BWW Interviews: Melvin Abston from THE LITTLE MERMAID

As the touring production of THE LITTLE MERMAID travels around, the cast and creatives spend a lot of time enjoying new cities and perfecting their craft. The quirky, yet loveable crab is played splendidly by veteran actor/singer, Melvin Abston. As THE LITTLE MERMAID prepares to perform in Austin at Bass Concert Hall, BWW recently had a chance to chat with him about his role and the exciting experiences he's had playing this iconic character.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you first got into performing.

Many years ago, in Chicago, where I'm from, I originally began singing; grew up in church singing and doing Christmas pageants. You didn't think much of it. It was just what we did because I went to church. As I got a little older, I began singing again but this time with a group of other guys around my age. There were five of us and we would sing acapella, like old R & B music, jazz and some gospel. There was an audition that we somehow got wind of and went to the Black Ensemble Theater in Chicago under the direction of Jackie Taylor. She was looking to train different singers during the Motown era. We were already a group so we figured we already had an advantage. So we go in as a group, sing, and she loved that sound that we had. In Chicago, there's a huge music scene and huge music history so the five of us had an appreciation for that music that had come long before our initial births. It was like we were old souls. She invited us to come in and even actually wrote in a little part in the script where we could appear as ourselves. You talk about generous and giving us an audience that we wouldn't have had before. So that show came, went and closed and as things happen, growing pains occurred and so the group went through a little bit of a shift and a change and the majority of us stayed and auditioned for the next show that had come along. Got in that again, kinda ensemble chorus, backup singers. But, during the time of the first shows, she got to see personalities and mine was one that she had seen and she was interested (in). We had the reading of the play and somebody didn't show up. And she said, "Melvin, read this part for me." And I read it and I was able to keep up. It was literally just a reading just sitting around the table, no acting. The rehearsal ended and she said, "I'll see everybody tomorrow. Be on time. Be warmed up and ready to go. Melvin, come here for just a second." I said, "Yes, ma'am." She said, "You remember that part that you were reading today?" I said, "Yeah." She said, "That's your part. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye." And that's my introduction into theater.

I know you have been in a lot of shows over the years including movies and television. What are some of the standout roles that you've had over the years?

I would certainly have to say that being in THE LION KING on tour for about three and a half years and that was one of those watermarks in my career having Julie Taymor dead center behind a table and there had to be about 12 people. And it's really interesting because every single person looks like they were dressed in black. It was the oddest thing. To go to New York to have all that happen and stay in a hotel and working with the puppet, that was surreal. I kept saying to myself, "Even if I don't book this, this is possibly the most fun I've had in an audition ever. I ended up getting it and was on the road with that for a while and got to be in Chicago doing that. That was huge to have family and friends and people that I've grown up with over the years to see that. To go from the beginnings that I had to making it to that level, it was huge. Making my Broadway debut was another one of those things. I go back. Everything for me goes back to Chicago where I go back there and I go, "Wow, that's not bad for a young man from the west side of Chicago making his way doing all of this stuff and then Broadway." It's crazy. I love it. Just recently, I was in Austin, this spring and I got to do ALL THE WAY at the Zach Theatre and got to play Dr. King. It was a huge undertaking because you could dress up in the suit and have the moustache and cut your hair the right way and do the speech in the voice, but you had to imagine that he was behind closed doors doing a lot of research, listened and watched a lot of tapes, phone conversations between LBJ and MLK and listening and putting that skin on and it went really well. It went better than I could have expected. The author had come out and members of LBJ's staff, one of his lawyers, one of his speech writers; they'd come out to see the show and they were absolutely blown away. Members of the presidential library of the past had come to see the show and they were like, "You guys were amazing." I was nominated for an award; The Austin Critics Table Award. I ended up winning which was again that close to a realistic thing.

So, let's talk about THE LITTLE MERMAID now. Tell us about your character Sebastian.

He is a very interesting mix of things. He's very prim and proper, working as the king's advisor. He's the court composer, so everything musical that's done is his doing. Then, also, he realizes how much he doesn't know when he's assigned the task of keeping an eye on Ariel and keeping her out of trouble. It proves to be a little out of his league. What's done in this production unlike the Broadway production or even the movie is the relationships become very, very specific; the relationship between Triton and Sebastian and the one between Triton and Ariel and Ariel and Sebastian. The mother's missing and we delve into what it must be like to have just one parent that's so busy that he can't keep an eye on (her). Sebastian takes kind of a second parent role with regards to warning her about things, attempting to keep her out of trouble and giving her a different kind of perspective.

I also know there are some differences between the Disney movie and the theater production.

Absolutely, it's different in regards of the play; the big climax where Ursula's confronted. Glenn (Casale) had permission to rewrite a couple of things that makes sense. It's one thing to remember what the cartoon did in terms of the story. But, I think this is actually closer to the Hans Christian Anderson story than what was done on Broadway or the animated feature. Then, there's another element that Glenn added which was he joined forces to create a flying element throughout the show so where on Broadway everybody was on heelys and that simulated the swimming and the movements underwater. We added depth and height by having people either fly in like Skuttle flies in or Ariel actually swims in from offstage onto the stage down to the deck. John, the choreographer and Glenn come up with this undulating movement that the merfolk, Ariel included, all have this undulating underwater movement that they do all throughout and there are a couple set pieces that make people understand that now they're on the surface or now they're underwater to add a little element so you feel like you're seeing things underwater. The lighting and like I said, set pieces, body movements and such lend themselves to creating this underwater atmosphere.

What advice do you have for anyone who is thinking about getting into show business?

I always start with the same answer and then I expound upon it. I tell them do something else. Find something else to do and then and after I let that sit in their ears for a moment, I say now if that will deter you from doing this, from wanting to pursue as a vocation or to go and study it, then it's not for you because there are more no's than yeses the majority of the time. You got some people who just out of nowhere go from school and boom, they're on Broadway or they're discovered but being discovered doesn't happen like it used to like a screen test or things of that nature. The business has changed so much with the invention of YouTube and what that turns out. If you have a million followers, now, all of a sudden you're viable as a potential reality star or you can have a series built around you or make an appearance on something because of a bottom line that some people are fixed upon. That said, if you wake up and you think about performing. If you eat, sleep; all you can do is that performing is on the brain, then take that passion and go and study classes with teachers and go see theater; and truly going to see theater. Movies are one thing but they're two dimensional. But when you're in the theater on a Tuesday, that Tuesday is going to be not like any other performance has ever been done. It will be the same show, the same light cues, same sound cues, same lines but (actors) never give that same performance ever. It's an intimate experience that the actors onstage, crew backstage, orchestra under and then the audience and it's an evening just those people had. If something happens onstage and something went wrong, those people will have that experience unlike the Wednesday matinee will. And to close that up, if no doesn't deter you and you got the drive and the willingness to sometimes do this; I won't say for free, but the money won't be great, sometimes the exposure won't be great but, you're getting up and you're breathing life into words and into songs or movement. If that truly drives you and you're not afraid of that, this could be for you. I've never taken anything that's happened for granted even those times when I had to use my own clothes as costumes. What that ended up teaching me later on when I had costumes that were built or were custom made, I treated them well. I would come out of them and hang them up. Some dressers would say, "You know, I would do that. But I'm used to it. And they appreciate it.

Don't miss your chance to see THE LITTLE MERMAID live at Bass Concert Hall in Austin, Texas from September 29 - October 4, 2015. There are limited tickets available and you can go to the Texas Performing Arts website to order your tickets.

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