Review: THE LITTLE MERMAID at White Theatre

Overland Park’s White Theatre continues its 2023-24 season with an excellent production of Disney’s The Little Mermaid.  The level of overall complexity achieved for this show is amazing and beyond what one could expect for community theater.

Scenic design by John Rohr is literally off the charts.  Audience members are greeted with an unusually elaborate set that announces THE LITTLE MERMAID and glimmers with active video projections that continue throughout the show. Ships and rowboats and wrecks and caverns and castles appear seamlessly throughout the two acts.

This cast is outstanding. Lacy Goettling is delightful as Ariel, The Little Mermaid herself. Ariel is the youngest of widowed King Triton's (Donald Davis) seven mermaid daughters. Ariel is blessed with her deceased mother's beautiful, ethereal voice and a youthful wanderlust. The wanderlust makes her a little hard to control. The King's court composer, a crab named Sebastian (Hew McKoy) who is assigned to look out for the young mer-person. He is repeatedly not up to the task.

Ariel is fascinated with artifacts from those strange creatures (humans) that live above the surface of the ocean. She must keep her interest in the surface world secret from her Father. The King believes that humans are responsible for the disappearance of his queen, Ariel's Mother.

Ariel saves a human young man from drowning. He is Crown Prince Eric (Zane Champie) from the neighboring dry land kingdom. Prince Eric (Zane) is as perfect as only a Disney fairy tale hero could be. He could have just as easily been drawn as been born as a human person. Champie fits the role

Ariel, of course, is smitten with him. But there is a problem for Ariel. No legs! She cannot easily be swept off her feet. The answer is a magical spell from Ariel's evil Aunt, a squid named Ursula (Austin Skibbie). In exchange for Ariel's wonderful voice, Ursula grants the Little Mermaid three days of walking around on legs. If she can get Prince Eric to kiss her, she wins the Prince lottery and the return of her voice. If not, she is sentenced to ocean Hell with Ursula.

The White Theatre’s "Mermaid" capitalizes on the exceptional capabilities of the White Theatre stagehouse. It has more flying sequences by mer-people and dolphins kicking their way mid-ocean across the stage than any show that I have been familiar with except perhaps "Peter Pan."

The technical crew at White Theatre have built an entire ship set that rolls around the stage with about a dozen people on board.  Both it, the castle set, along with the motorized rowboat are very effective. Sound is great. The illusion of underwater and rising to the surface is remarkable.

The comic actors, Sebastian (Austin Skibbie), Flounder (Louisa Bartlett), Scuttle the Seagull (Ellen Welander), and the chef (Alex Gumminger) are all excellent. You have to love the calypso familiar "Under the Sea," and the seagull tap routine "Positoovity."

If you like puns, and delightfully simple and hum-able music by Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, and Glenn Slater, great choreography, exceptional costumes, and lots of fun stage tricks, the "The Little Mermaid" is for you and your family. There is something for everyone to like.  The dozens of young children in the theatre were transfixed.  I think one of me favorite parts to the show was to see the kids jumping as high as they could to get a peek at the fourteen person orchestra hidden in the pit in front of the stage.

THE LITTLE MERMAID is directed by Guy Gardner.  Vocal Director is Lacey Connell.  The fine orchestra is under the direction of Blake Vignery. Lighting is by Justin Dudzik. The choreography is by Ellery Bailey and Mckenna Lewis. Costume/Hair and Markup Design is by Fran Kapono-Kuzila.

"Disney's The Little Mermaid" completes its run at the White Theatre inside the Jewish Community Center in Overland Park Sunday July 28.  I must admit to being as surprised and fascinated as all the other little kids.

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