REVIEW: CTH musical “The Little Mermaid” is a dazzling, colorful delight

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The adjective that best describes the Community Theatre of Howell’s new production of “The Little Mermaid”?

“Colorful.” Or maybe “dazzling.” Or “energetic.” Or perhaps “entertaining” or “fun” or “poignant.”

Or maybe it’s all of the above. Whatever word you want to use, CTH has a winner with this one. There’s one more weekend left of this Disney classic on the Howell stage, and if you’re looking for some top-notch family entertainment, do yourself a favor and get your tickets now.

Little girls, especially, will love, love, love, love this. If you have a little girl in your house and you aren’t taking her to see this show, shame on you. 

Director Kevin Rogers and his crew have put together an amazingly entertaining musical. Rogers has become CTH’s go-to guy on all things Disney in recent years (he previously directed “Beauty and the Beast” and “Aladdin Jr.”), and he does perhaps his best work here. He even manages to squeeze in a SpongeBob reference that comes out of nowhere, and is hilarious.

The story of “The Little Mermaid” is a familiar one. Ariel is a mermaid who longs for life on land – especially when she falls in love with a human named Prince Eric. Ariel makes a deal with the devil (in this case, the evil sea witch Ursula) to trade in her fins for feet, which causes great pain for her father, King Triton, who wants to keep her under the sea.

Along the way, they encounter a host of colorful, quirky and sometimes hilarious creatures.

Rogers and his cast are able to milk the story for all it’s worth. It’s at turns poignant, funny and whimsical, and they prove especially adept at bringing a tenderness to the story that might get lost in other productions.

It helps that he has a first-rate cast.

As Ariel, Lucy Thomas is picture-perfect. She has a megawatt smile that lights up the stage and brings just the right touches of joy and angst to the role. It’s impossible to imagine another actress who was born to play a role like Lucy Thomas was for Ariel. She has so many great moments in this show, none better than her first-act solo, “Part of Your World.” It’s spectacular.

Another standout performance comes from young Ethan O’Dell as Sebastian, the Jamaican crab who’s King Triton’s right-hand man. The talented O’Dell delivers a fantastic comedic turn, and brings a sweet side to the role when he sings the melodic “Kiss the Girl.” It’s hard to believe he’s only a freshman in high school.

The colorful sea creatures in CTH’s “The Little Mermaid.”

As the villain Ursula, Alyssa Friday consumes the stage with evil. This is one of Disney’s best bad guys ever, and Friday’s performance more than does the role justice. She’s fantastic in all her numbers, particularly “Poor Unfortunate Souls.”

Special credit also goes to her evil henchmen (henchfish?), Sara Johnson as Flotsam and Lena Zielkowski as Jetsam. They complement the evilness perfectly.

“The Little Mermaid” features a whole lot of comedy, and CTH’s group pulls it off beautifully, especially with Foyid Mockbil as Chef Louis (the scene where they try to cook Sebastian is a highlight of the entire show) and Elayna Mockbil as Scuttle.

Regan Miller hits all the right notes in his portrayal of Ariel’s best friend, Flounder, while Dennis Walker brings a nice tenderness to the role of Prince Eric.

And every father in the audience can relate to Gary Hull’s terrific performance as King Triton. He loves his daughter, he’s frustrated by his daughter, he wants to protect his daughter, and Hull brings all of that to life perfectly.

If this production has a flaw, it’s that there aren’t enough scenes with the Mersisters. The Mersisters (Ariel’s jealous and over-the-top sisters) have a couple musical numbers that are some of the absolute best scenes in the show. Bravo to all of them: Courtney Barker, Abbey Bean, Devin Douglas, Madison LeMieux, Audrey Moyer and Carly Scruggs.

So much of the production also deserves special note. The musical numbers both large and small (choreographed by Anni Ulman, with Bethany Bean as vocal director) are dazzling, particularly the show-stopping “Under the Sea.”

Alyssa Friday as Ursula.

The set is colorful and spectacular (and they make great use of the full-stage rear-projection screen) and the costumes are a visual extravaganza. Credit to costumer Dawn Eldred and set dress chairs Lynda Bednarczyk and Chrissy Lockhart and their entire crews.

Performances continue this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so you have four more chances to see this spectacle.

Don’t blow it. Be there.

The Community Theatre of Howell is presenting “The Little Mermaid” at the Howell High School Freshman Campus, 1400 W. Grand River Ave., Howell. Shows are Nov. 16-18, with showtimes at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with matinees at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Tickets are $17 for adults, $15 for students and seniors, available at Finding Roots in Howell, Maria’s School of Dance in Fowlerville, Big Acre in Brighton, and Ed Bock Feed and Seed in Pinckney. Tickets are also available by calling 517-545-1290, or online at cththeatre.org. You can buy tickets by clicking here.

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