and came to New York," he remembers, I had to starve myself to stay bone thin so I could play these stupid juvenile roles I didn't even like. I played the juvenile in a play with Jimmy Coco and Dodie Goodman called George Washington Slept Here. " "Then in 1989, I was cast in a play by Eric Overmyer called In a Pig's Valise. Nathan Lane was the star, and it was directed by Graciela Daniele. Graciela was the first person to cast me as a villain, and for that I owe her a great debt of gratitude, because my whole life started over again. I could stop starving myself to play roles I didn't really care about." And then came Disney and Aladdin. All right, hands up! How many people already knew that Jonathan Freeman was the scarifying voice of Jafar in Disney's animated feature Aladdin And in the Return of Jafar sequel and subsequent appearances of the character? He is the official voice of the villainous vizier. He's played Jafar in the Action Hearts videogame series and on thirty episodes of House of Mouse. That's even his voice in Fantasmic!, the nightly Mickey vs. The Baddies extravaganza at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Freeman can be seen chatting about Jafar in the additional material on the Aladdin Platinum Edition DVD. For the ten percent of kids who are not drawn to the young hero or heroine, he says, "Jafar is a something of a hero--not because he's evil, but because he's triggered their imagination somehow." Freeman, who generally preferred the villains of Disney's classic animated features when he was growing up, loves the idea of triggering the imagination of children and adults alike. "As a kid I was huge fan of Disney movies. Specifically, I was a huge fan of Disney villains. It's all I really ever wanted to do, and I'm not kidding. It sounds kind of trite and stupid, but the characters that appealed to me were Captain Hook, Maleficent, Stromboli--those kind of wild, wild-eyed, bigger than life, sometimes magical-powered characters that had something that I think is lacking for a lot of kids, which is power. You know, when you're a kid, you don't have any power at all, so seeing the villains point their fingers and blow things up was hilarious to me, and fun." On the same DVD, Freeman can be heard singing the last song Howard Ashman and Alan Menken wrote together before Ashman passed away. It was called "Humiliate the Boy," and was sung at the point in the story when Jafar is to reveal that Prince Ali is, in fact, only a common thief. "It was ultimately cut out of the film," laments Freeman, "but I'm very proud to have had that chance." Freeman's relationship with Howard Ashman and Alan Menken goes back to the days of The Little Shop of Horrors. "I remember having a great audition for them," Freeman recalls, "but whatever happened, I didn't get the part. Then several years later I heard that they had a three-picture deal with Disney." Freeman laid down the law for his agent. "I went into her office one day," he confesses, "and there a big pile of stuff on her desk, and I threw it on to the floor in a little bit of a rage, and said, 'All you have to do is get me auditioned. You don't have to get me the part. Let me worry about that.'" As it turned out, the casting director for Aladdin had cast Freeman in Pig's Valise. He got the audition. "That was the beginning of my long association with Disney," the actor relates. This relationship led him to the role of Cogsworth the clock in BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. "It's a gorgeous show," says Freeman, "and Cogsworth is a hilarious character. I started having more fun with it the longer I did it. He became more real, and I think I got better at it. What I didn't get better at was dealing with the costume, which was very tough. The clothes took their toll on me, and so, honest to God, when they asked me to THE LITTLE MEMAID, the first thing I thought of was, 'Yes! I can get out of this clock suit.' I made some joke about it in my Little Mermaid audition but nobody thought it was very funny." Although Freeman is an accomplished singer, it was not for his ways with a song that he was hired for THE LITTLE MERMAID; Grimsby is not a featured singing role. So why was he hired? The actor is also not the same physical type as the animated Grimsby at all. "Well," he says, "I can only give you my perspective, because actors never really know why they're cast or not cast in a show. I think it had to do with what Francesca Zambello, the director of THE LITTLE MERMAID, kept calling 'gravitas.'" Indeed, while the "faithful retainer" has been a stock character of comedy as well as tragedy since ancient times, Grimsby of the stage musical needs to be somewhat weightier than a cartoon figure. (One of the ironies of making live theatre musicals from animated feature films is that once you put breathing actors onstage, their characters have to transcend many of the very qualities that made their predecessors perfect cartoon figures.) One of his biggest fears, which he expressed to Zambello, was that the character would be cut during the pre-Broadway try-out in Denver. "Absolutely not," she told him. Because Grimsby is the only parent figure in Prince Eric's life, and even if the character did not have a big song, he was tied thematically to what Zambello saw as some of the most critical themes of the new musical's script." She was also looking for a great actor who could make the most of emotional moments that might be little more than passing suggestions in the script. "Jonathan Freeman has the flair to turn a stock character into a real human being with a heart and soul," says Zambello. "The role of Grimsby is not as easy as you may think. It's a challenge, because it go could in an obvious direction. Jonathan brought color, humor, and wisdom to it and was able to lift Grimsby to something quite special." "It's not a very glamorous part," says Freeman. "I don't have a big number. I do have a couple of scenes that I'm really proud of, that I love, that are very