BWW Interviews: Alison Woods from THE LITTLE MERMAID TOUR

THE LITTLE MERMAID has been a favorite among many over the years as it tells the story of finding hope and happiness in life. THE LITTLE MERMAID has been on Broadway and now finds its way to tour around North America and entertain audiences everywhere. Alison Woods is currently playing the role of Ariel and shares with BWW how she is living her dream.

Why don't you tell us a little about yourself?

I started out as a dancer. I grew up dancing. I took my first ballet class when I was two and a half in pre-school and I loved performing and I got into musical theater from there because a lot of the music that you dance to when you're a dancer is musical theater. That's how I got into it. I always loved being onstage and I loved the expression of it. I did sing when I was younger but it was more in choir and in school. I didn't have any formal vocal training until much later. I did school shows and all of that. I sort of had the bug to be onstage and perform.

What was the first performance you remember doing?

I very clearly remember my first dance recital in pre-school. I did not move. I stood there like a statue and everyone else was dancing and following the teachers and I stood there with my thumb in my mouth. It was stage fright, I just sort of froze. My parents have it recorded. It was pretty funny. At the time, I don't remember even thinking anything of it. I just stood there and I was looking at all of the people looking at me. That is my first experience performing.

Were you a fan of THE LITTLE MERMAID when you were young?

Oh, yes. I loved the movie. I watched it the first time when I think I was five. I fell in love with it. I just remember being so captivated and I'm a redhead and she was a redhead. She made redheads cool and I saw myself in her in that way. I loved the music and I sang it all the time. Every time I've gone swimming my entire life, now included, I pretended to be a mermaid. The way they move and the scenery and everything about it was so magical and captivating. I can't even tell you how many times I've seen it. It's still one of my favorite movies if not my favorite Disney movie. I've noticed Ariel is a lot of little girls' favorite as the girls go. I think it has something to do with (the fact that) of course she's a mermaid. But, I think it's also the character, her personality. She's so strong and she's so fun and kind of sassy and she stood up for herself. She knows what she wants and she goes for it. No one's going to stop her. I think girls really respond to that.

Tell us more about some of the differences in this particular production of THE LITTLE MERMAID.

The show delves deeper than the movie does. The relationships dig a little deeper which is something Glenn Casale, our director really drove home for us a lot of times in rehearsal. He was all about the relationships; the father daughter relationship and the relationship between Sabastian who is almost like this maternal character to Ariel and the friendship between Flounder and Ariel; just the relationships and the idea that that's what makes the story accessible for adults as well as kids because it's real and they're fleshed out more. It's deeper. There's a lot more music in the show than in the movie. I want to say double the amount of songs. They're all written by Alan Menken who wrote the original music. Some of the best music is new. It's all beautiful. If you love the music from the movie, you're going to love the rest of the songs. It's just more heightened. The storyline is the same. There are a couple of differences that make the story a little bit higher stakes. You have the prejudice between the mermaids and the humans and that whole aspect too which is a very adult theme. I think that adults are surprised by how much they're touched by the show. The kids love it but I think adults take away a lot as well. And then, the technical aspects of the show are gorgeous.

I heard a lot about the technical aspects. Tell us about the way they have you "swimming" onstage.

It's amazing. It's visually stunning for one thing. And yes, we "swim" through the air. We are suspended. It is so magical. I remember the first day that we watched one of the flights in rehearsal and we all had chills. And that was with no sets, no lighting, no costumes or anything. It's so magical and it adds such an element of reality to it because we're not just running around the stage pretending to be swimming all the time. We're actually moving like through water. That's one thing that the Broadway Production didn't have. They were on heelies , those skate shoes. They glided along the stage and their tails were horizontally attached behind them. It didn't have that element of magic to it because it was all on that same plane. What Glenn has done, which I think is brilliant; it's breathtaking. You feel like you're under the water and it adds so much to the magic of the show. It's like watching the movie; that whole aspect of this different world; and it really brings it to life in a cool way that you can almost feel. One of the moments when I rise up in the air, you can feel the collective gasp in the theater. It's electrifying. It's worth seeing the show just for that. But, there's so much more too.

What advice do you have for anyone thinking about pursuing a career in show business?

As someone who has had the bug myself, I always feel like if you feel the pull, you have to do it. I've had moments where I doubted whether I can do it or if I'm strong enough to do it to stand up to all the rejection. But at the end of the day, I still have to do it because I love it. I would say if someone wants to get into theater, training is so important and as much as you possibly can. Take dance classes, voice lessons. I didn't have much formal vocal training until much later than a lot of singers. It's something that I've worked on the past five, six, seven years. Now I feel like I'm at a point where I can play ball. I'm so grateful for my dance training because a lot of singers have the opposite issue where they've always sung but they don't know how to move their bodies that well. I would say the sooner you can get into classes and get trained and keep training. It's not like you can train for five years and then just run with it. You have to keep training. I train. I have a vocal coach who is amazing. I have this regimen that I am on when I'm doing a show. I take care of myself. I drink a lot. I rest a lot. I'll be the first to say, it is a tough business and it's a lot but if you can believe in yourself enough to not have to get the validation from someone in the room auditioning you, then you are way ahead of the game. It's tough but it's rewarding when you can actually do the work. I'm having the time of my life. I'm living my dream. It has been a dream come true to do this show and I think back to those moments where I had a bad audition or I was drained or was not feeling good enough or validated or whatever it was and I felt like I didn't want to do it anymore. If I would have given that up, I wouldn't be here right now and I wouldn't have the opportunity to be with this company with this role in this show. So, the short answer is to just stick it out and keep going. Don't let anything stop you.

Don't let anyone stop you from seeing this wonderful performance as it comes to San Antonio's Majestic Theatre from September 22-27, 2015. Purchase tickets at www.majesticempire.com.

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