It might not be all candy canes and gumdrops for this year’s Arkansas Repertory Theatre holiday production, but deciding to do Disney’s “Little Mermaid” is every bit as heartwarming and charming as any landlubber dressed in fur trim. (Ariel’s hair is red and her tail is green, so does that count?)
Regardless, excitement has been through the roof leading up to the show, and we sat down with some of the cast and crew to get the scoop on all things under the sea. Spoiler alert: We may have gotten a little enthusiastic ourselves. It’s fine.
So without further ado, here’s our conversation with director Melissa Rain Anderson; Katie Emerson, who plays Ariel; Amy Jo Jackson, who plays Ursula; Shayne Kennon, who plays Prince Eric; and Cornelius Davis, who plays Sebastian.
Opening night for “Little Mermaid” is Dec. 4, but tickets are going very, very fast. Really. For tickets or more information, click here.
This is a pretty young cast across the board, so “Little Mermaid” is right in everyone’s wheelhouse. We all loved it as kids, so what’s it like to be a part of it now, to play such iconic characters?
Amy Jo Jackson: It’s dreams coming true every day. I cried during my costume fitting. I kept looking in the mirror and squealing like a child on Christmas.
Katie Emerson: Yeah, when my agent called me to tell me I got it, I’m pretty sure I busted his eardrum. I screeched at the top of my lungs in my apartment.
Shayne Kennon: Pretty sure I jumped in the air.
KE: The movie came out when I was 3, and it was the beginning of me being really obsessed with singing. My mom would take me to the bank at the bottom of this building my dad worked in. She would set me up on the counter and I would sing all of “Little Mermaid” songs for the tellers and they would give me suckers. You couldn’t get me to shut up.
AJJ: Although, it is different from the film, there are a lot of book adjustments, a lot of additional songs, especially for Eric, who had none in the movie.
SK: Which I think is great because you have more fleshing out available to you than you would with the two-dimensional character. Those are easy for children to digest in the films and that’s fine, but these are so much more developed on stage. They can say and do and express so much more about why they’re doing what they’re doing.
Cornelius Davis: Melissa touched on something the other day that I thought was really interesting. She mentioned that yes, you have these characters that are so iconic and you have all this nostalgia when Katie sings “Part of Your World” or with “Poor Unfortunate Souls,” but each of the characters has a heartbeat. Sometimes in a cartoon you get something that’s flat, but in this musical, each of these characters really go through something. You see why Ursula is the way she is, you see Sebastian transform into a by-the-rules guy and you see this girl step out and make her own decisions. I love that the musical shows you these sides that you wouldn’t normally see.
Melissa Rain Anderson: The waters run deep because you know that Disney does all of that history and background research, you just don’t see it all on the screen. It makes sense that the movie translates so well onto the stage. It’s a huge story, really. It’s an epic. I really think that the Triton/Ursula fight is Shakespearean.
What are some of the other differences between the story every one knows and the one The Rep is telling?
SK: Well, obviously this one’s going to be better…
AJJ: In the Broadway version, Ursula usually closed out the first act with “Poor Unfortunate Souls” because duh. There’s another lesser known one called “Daddy’s Little Angel” that we sing in this show, which has a very explicit back story. Plus, I think Ursula’s funnier, like has had jokes intentionally written for her, not just tossed off and dry.
MRA: Before, they started with the ship instead of seeing Ariel right away, which is what everyone is waiting to see. This show’s great because you see her right away and she sings part of one of her songs before the ship comes in and interrupts her world. I just think the trajectory is really, really good in this one. And as far as the movie goes, there are more songs in this show, so the buoyancy of the language is important because it’s almost always leading to a song.
KE: In some of the added songs, you can recognize them as the underscoring from the movie. The sound is familiar, it’s just been expounded upon so you can hear what’s actually happening with the characters. Like when Ariel doesn’t talk in Act 2 because she gave her voice to Ursula, the new music helps you understand what’s going on in her head.
Talk to me about the stage transformation from water to land.
MRA: The hard part theatrically and design-wise is figuring out how you’re going to be on the surface of the water, deep under the water with a boat on top, a mermaid in the water while a human is on the beach, then there’s the palace. A lot has to happen because it’s very cinematic.
I think Shoko Kambara, our set designer, our choreographer Adam Cates and I have stressed a lot about it. Now that we’ve decided how to approach it, it’s easy. There are rules that you have to sort of adhere to. For instance, Ariel can’t just be on the beach. That’s the whole point, she can’t be part of his world. At the same time, she’s befriended Sebastian and Scuttle, these two characters that exist in water and on land and who don’t have the same rules.
It’s all just very theatrical in nature, and the costumes will define everything.
Ok. I’ve seen some of the costume photos on Instagram. Tell me everything.
MRA: Rhinestones!
CD: Lots of glitz and glamour.
SK: It’s insane; Rafael Castanera is crazy talented. He’s pulled inspiration from Carnival, so everything is bright and nothing is hyper-realistic. Even Jack Doyle who plays Grimsby and I are wearing courtly clothes, but they’re very tight and bright and bejeweled. Nothing looks earthly, it all belongs in this condensed, magical place.
MRA: Rafael talked about the fact that when Ariel goes to the surface and is in the palace, to her, everything looks brand new. We’re seeing everything through Ariel’s lens. The maids have these incredible silhouettes like princesses.
SK: She’s never seen clothes before.
KE: Yep. Just shells!