simple and very sweet. Which is something people don't ask me to do a lot, even though it's probably my best work, those little moment to moment things." All in all, the experience on THE LITTLE MERMAID has been a good one for a variety of reasons, Freeman reports. "For one thing, Francesca is wonderful to work with, and Tom [producer Thomas Schumacher] is smart. He knows when to let people go and when to kind of reel them in." But most of all, Freeman appreciated the collaborative nature of the creative work on THE LITTLE MERMAID. "This is one of the things I tell my students," says Freeman, who coaches young actors at the Hartt School at the University of Hartford in Connecticut. "I'm not sure collaboration is a dying art, but if you want to succeed in the theatre, you not only have to be able to collaborate, you have to really enjoy the collaborative process--especially in musicals. This was a great team of collaborators." "That doesn't mean you can't be a strong personality. You have to be a strong personality. You can shine as an individual and still be a good collaborator." ___________________________ Michael Lassell is the author of books on Elton John & Tim Rice's AIDA, TARZAN®, and (with Brian Sibley) MARY POPPINS, as well as the forthcoming THE LITTLE MERMAID: From the Deep Blue Sea to the Great White Way (all from Disney Editions). ]]> Mon, 15 Sep 2008 12:00:00 -0700 http://disney.go.com/theatre/#/news/meetjonathanfreeman meetjonathanfreeman BY MICHAEL LASSELL
If you watched the Tony Awards on TV, you've already gotten a gander at Sebastian from Broadway's THE LITTLE MERMAID--whether you've seen the latest Disney musical or not. That's because Whoopi Goldberg, the Tony Awards host, wore the crimson crab's costume when she came onstage after the telecast's opening number from THE LION KING.
"I knew it was going to happen," says Tituss Burgess, the singing actor who is fortunate enough to portray the choir-conducting crustacean eight times a week, "so I wasn't surprised, but it was hilarious. It was like I was there but not there."
If you have seen Disney's live-action manifestation of Hans Christian Andersen's tale of the mermaid who longs to be human, then you know that when Tituss Burgess is wailing, there is no question of whether he's there or not, because the 29-year-old R&B artist from Athens, Georgia, lights up the stage with the sheer joy of performance.
"Tituss Burgess is one of the great revelations of THE LITTLE MERMAID experience for me," says composer extraordinaire Alan Menken, who won his first best song Oscar for "Kiss the Girl" and another for the score of THE LITTLE MERMAID film. "Before he was cast as Sebastian," says Menken, "I knew Tituss through his participation in the development process on some of my other projects as one of those super-talented actors who can do nearly anything. But what I found out on Mermaid was that he's a star. Tituss has the heart of a lion and the voice of a tiger, and he's a pussycat--in the best possible sense. He's a joy to work with in every way."
Taking on such an iconic role from the realm of pop culture might have been daunting, but the fearless Tituss embraced it. To start, he looked to those things he and Sebastian have in common. Both write music, for example. Sebastian is a crab; Tituss is a Pisces, a water sign. And while Tituss seems a lot more generally positive than Ariel's cantankerous musical mentor, the handsome southerner hints that he has a crusty side, too.
There are differences, too, of course. The film's Sebastian could fit in the palm of Ariel's hand. The stage version is 5'10." The voice of the film Sebastian, Samuel E. Wright (who later created the role of Mufasa in Disney's THE LION KING on stage), is a baritone; Burgess is a tenor—so the Broadway Sebastian is sung in a much higher key than that of the film. Nonetheless, Burgess acquits himself with crowd-pleasing honor in two of the show's most famous songs, "Under the Sea" and "Kiss the Girl," as well as the new second-act quartet, "If Only" with Ariel, Prince Eric, and King Triton.
He's popular with his colleagues, too. "I adore him," says Thomas Schumacher, President of Disney Theatrical Productions and the producer of THE LITTLE MERMAID. "We had not planned on hiring a tenor per se," he continues, "but when we heard him perform, Alan [Menken] got very excited, and we decided not only to embrace but exploit his extraordinary voice. And Tituss is a pro through and through. We're very lucky to have him with us in the show."
No self-respecting actor, of course, wants to simply replicate a previous performance, and neither Schumacher nor Mermaid's director, Francesca Zambello wanted a carbon copy of the 1989 film's Sebastian. Happily for Tituss, the producer and director wanted a youthful actor for the role, "one who could capture all the elements we love from the movie," says Schumacher, "but also to make it fresh. And Tituss relishes the experience of finding his own Sebastian while giving the audience enough of what they expect that they aren't disappointed. "I always put a lot of Tituss on anything I do," says Mr. Burgess, who made is Broadway debut in 2005 in Good Vibrations and soon after moved on to Jersey Boys.
"In the movie," Tituss explains, "the animated character has the advantage of being drawn, of film editing and cutaways. On stage, it's just me and gravity, so we have the challenge of keeping the action brisk but giving it heart and making it fun all at the same time."
Tituss is effusive in his praise of his director. "Francesca is very generous," he says. "She kind of stands back, lets you throw the paint up on the wall, and then she edits. The biggest direction she would give me was 'Go further, go further.' It was like 'The sky's the limit.'"
And it's a mutual admiration society: "Tituss is a warm, caring and loving human being at his core," says Zambello, "plus he's a special actor and super collaborator who is there to develop and shape any idea with you. Working with Tituss is a delight."
