New Version of Disney's THE LITTLE MERMAID to Return to North American Stage?

In a new interview with Vulture.com, Disney Theatrical Productions president, Thomas Schumacher, spoke about the successes and flops that the company has experienced on the Broadway stage throughout the years.

In particular, the exec focused on THE LITTLE MERMAID, which began its short Broadway run in January of 2008. "Our 'flop' was LITTLE MERMAID. That ran a year and a half." Schumacher went on to explain, "In the case of MERMAID, there were a lot of mitigating factors: The economic downturn. There was a huge union strike that stopped the show before it could open. We missed Christmas. There's all these things I could blame it on, but in reality, we somehow missed delivering on the vision of the show and have since been able to reinvent it."

Yet, despite the fact that the production was considered an initial failure, Mr. Schumacher revealed that there is a good chance it may return to North America in its latest incarnation. "We have a version of the show with a whole new team that has played extensively in Holland, did two great seasons in Moscow, and is now a massive success in Japan," he shared, "And that will likely come back to North America. But I had to go away, get out of here and reinvent it."

The journey of Disney's THE LITTLE MERMAID began with a pre-Broadway engagement at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House in the Denver Performing Arts Complex July 26 - September 9, 2007. Broadway performances began at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on Saturday, November 3, 2007 and the show officially opened on Thursday, January 10, 2008. THE LITTLE MERMAID played its final Broadway performance on Sunday, August 30th after 50 previews and 685 performances.

Led by the award-winning director, Francesca Zambello, some of the theatre's most innovative artists collaborated to create THE LITTLE MERMAID. The score 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 his longtime collaborator, the late Howard Ashman, as well as 10 new songs by Mr. Menken and lyricist Glenn Slater. The book for the new musical is by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award®-winning playwright Doug Wright.

THE LITTLE MERMAID's visionary team also included: 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), David Brian Brown (hair design), Angelina Avallone (make-up design), Sven Ortel (projection and video designer), Danny Troob (orchestrations) and Michael Kosarin (musical direction).

Among the many rave reviews that greeted the show on Broadway, The Chicago Tribune hailed THE LITTLE MERMAID as "a tidal wave of stellar performances," TIME magazine placed it among the "top 10 theater of 2008," with Richard Zoglin describing the show as "one of the most ravishing shows I have ever seen on a Broadway stage," The Philadelphia Inquirer declared the show "a triumph of stagecraft" and The Wall Street Journal called it, "visually ingenious, as sweet a theatrical fantasy as you could hope to see."

THE LITTLE MERMAID show was seen by over one million people during its run. When its closure was announced, producer Mr. Schumacher said, "Director Francesca Zambello, our creators, designers and cast conjured a world unlike any Broadway has seen before, and audiences have been captivated by it at every explosive performance. We are tremendously proud of the show and are confident we'll have an excellent summer but it would be fiscally irresponsible to our shareholders to risk operating losses with such a big show in the historically challenging fall months. We are closing the Broadway production to concentrate on the long future life of this title - beginning with next year's national tour and upcoming international productions." The production team subsequently began work on a national tour, which was launched in fall 2010.

Read the full Vulture.com interview here.