VIDEO: On This Day, January 10- THE LITTLE MERMAID Takes Broadway Under the Sea

The Little Mermaid, based on the Disney film and the classic fairy tale by Hans Christian Anderson, opened on this day in 2008 at Broadway's Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.

The original Broadway company featured 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.

The Little Mermaid 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,

Francesca Zambello directed the production, with a score featuring 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. The musical debuted 11 new songs by Menken and lyricist Glenn Slater. Book by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright Doug Wright.

The cast also included: Adrian Bailey, Cathryn Basile, Heidi Blickenstaff, James Brown III,Robert Creighton, Cicily Daniels, John Treacy Egan, Tim Federle, Merwin Foard, Bahiyah Sayyed Gaines, Ben Hartley, Meredith Inglesby, Michelle Lookadoo, Joanne Manning, Alan Mingo, Jr., Zakiya Young Mizen, Betsy Morgan, Arbender J. Robinson, Bret Shuford, Jason Snow, Chelsea Morgan Stock, Kay Trinidad, Price Waldman and Daniel J. Watts.

The creative team included Stephen Mear (choreography), George Tsypin (scenic design), Tatiana Noginova (costume design), Natasha Katz (lighting design), John Shivers (sound design), David Brian Brown (hair design), Angelina Avallone (make-up design), Sven Ortel (projection & video designer), Rick Sordelet (fight director) and Pichón Baldinu (aerial design).