Menken, too, gave Tituss a lot of leeway. "He trusted that I was going to do my best to heighten the music," the actor says, "I think they both knew I shared with them a deep love for these songs." Tituss's resulting performance was cited as a standout by USA Today, which singled out his "soaring soulful voice" for particular praise. Other reviews noted his quiet dignity, jaunty impishness, and pure gusto.
If Tituss himself shares certain traits with Sebastian, he also identifies with Ariel. "When I was growing up in Athens," he says, "I just knew I had to get to New York to find my life." Not that he was unhappy at home. He grew up singing in church, along with his mother and studied music at University of Georgia. But then he moved north to pursue the impossible dream.
"I have to say that I feel more at home in New York than I ever did in Georgia," the musical actor says.
Among Tituss's many non-theatrical accomplishments are his solo CD, Here's to You, featuring R&B songs sung and written by… Tituss Burgess. He's done several cabaret shows based on this material, and on theater music, too, both alone and with such fellow Mermaid cast members as Sean Palmer (Prince Eric). But he's been so tied up with Mermaid, the hit show of 2008, that he hasn't had a chance to publicize the album.
"I'm a singer first," he says, "and there is a part of me that finds satisfaction in singing what I feel like singing when I feel like singing. I won't always be in a Broadway show, but I'll always be able to sing."
Tituss first learned he had landed the Sebastian role on December 23 in 2006. He had just finished a stint as the Cowardly Lion in The Wiz in LaJolla, California, and was having coffee with a friend when he got the news. "It was a very nice Christmas present," he says.
The man the audience loves to love did have some previous Disney experience, in THE LION KING show at Walt Disney World, and he reports that the audition process was not as difficult as many. He managed to land the plum part on his second callback. That's when he started to forge his close friendship with Sierra Boggess, who plays Ariel. The actor doesn't have to feign Sebastian's affection: "I'm in love with Sierra Bogges," he says.
Which is one of the reasons he's so happy that the book of the musical, by playwright Douglas Wright, gives Sebastian a clear emotional growth arc. "He goes from being her teacher to being her guardian to being a friend… and then to something like an older brother," says the softie underneath Sebastian's hard red shell. And his presence in the "If Only" quartet (featuring Ariel and the people who love her the most) seems altogether appropriate. "I wanted to makes sure the audience really, really got a sense of how Sebastian falls in love with Ariel—in a very innocent way."
So now that the pussycat with the voice of a tiger has played a Cowardly Lion and a brave and blustering Caribbean crab back to back, what's next for Tituss Burgess's animals-on-parade stage career? "No more animals!" he says with humor that contains a conviction: "The next time I walk out on a stage, I'm going to be playing a human!"
For more on Tituss and his music, go to www.TitussBurgess.com.
]]> Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:00:00 -0700 http://disney.go.com/theatre/#/news/TitussBurgess TitussBurgess By Dana Torres
Going to see a Broadway musical is a special experience. For many, half the fun is what happens after the curtain goes down. It's a tradition for fans to gather around the Stage Door after the show to get a glimpse of their favorite stars. If they are lucky, they may get an autograph or have the opportunity to chat with someone like Sierra Boggess, who plays Ariel in Disney's The Little Mermaid.
"We just wanted to tell Sierra how much we loved her performance," said Beth Looser, visiting from Houston. "It's always such a treat to see an amazing show on Broadway and then get the chance to actually meet to people who make the magic happen. Sierra was such a delight and posed for a photo with my husband, Greg. I think he was blushing."
The experience is equally gratifying for the cast. They deliver a first-class performance eight shows every week, and hearing just how much fun guests are having makes the hard work worth it.
"It's so exciting for us to meet people who have traveled from around the world to see the show," said Little Mermaid's Boggess. "When I walk out the stage door, the fans are screaming and the kids' faces light up. Everyone is just so happy. It is a really magical moment."
Jazmyn Cooper brought her daughter, Navaye, to the The Little Mermaid for a birthday celebration. After the show, they came to the Stage Door to meet actors from the cast. "This is her first Broadway show," Cooper said. "It is an amazing birthday present for her, and I want to show her who the characters really are offstage. I think it is something my daughter will remember and talk about forever."
So, after your next "Disney on Broadway" show, make your way to the Stage Door and share in the experience. You might have the chance to meet Gavin Lee, who plays Bert in Mary Poppins or Kissy Simmons, The Lion King's Nala or The Little Mermaid's Sebastian, Tituss Burgess.
"There is something about a Disney show that really warms your heart and brings out the kid in you," said Stephanie Bartley, on vacation in NYC from San Francisco. "So, after you see a show as thrilling as Mary Poppins, it's just icing on the cake to be at the Stage Door when the crowd goes wild. Where else but Broadway do you get an experience like this?"
Disney On Broadway Stage Door locations:
MARY POPPINS, The New Amsterdam Theatre: 41st Street at the rear of the theatre.
THE LITTLE MERMAID, The Lunt-Fontanne Theatre: Under the front marquee, on the left-hand side.
