Interview: Chatting with John Tartaglia the Director of DISNEY'S THE LITTLE MERMAID at The Muny

Every summer, Broadway’s John Tartaglia returns to St. Louis to make Muny magic. Last season he thrilled audiences with an epic production of Disney’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST that Broadway World called remarkable, enchanted, and extravagant. This season Tartaglia will direct his eighth show at The Muny, Disney’s THE LITTLE MERMAID.  

Tartaglia was a Tony nominated leading actor for his work as Rod/Princeton in the Broadway production of AVENUE Q. He also performed on Broadway in Disney’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and SHREK. The St. Louis Theater Circle recognized him with an award for his portrayal of Hysterium in The Muny Production of A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM. He is a master puppeteer and has worked on “Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock,” “Sesame Street,” “Johnny and the Sprites,” and Jim Henson’s “Word Party” and “Splash and Bubbles.” 

Tartaglia told Broadway World that returning to the Muny is like coming home to family. He said, “I remember my first year here acting in Aladdin and falling in love with the community.” Mike Isaacson told him how special the patrons are at The Muny. Tartaglia said, “The people of St. Louis get so excited about the work we do here.” When shopping at a Whole Foods and wearing his Muny lanyard, one of the employees asked him if he worked at the Muny. Tartaglia told him he was working on THE LITTLE MERMAID. The man at Whole Foods could barely contain his excitement and exclaimed, “I’m bringing my children to that show!” Tartaglia says that his summer is not complete without working on a show at The Muny. 

When Tartaglia was asked about his favorite Muny memories he quickly mentioned his time playing The Cat in the Hat in SEUSSICAL. He laughed, “Being The Cat in the Hat was just like playtime. I got to involve the audience, squirt them with a super-soaker, and just be an idiot,” During that production of SEUSSICAL he was the first actor to take the stage at the beginning of the show. He said, “I had goosebumps every night when I looked out and saw the faces of the 11,000 people sitting in the audience.”  

He shared the experience of seeing the massive Muny crowd with Savy Jackson, the actor making her Muny debut as Ariel. Jackson recently made her Broadway debut in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s BAD CINDERELLA. He reminded her that actors working on Broadway play to much smaller crowds and take the stage to a dark house where you cannot see the audiences’ faces. “But here,” he told her, “You have daylight for the first hour of the show and it can be intimidating to see the large audience leaning in to watch.”  

The audience will be leaning into this highly anticipated production of THE LITTLE MERMAID. Over the past two seasons Tartaglia has created special Muny moments with BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and MARY POPPINS. In the latter production the titular nanny flew over the audience when she was making her final exit. He teased that his production will have a lot of effects that make for magical moments. “I don’t want to give the surprises away, but there will be a lot of joy and buoyancy in this production,” he said. 

Tartaglia is excited about this production and thinks the St. Louis audiences will find his take on the story relatable. “THE LITTLE MERMAID is about love, and not just the romantic love between Ariel and Prince Eric, but also the love between a father and his daughter” He continued, “King Triton is a father who is afraid of losing his daughter, and Ariel wants something more than she’s known.” Tartaglia shared that he really wants to pull both of those story lines together because they are relatable to parents and their children.  

Tartaglia said another fond memory was seeing and hearing the audience reaction to Disney’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST last year. In this production he is being reunited with set designer Ann Beyersdorfer, choreographer Patrick O’Neill, and costume designer Robin L. McGee. The trio worked with him on BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. Beyersdorfer's set will be designed to make what Tartaglia says are “magical transitions between the land and the ocean.” He called O’Neill a brilliant choreographer and said the work he is doing on Mermaid is the best that he has done. If McGee's work on BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and MARY POPPINS is any indication, the costuming for Mermaid will be whimsical and fun. “I think the audience is really going to love the way we are bringing the mermaids and the other undersea creatures to life. It's different than in other productions,” he said.   

Theater, television, and puppetry are not Tartaglia’s only artistic passions. When he’s away from work he likes to draw because he finds it calming. He said when he was a kid that he was always sketching and painting. He enjoys going to the beach, hiking, and writing. He expressed gratitude for his busy professional career because he gets to play for a living. He does not take his success for granted. He is keenly aware that he is living out the dreams of his childhood.  

Tartaglia thinks that THE LITTLE MERMAID has one of the greatest scores written by Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman. “I think any parent can relate to the story between Triton and Ariel, because in that moment a parent has to decide, Do I want my child be happy, or do I want them to become the vision I have for them.” Tartaglia’s vision is to have THE LITTLE MERMAID be a spectacle, with a multi-talented diverse cast, that allows little girls to see themselves in Ariel.  

The Muny production of Disney’s THE LITTLE MERMAID runs July 8 – 16, 2024. Tickets can be purchased by clicking the link below or at The Muny box office in Forest Park. 

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