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Filtering by Tag: Alan Menken

PicksInSix Review: Disney's The Little Mermaid - Drury Lane Theatre

 
 

This ‘Little Mermaid’ Has Got Legs!
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

Sparkling performances that shimmer from head to tail highlight director Scott Weinstein’s delightfully bewitching and hugely entertaining revival of Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” that opened Thursday at Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook. The royal love story—with Alan Menken score, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater, and book by Doug Wright—is anchored by the stunning presence of Sarah Kay as Ariel and her stalwart Prince Eric played by Patrick Johnson. The timeless classic is a heartwarming fantasy adventure in a world that includes whimsical puppets, gorgeous costumes and magical special effects that will take your breath away.

That love story begins when Ariel, who has yearned for a new part of the world, away from the isolation of the underwater kingdom ruled by her father, King Triton (Anand Nagraj) and from her siblings, the Mersisters, saves Prince Eric from drowning. Fleeing from her father’s rage when he discovers what she has done, Ariel is lured into a pact with her evil aunt Ursula (Sawyer Smith) to trade her enchanting voice for the opportunity to explore the world in human form. But it all comes with a heavy price of Disney-style drama.

Ariel’s glistening underwater world is the work of scenic designer Tijana Bjelajac who crafts rock formations and massive stone laid columns together with sheer fabric all highlighted by Anthony Churchill’s projections and Ryan O’Gara’s lighting to simulate the mystical ocean depths and the stately kingdom that bursts with the color and rich texture of the costume design by Ryan Park and Zhang Yu. Those finely-feathered and floppy-finned friends in Ariel’s oceanic sphere—the creative artistry of Chicago Puppet Studio—come to glorious life in Kasey Alfonso’s superbly choreographed ensemble sequences. Music director Ellie Kahn brings out the brilliance in the iconic Menken/Ashman/Slater score performed in fine form by the Drury Lane Orchestra under the direction of Chris Sargent.

Michael Earvin Martin is terrific as the crab companion Sebastian, leading the company in the crowd pleasing “Under the Sea” and “Kiss the Girl.” Maya Lou Hlava’s Flounder, with the array of Sea Creatures, Gulls and Animals, are sure to make you smile. Landree Fleming shines as Scuttle in the playful “Positoovity|Positaggity” and you’ll love the zany antics of Matt Edmonds as the kooky French Chef Louis in “Les Poissons” along with the wonderful, and often hilariously understated, work of Rob Lindley as Grimsby, the Prince’s dutiful Guardian.

Few Disney villains compare in sinister scope to the sea-witch Ursula and Smith’s commanding presence in the role as the cunning sorcerous, with a couple of slippery eel sidekicks like Ryan Michael Hamman (Jetsam) and Leah Morrow (Flotsam) in tow, is magnificent. The trio are chilling in “Daddy’s Little Angel” and Smith brings the house down in a dazzling performance of “Poor Unfortunate Souls.”

It’s a night of fun filled comic chaos that keeps bubbling up with Kay’s marvelous, multi-layered performance at the heart of the show. Her exuberance, youthful charm and soaring vocal talents make Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” at Drury Lane a joy to watch and a destination for the holiday season and New Year.   

PHOTO|Brett Beiner

Drury Lane Theatre
presents
Disney’s
The Little Mermaid
100 Drury Lane
Oakbrook Terrace
through January 12, 2024

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For more reviews, visit: Theatre In Chicago

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PicksInSix® is a registered trademark of Roxbury Road Creative, LLC

PicksInSix Review: Little Shop of Horrors - Paramount Theatre

 
 

Boy Meets Girl Meets Bloodthirsty Plant.
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

There’s a little show about plant food and world domination that’s getting a big-stage theatrical revival at a theatre near you. The smash hit 1982 Off-Broadway musical “Little Shop of Horrors” featuring book and lyrics by Howard Ashman and music by Alan Menken is currently blooming nightly in a fast-paced and highly entertaining production directed by Landree Fleming at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora.

For the humble and lovable Seymour Krelborn (Jack Ball), being on Skid Row as a junior employee at Mushnik’s Flower Distributors is looking more and more like a dead-end job every day. It doesn’t help that the awkward and inept Seymour is hopelessly infatuated with his coworker, Audrey (Teressa LaGamba), who happens to be entangled with a sick, demented and abusive lover Orin (Russell Mernagh), the nitrous oxide addicted dentist from hell you love to hate.

The Mushnik flower shop is on a perennial bubble of its own. With his inventory shriveling and not one sale for the day, the dejected Mushnik (Gene Weygandt) is about to throw in his trowel and pull the door shades down for the final time. Grasping for a hopeful life-vine, Audrey urges Seymour to bring out his newest project, a fascinating and irresistible plant he has dutifully named “Audrey II” in honor of the woman of his dreams.

What starts out as fun-loving camp turns quickly to ghoulish satire with a succulent score and a top rate ensemble led by Ball and LaGamba as the unwitting marks for the charismatic, and inherently evil, foliage from another planet that has a taste for world domination and fresh hemoglobin. It’s Ball’s Seymour who is first enchanted into feeding his own fancy for fame and fortune until those closest to him begin to succumb to Audrey II’s insatiable erythrocytic appetite.

Along the way, Ashman and Menken’s brilliant collaboration shines in the capable hands of music director Kory Danielson who conducts the Paramount Band and choreography by Michael George and Mariah Morris. LaGamba’s lofty and poignant rendition of “Somewhere That’s Green” and the superb duet with Ball “Suddenly, Seymour” are particular highlights. Standout performances abound from the Urchins—Lydia Burke (Crystal), Tickwanya Jones (Ronnette) and Marta Bady (Chiffon)—who serve as the show’s Greek chorus, to Weygandt’s irascible turn as Mushnik in “Mushnik and Son.”

The magnificent multi-level Skid Row set is the work of Jeffrey D. Kimec. Add Jose Santiago’s crisp lighting and Yvonne Miranda’s evocative 60s era costumes and you have the perfect backdrop for the ever-present, and all-consuming, Audrey II—voiced by Je’Shaun Jackson and puppeteered by Adam Fane—designed and created by Skylight Music Theatre and the props team who are working overtime for this show and make Paramount’s “Little Shop of Horrors” a creeping-crawling hit that’s good to the last drop!     

PHOTO|Liz Lauren

Paramount Theatre
presents
LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS
through October 15, 2023


23 East Galena Boulevard
Aurora, IL 60506


(630) 896–6666

WEBSITE

TICKETS

HEALTH & SAFETY PROTOCALS

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