THE LION KING, The Minksoff Theatre:
Across from the entrance of the theatre, closer to 45th Street.
]]> Thu, 01 May 2008 12:00:00 -0700 http://disney.go.com/theatre/#/news/SierraStageDoor SierraStageDoor Rent's 1996 debut at #19). The cast recording was released on February 26th and sold more than 20,000 CD's in its first week of release. The album features the classic songs: "Part of Your World," "Kiss the Girl" and the Academy Award®-winning Best Original Song, "Under the Sea," composed by eight-time Academy Award® winner Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman, as well as 10 new songs by Mr. Menken and Glenn Slater.
Walt Disney Records presents THE LITTLE MERMAID Cast Album, available in stores now, at a suggested price of $18.98 wherever music is sold. ]]> Thu, 06 Mar 2008 12:00:00 -0700 http://disney.go.com/theatre/#/news/BillbrdCharts BillbrdCharts BY MICHAEL LASSELL
When is a sea witch not a sea witch? When she's played by singer/actress Sherie Rene Scott, now appearing to great crowd-pleasing effect as mean Auntie Ursula in Disney's THE LITTLE MERMAID at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater. One of brightest lights of the "new Broadway," Sherie plays the cephalopod sorceress who tricks Ariel, the hapless mermaid (Sierra Boggess), into trading her voice for legs and a chance at human happiness with Prince Eric (Sean Palmer).
So how did a svelte blonde with a rock n' roll edge to her powerful pipes wind up donning tentacles eight times a week? "I think Disney was just wise enough to recognize the inner witch in me," Sherie says with a laugh, "and the way to bring it out." That and a three-month audition process and a body of highly regarded work under her belt that includes stints in The Who's Tommy and Rent; she even won an Obie Award for her work in the 2006 revival of John Guare's Landscape of the Body.
Sherie was already a known quantity to Disney Theatrical, having created the role of the spoiled but ultimately heartbreaking Princess Amneris in Elton John & Tim Rice's "Aida," a part that showcased both her strength and her vulnerability along with her comic timing. "But the creative team to MERMAID was completely different," she explains, "so I had to meet them all and show them what I could do." In fact, she learned that she had gotten the role of Ursula in 2006, while she was still appearing in her Tony-nominated turn as Christine Colgate in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
"A lot of people were saying they would go with a man for the role of Ursula," Sherie remembers. "I was so happy that they really wanted a strong woman to play a strong woman."
The strong woman in question--actress, singer, wife, mother, entrepreneur, fundraiser, and vegetarian--grew up in Topeka, Kansas, in a conservative family that included an Amish Mennonite mother (a nurse) and a doctor father. Sherie began singing at age 7 (her debut: "It's Not Easy Being Green"). At 18 she moved to New York City to study acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse and to wait tables and work at the Banana Republic, a job she quit in 1993 to take her first stage job: the 25th anniversary production of Hair at the United Nations.
This very down-to-earth diva passes the time between matinees and evening performances on Wednesdays and Saturdays in her dressing room (two flights up, stage right). It's big, as Broadway dressing rooms go, so she's had part of it decorated as a sitting room, with daybed, comfortable chairs and a shell and coral mirror that takes up much of one wall. There's a television ("I never watch it during the show," she insists) and several toys that belong to Elijah, the three-year-old son she shares with husband Kurt Deutsch.
"It's my first dressing room with windows," she enthuses, wrapped in a soft throw, her Ursula makeup still in place, her hair tightly curled under a wig cap. This is one down-to-earth diva. Yet she has been known, she admits, to open those windows and entertain passersby with her rendition of "Don't Cry for Me Argentina."
To create Ursula, Sherie kept her eye focused on the script in hand and the work of the day, deciding not to revisit the film. She did her research and then created an inspiration board, a collage of the various characters who contributed to her vision, something she's done since she was a teenager.
Survivor extraordinaire Gloria Swanson inspired her most to let loose her inner Ursula, a mean, green combination of seductress and every Disney super-villain from Maleficent to Cruella DeVil. She delivers "Poor Unfortunate Souls" (originally written for THE LITTLE MERMAID film by Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman) with devious self-delight and triumphs with her new Alan Menken/Glenn Slater song, "I Want the Good Times Back," the kind of craven cabaret number Brecht and Weill might have written for a Tim Burton movie.
"I wanted Ursula to be real and evil but delicious at the same time," she explains.
"When I first auditioned, I had three songs," she recalls, "Poor Unfortunate Souls" and two new ones. By the time we started rehearsal, "I Want the Good Times Back" had been written, and the other two had been chucked. And the scene wasn't really written for "I Want the Good Times Back." And the ending wasn't written. I had no idea what would wind up in the show, but I took heart in knowing that "Poor Unfortunate Souls" was probably not going to get cut."
But this is just a day at work for a Broadway veteran, and a veteran who has specialized in working on new shows rather than revivals. "All of the changes are normal, and if you don't have them, then something's wrong with the producers. You have to try every option so that you know exactly what works.
"There were times when I didn't have the new changes memorized, and I had the lines written on my hands--anything to just get it up on it's feet, because to me it would be worse to just go blank and shout 'Line!'"
And then there is the costume--a showstopper all by itself, glamorous and menacing at the same time. In fact, the hour-long process of getting into hair, makeup and wardrobe is a kind of dance. "I call it loading in," she says. And once it's all on, she can't even sit, much less walk down two flights of stairs from her dressing room. "The costume has its own antechamber just offstage," she explains
The ending of Broadway's THE LITTLE MERMAID--with a wiser and stronger Ariel taking charge of her own fate--particularly pleases Ms. Scott. "I remember when I saw the film, when I was around 20, and I thought 'Well, what man wouldn't fall in love with Ariel? She's beautiful, she's devoted, and she can't talk'," she says with a sly grin. "In some ways Ursula and Ariel really are alike. They're both independent women who have been silenced. Ursula feels that she has been deeply wronged, and she's extremely self-righteous--which is a deadly combination."
Silence is not a problem in her own marriage. When she and Kurt are not spending time in Manhattan or in their place upstate, they run a business together, Sh-K-Boom/Gaslight Records, which specializes in show music. Among their catalog of 50 titles (five of them nominated for Grammys) are The Drowsy Chaperone, Altar Boyz, Legally Blonde--The Musical, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. They also produce solo albums of Broadway performers, including Sherie's own Men I've Had, two albums by Adam Pascal (her costar in Rent and Elton John and Tim Rice's "Aida"), as well as Billy Porter, Martin Short, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Patti LuPone, and others.
And if you thought that giving up eight shows a week as Ursula, splitting her time as a wife and mother between two homes, and producing records was not enough to occupy her time, think again. Sherie has also worked up a show of her own with Dick Scanlan (who wrote Thoroughly Modern Millie), directed by Tony winner Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening), with musical direction by Tom Kitt (High Fidelity).
Called You May Now Worship Me, the one-woman show is described as a collection of musical short stories that trace Sherie's life from her prairie childhood to her eventual rise to "Broadway semi-star." The show, featuring songs made famous by Judy Garland, Tom Waits, and Mr. Rogers, among others, "reminds us that none of us are in Kansas anymore."
The next performance of You May Now Worship Me, produced by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS to benefit the Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative of the Actors Fund, will be at 8 o'clock, Monday, March 31, at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre (230 West 49th Street). For tickets, call 212/840-0770 ext. 268 or go to www.BroadwayCares.org.
]]> Mon, 25 Feb 2008 12:00:00 -0700 http://disney.go.com/theatre/#/news/SherieScott SherieScott Good Morning America's Deborah Robert's goes behind the scenes of Disney's THE LITTLE MERMAID and talks with the cast and creative team about adapting the beloved animated film to the stage. Then, GMA takes you live to the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on Broadway to see the cast perform "Part of Your World" and "Under the Sea!"
To see the these videos online, visit ABC.com or click the links below:
Behind the Scenes
Under the Sea
Part of Your World

]]> Fri, 11 Jan 2008 12:00:00 -0700 http://disney.go.com/theatre/#/news/GMAVideoLinks GMAVideoLinks To celebrate the event, Playbill.com will have pages dedicated to all things Little Mermaid, including lyrics to the new songs and photo features.
The official release date of The Little Mermaid original cast recording is February 26th. The CD is available for pre-order at Amazon.com. A limited-edition picture disc version of the CD is available for pre-order at the Playbill® Store (www.playbillstore.com), an online exclusive.
Playbill® Radio provides theatre-lovers with a worthy complement to Playbill's existing print and Internet offerings. Current content features consist of a 24-hour/day stream of the best Broadway cast recordings, podcast programs of interviews with theatre stars and hourly theatre news updates. Listener interaction features user-posted song ratings and track requests. Current standard programming includes "Playbill Presents," "Center Stage" and "Composer Spotlight," each providing engaging in-depth access to all things theatre.
Based on one of the most beloved Disney films of all time, The Little Mermaid is the sparkling new Disney musical that's poised to make a splash on Broadway. Some of Disney's most popular songs are featured in show -- including "Part of Your World," "Kiss the Girl," and the Academy Award®-winning Best Original Song, "Under the Sea" -- by the songwriting team of 8-time Academy winner Alan Menken and the renowned Howard Ashman. The stage adaptation also features 10 new songs by Menken and Glenn Slater, plus a book by Tony Award®-winning playwright Doug Wright.
To hear the broadcast, go to: www.playbillradio.com
Thursday, Jan. 10: 9PM Eastern / 8PM Central / 7PM Mountain / 6PM Pacific
]]> Wed, 02 Jan 2008 12:00:00 -0700 http://disney.go.com/theatre/#/news/PlaybillRadioBrdcast PlaybillRadioBrdcast A quarter-century ago the Broadway musical "My One and Only" featured Tommy Tune and Twiggy splashing around a little in an inch or two of water. More recently David Leveaux flooded the stage for the Grand Canal sequence in the Roundabout Theater Company's revival of "Nine." But in "The Little Mermaid," much of which takes place under the sea, not a foot gets wet. After tryouts in Denver, the show is now in previews at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater, where it is scheduled to open on Jan. 10.
Ariel, the mermaid who longs to be human, is just one of the show's sea creatures. The man in charge of making them move is the British choreographer Stephen Mear, 43, formerly a dancer in the West End, then assistant choreographer to Susan Stroman on "Oklahoma!" He made his Broadway debut last season with "Mary Poppins," as co-choreographer with Matthew Bourne. This time he is on his own, dipping into many styles.
As the wicked witch Ursula, an octopus complete with giant tentacles, Sherie Rene Scott moves in what Mr. Mear calls "a kind of Bette Midler waddle." Her slimy comic sidekicks, eels, slip and slide on their heels, arms hunched to the back. Ariel's ineffectual male duenna Sebastian, a crab, tried walking sideways for a while, but that didn't fly. Scuttle, the principal sea gull, wears oversize vaudevillian clown shoes, which are kicky but muffle the sound of his taps, so the shoes for the hard-tapping trio of lesser sea gulls have been cut back.
But most of all Mr. Mear had mermaids to contend with, and the obvious solutions that came to mind were far from satisfactory.
Read the full article.

]]> Sun, 30 Dec 2007 12:00:00 -0700 http://disney.go.com/theatre/#/news/TNYTUnderSea TNYTUnderSea Even beyond the excitement of making her Broadway debut, becoming "part of Ariel's world" is truly a dream come true for Sierra, who fell in love with the animated classic "The Little Mermaid" from the moment it was first released. "I was seven when the movie came out, so I memorized it!" she says. In fact, "The hardest stuff for me during rehearsal was a few little lines that were just slightly different from the movie -- and in my head, I knew the lines from the movie!" READ THE FULL STORY

]]> Fri, 30 Nov 2007 12:00:00 -0700 http://disney.go.com/theatre/#/news/DIUnderSea DIUnderSea The Little Mermaid, languished for years--until the globe-trotting director Francesca Zambello came up with a concept. "No water, no wires," says Thomas Schumacher, president of Disney Theatrical Productions. "She had this jewel-box idea for the show, this opalescent, almost Venetian-glass-like setting."
Zambello also had an international reputation for directing major operas and theatrical productions everywhere from the Metropolitan Opera ("She got Placido Domingo to sword-fight in Cyrano!" says Schumacher) to Disneyland, where she staged Aladdin.
Read the full article.

]]> Fri, 19 Oct 2007 12:00:00 -0700 http://disney.go.com/theatre/#/news/ZambelloVF ZambelloVF The Little Mermaid gets ready to make a splash on Broadway following its sold out out-of-town engagement in Denver.
The popular 1989 animated musical is credited with reinvigorating the animated musical genre, giving life to other Disney features, which have found their way to the stage, including Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King and Tarzan.
Inspired by the Hans Christian Anderson tale, The Little Mermaid features a score by Academy Award winner Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman, with new songs penned by Menken and lyricist Glenn Slater. Grey Gardens book writer and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright for I Am My Own Wife, Doug Wright, adapts the popular animated feature for the stage.
The classic tale begins as "a beautiful young mermaid named Ariel longs to leave her ocean home to live in the world above. But first, she'll have to defy her father — the king of the sea — escape the clutches of an evil sea witch and convince a prince that she's the girl with the perfect voice," press notes state.
Producing The Little Mermaid as a full-length Broadway musical presented challenges to its creative team. Thomas Schumacher, President of Disney Theatricals, met with several director/designer teams prior to selecting Olivier Award-winning director Francesca Zambello.
"I just said some things that sparked an interest in it for him," Zambello recently told Playbill.com. "I said, 'How could you leave behind this story of this girl who is so universal in her longings, her desires and her feelings? She's just like everybody at the lunch table who thinks they're sitting by themselves! She wants to go somewhere, she wants to be something, she wants to transform the world around her.' For me, that was really the key to the piece."
Read the full story.

]]> Wed, 17 Oct 2007 12:00:00 -0700 http://disney.go.com/theatre/#/news/PlaybillSplash PlaybillSplash The Little Mermaid. The 25-year-old actress beat out some of the top talent in New York for the role of the fairytale mermaid who defies her family by deciding to leave the sea and try living on land. Sierra has been a fan of the classic 1989 Disney animated film since childhood, and now she is making her Broadway debut as the famed Disney princess.
"It's really exciting to be able to play a Disney princess," she says. "My life kind of parallels Ariel's a little bit, with her excitement about her new world -- that's exactly how I feel."
Sierra's journey to playing Ariel started at age seven, when she saw the movie version of The Little Mermaid in a theater in Denver, where she grew up. For Christmas that year she got a Sebastian stuffed animal and her two sisters got Scuttle and Flounder. They carried the animals everywhere. She also memorized the lyrics of the songs, so she could sing along with her cassette tape of the film soundtrack.
Sierra was interested in musical theater from a young age, and her early roles included Sarah Brown in "Guys and Dolls" and Charity in "Sweet Charity." She studied theater at Millikin University in Illinois, the school also attended by Jodi Benson, who sang the voice of Ariel in the film.
"I wanted to go there, seriously, because she went there," Sierra says, "because I was obsessed with her voice."
On one occasion, Benson did a concert in Denver and Sierra met her backstage and told Benson that they went to the same college. "I remember being so excited, because she was so nice to me," Sierra says. "She said, 'That's so great, I hope you have some of the same teachers.' She was down to earth and really supportive."
In October 2006, Sierra was starring as Christine in "Phantom: The Las Vegas Spectacular," when she got the chance to audition for the stage version of The Little Mermaid. She sang "Part of Your World," plus a new song that wasn't in the movie but was written for the musical, called "Beyond My Wildest Dreams." In January 2007, Disney asked Sierra to fly back to New York for a five-hour second audition, where she sang the songs again and worked with actors trying out for the role of her love interest, Prince Eric.
After Sierra got the life-changing call at the dentist's office a few days later, she worked hard to prepare for the role. While she was still starring in "Phantom" in Las Vegas, Sierra went to the Silverton Casino's Mermaid Restaurant and Lounge, which had a big aquarium with a girl swimming around in a mermaid costume. Sierra stood and watched her for an hour. "She probably thought I was really crazy," says Sierra.
"It was really cool to see a human being portraying a mermaid, and seeing how she has to turn her body," Sierra adds. "Being a cartoon, they can draw whatever they want, but seeing a human do it is different.'"
Sierra also spent time in a pool and paid attention to how her own body moved in water. "When you're standing still in the water, your arms are never by your side," she says. "They kind of float up. So that's something I incorporated."
Sierra was an ice skater for ten years, which prepared her to wear Heely's, the shoes with hidden wheels on them that the performers wear to simulate moving underwater. For the moment in the show when Ariel stands on her feet for the first time, Sierra researched how babies start to walk. And for the funny parts of the show, Sierra was inspired by her idol, Barbra Streisand, in "Funny Girl." Sierra often plays the "Funny Girl" album in her dressing room before the show.
Sierra also brought her own life experience to the role, in part because she shares many of Ariel's traits. "She's kind of spunky and she's very independent and she's funny and she's really outgoing -- so yeah, those are some things" that the two of them share, Sierra says. "She also goes after what she wants. She's very driven."
Plus, Sierra adds, "I understand what her struggles are. I remember being 16 years old and not feeling like I belong."
Sierra relates especially to the strong relationship between Ariel and her father, King Triton. "I've always kind of been a Daddy's girl and my dad has always been a wonderful part of my life," she says. "I definitely bring feelings I have for my dad onto the stage."
After months of preparation and rehearsal, Sierra finally played the role during the show's Broadway tryout, which happened to be in Denver, her hometown. "The first time that I came out onstage, I heard entrance applause, and I was like, 'Wow,'" she says. "I've never, ever had that before. It's like every actor's dream to get entrance applause. People don't know me, Sierra, they're just excited that it's Ariel. I thought, 'Now I have to work hard and do her justice.'" Sierra had fans of all ages standing outside the stage door every night, and she received a warm welcome when she went back to visit her school, George Washington High.
Sierra now lives with her sister in New York City, and the two of them occasionally play music together. Her sister's a cellist and Sierra plays the flute. Sierra also does Bikram yoga and hangs out with friends she's met from different shows. "In Midtown [Manhattan] it's like a college campus," she says. "You stand in one place long enough and everyone you've ever worked with walks by."
Sierra keeps a journal of all the positive things that happen to her during The Little Mermaid process, to record the moments she wants to remember her whole life. "This industry can be very negative, and it can be a lot of nos and a lot of closed doors, and we, as actors, we can doubt ourselves a lot," she says. "I want to be able to look back on that [journal] in the times when I start doubting myself."
So far, however, Sierra's career has been -- to paraphrase a song from the show -- beyond her wildest dreams.
"It's so completely surreal," she says. "It's a dream come true."

]]> Tue, 16 Oct 2007 12:00:00 -0700 http://disney.go.com/theatre/#/news/SierraBoggess SierraBoggess Denver, CO. With its final performance this Sunday, September 9 -- after four weeks of previews and nearly three weeks of performances -- Disney's pre-Broadway engagement of THE LITTLE MERMAID has sold out every ticket made available to the public in its run at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. With nearly 95,000 seats sold in 47 performances, this pre-Broadway engagement has been one of the most highly attended events in DCPA history and the most successful out-of-town tryout for Disney Theatrical Productions ever.
"The Denver Center for the Performing Arts is delighted to have had the pre-Broadway engagement of THE LITTLE MERMAID here in the gorgeous new Ellie Caulkins Opera House," said Randy Weeks, President and Executive Director of Denver Center Attractions. "This was the highlight of our year and we have been overwhelmed by the tremendous support and amazing response our audiences have shown. We greatly value our relationship with Disney Theatrical Productions, and have been honored to have this fantastic cast and crew here in Denver."
Noted by local critics to be "a lavish production" with "moments of glimmering magic" (Rocky Mountain News) and called an "intoxicating spectacle" (The Denver Post), Mermaid has delighted scores of Denver theatre-goers.
Making her Broadway debut as Ariel, Sierra Boggess (coincidentally a Denver native), was lauded by Denver critics as having an "ethereal voice" and "the spunk and sparkle of a girl capable of saving both herself and the prince" (Rocky Mountain News). Denver Post critic John Moore said of the actress, "Bet on it: This kid's gonna be a big Broadway star." Moore also noted, "The casting is impeccable...Boggess and Scott could be destined for Tony Award nominations."
"THE LITTLE MERMAID represents the quintessential Disney theatrical experience, and this imaginative, ambitious, and entertaining production brings a whole new level of excitement and audience involvement to this timeless tale," said Dick Cook, chairman, The Walt Disney Studios. "We're thrilled by the audience response to the previews and performances in Denver, and feel strongly that the show is going to be a favorite with audiences on Broadway for a long time starting this fall. Thomas Schumacher and his team have done an incredible job bringing THE LITTLE MERMAID to the stage, and we're extremely proud of this latest milestone. It's clear from the Denver engagement that this production delivers all the magic, charm, and memorable music, and that the show met or exceeded even the highest expectations."
Ellie Caulkins, the namesake for THE LITTLE MERMAID's theatre home in Denver, commented, "I am so pleased that the City of Denver was able to create a beautiful opera house at the Denver Performing Arts Complex, a fantastic venue where audiences might experience a piece of history like this, as well as opera and ballet. On a personal note, I am thrilled that I had the opportunity to see this amazing production four times! I loved it all!"
Jack Finlaw, Director of Denver's Division of Theatres and Arenas, added, "I am elated that THE LITTLE MERMAID made its pre-Broadway premiere at our Ellie Caulkins Opera House. As the first Broadway musical to play the new opera house, this was a history-making engagement and a source of great pride that the entire City of Denver can share in. I hope the Denver run was just the beginning of a very successful engagement for THE LITTLE MERMAID, as well as the first of many future projects that involve a partnership between Disney Theatricals, Denver Center Attractions and the Ellie."
Featuring the Oscar-winning score and music from the beloved 1989 film, eight-time Academy Award® winner Alan Menken has written eleven new songs with lyricist Glenn Slater that blend seamlessly with those originally written with Howard Ashman. The book for the new musical is by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award®-winning playwright Doug Wright.
Led by director Francesca Zambello, THE LITTLE MERMAID's visionary team of artists includes Olivier Award winner Stephen Mear (choreography), George Tsypin (scenic design), Tatiana Noginova (costume design), Tony Award® winner Natasha Katz (lighting design), John Shivers (sound design), Angelina Avallone (make-up design) and David Brian Brown (hair design).
THE LITTLE MERMAID, based on the Disney film and the classic fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, takes place in a magical kingdom beneath the sea, where a beautiful young mermaid named Ariel longs to leave her ocean home to live in the world above. But first, she'll have to defy her father, the king of the sea, escape the clutches of an evil sea witch and convince a prince that she's the girl with the perfect voice. The pre-Broadway cast features Sierra Boggess as 'Ariel,' Sean Palmer as 'Prince Eric,' Norm Lewis as 'King Triton,' Tituss Burgess as 'Sebastian,' Eddie Korbich as 'Scuttle,' Jonathan Freeman as 'Grimsby,' Derrick Baskin as 'Jetsam,' Tyler Maynard as 'Flotsam,' Cody Hanford and J.J. Singleton as 'Flounder,' and Sherie Rene Scott as 'Ursula.'
Broadway previews of THE LITTLE MERMAID will begin at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre (205 West 46th Street) on November 3, 2007, with an official opening on December 6, 2007.
Disney's THE LITTLE MERMAID has been part of Denver Center Attractions' 2007 season, which is generously sponsored by United Airlines. Media sponsorship is provided by The Denver Post, CBS 4, KOSI radio, Colorado Homes & Lifestyles magazine and Cherry Creek Shopping Center. Denver Center Attractions is supported in part by the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District.
The Denver Center for the Performing Arts presents and produces live theatre with Broadway touring shows, cabaret productions and a professional theatre company. The DCPA is the site of training schools for actors, a voice research laboratory and unique rental facilities. Denver Center Attractions is a preferred stop on the Broadway touring circuit and has launched many national touring premieres. Center Attractions also produces cabaret shows. The Tony Award-winning Denver Center Theatre Company is the largest professional theatre company between Chicago and the West Coast. It produces traditional and contemporary drama and world premieres.

]]> Fri, 07 Sep 2007 12:00:00 -0700 http://disney.go.com/theatre/#/news/DenverEngagement DenverEngagement "Oh, an incredible amount," Menken said of the man with whom he composed the music for "The Little Mermaid," the 1989 film that has been credited not only with launching Disney into its second era of classic animation, but also with revitalizing a long-dormant genre. There hadn't been a huge animated hit since "The Jungle Book" in 1967. Without "Mermaid," which grossed $222 million worldwide, there may have been no "Beauty and the Beast," no "Pocahontas," no "Shrek" 1, 2 or the Third - or even computer-animated giant Pixar.
So Menken, 57, stays close to the memory of the man with whom he restarted it all. Read the full story.

]]> Sun, 17 Jun 2007 12:00:00 -0700 http://disney.go.com/theatre/#/news/MenkenInTune MenkenInTune