AJJ: I’ve never worn a costume this elaborate before. I’ve played a lot of weird characters and worn some pretty sweet costumes, but nothing like this. I’ve got hip pads and a bodice and tentacles that go over the hip pads and the gloves… Once I have one of the gloves on, I can do nothing. I’ve got these zip-tie fingernails that go on forever.
CD: The Sebastian costume is so stunning. The detail they’ve gone into, it’s crazy. From the jewels to everything being personally tailored and with my headpiece. They literally traced out my head and made the hat fit perfectly onto my head, just for me. I’ve never experienced that before. It makes you want to take your performance to the next level.
KE: I really do think that they’re the most beautiful “Little Mermaid” costumes I’ve ever seen. I’ve done a lot of show stalking and seen other performances, and sometimes things just look off. I’m not sure what it is, maybe it’s the tails. But here, the first time I put on my tail, I felt like a mermaid and everything just worked.
SK: They’re some of the most beautiful costumes I’ve ever seen, period.
What’s your favorite aspect of your character to portray?
KE: I mean, the fact I get to sing “Part of Your World”—that someone is paying me to do what I do in my shower—is absolutely amazing. I get to sing this song that has been a part of my life for my entire life.
AJJ: I would say the same about “Poor Unfortunate Souls.” I used to sing it in college, and I was told I couldn’t sing it because it was an old lady song, but I love it. Then when the musical came out and Sherie Rene Scott played Ursula and the song went right back into the book. To get to sing this now really is a dream come true. Though I did plenty of “Part of Your World” renditions growing up, too.
KE: I mean, who didn’t? It’s the “Let It Go” of our generation. It’s that I-want-to-be-a-grownup type of song where you want to hurry up and experience all of these things. It speaks to you.
CD: With Sebastian, it’s such a cool challenge any time you play something that once was a cartoon, then add on the fact that it’s an animal, and find a way to bring humanity and a true 3D depth to that is really, really cool.
When you think about “The Little Mermaid,” you think about all the fun stuff and how joyous it is, but sitting down the first day and actually reading through the script, I cried. It really is a beautiful story at the heart of it. What Ariel goes through, I’m not going to lie, I relate to that. I grew up in Florida, lived my life there, then one day picked up and moved to New York for work. It’s that same story where you feel like you need to find a place that’s your own, learning that home is not necessarily where your family is, but where you make it. I think that’s one of the many powerful messages of this story.
SK: Every child has that. At some point, there’s a moment where you think that maybe this isn’t where you’re supposed to be, and you don’t always understand where those feelings are coming from. That’s universal. That’s timeless.
CD: That’s what’s interesting. We’re telling this story that’s so nostalgic from your childhood, but then revisiting it as an adult and finding all these deeper connections that make sense in your life right now, that’s so incredible to find as we’re working.
KE: And we learn that you have the power to make the choices that create the life you’d like to have. It’s a beautiful thing. Even a tiny little mermaid can do it.
What all have you been doing to get into your characters?
AJJ: I actually know so, so much more about octopuses now than will ever be actually necessary. I’ve been to a few aquariums, talked with the aquarists who work with octopuses and got to go behind the scenes to learn all about them. It got real nerdy, and whether or not it’ll actually make that much of an impact, I love doing that stuff. Plus, it’s been a great excuse to watch a lot of Disney movies.
CD: I think whenever I start something like this, I start by asking as many questions as possible. How does Sebastian walk? How does Sebastian talk? Of course I watch the movie and read the book, and from there I just start connecting the dots and playing around with these characteristics. You feel like a little kid and it’s just so fun getting to really create something.
MRA: Especially with his huge claw hands he gets to work with. Actually, they’re all really good physically, they step right into the movements so easily. It’s great.
KE: It’s a delicate balance between making it your own and just recreating these icons everyone knows so well. I’ve been trying to stick to what I know as Ariel, but also put some of myself into that, to make her real. That’s my challenge. There’s not a lot of mermaid research I can do at an aquarium.
Since we’re already in full Disney mode here, if you could choose any Disney character from the whole anthology to play on stage, who would it be and why?
KE: I’m doing it! I’ve always wanted to do this, and now I am.
AJJ: If it can’t be Ursula for me—which it is—I’d have to go with Maleficent. That collar! She’s got a crow and high cheekbones for days. She’s not as funny as Ursula, but she looks amazing. And the whole dragon thing would be nice.
CD: I mean, Sebastian’s pretty much nailing it for me right now.
MRA: Clearly, they’re really well-cast!
There’s a lot of hype surrounding this show, not to mention crazy ticket sales. Obviously, people are really excited. Whats that like for you guys?
SK: Oh, absolutely we’re excited. We started hearing about ticket sales and everything day one. It’s just a legendary show, and it brings all of that with it.
KE: The movie came out in 1989. It’s amazing that the popularity of it has lasted this long, but it speaks for itself. People want to pass along this story, and that can be a little nerve-wracking, but I just feel pure joy every time I talk about it.
AJJ: I have a lot of friends at home who can’t come, but are so excited for me because they know I’m freaking out over this role. Every photo that gets posted, we just watch people react. They’re all so excited.
MRA: There are things the audience wants, so you deliver that, but the first part is always casting. The fact that we got these people to inhabit them in a real way is 90 percent of the battle. The design is off the charts, scenically and costume-wise. But I think it raises things to a whole new level being the holiday show. The glitz and glamor of that create an entirely different event. I saw a production of it in Wisconsin and the little girls dressed up in princess attire to come to the show. The expectation here is huge.
What ramps it up even more is that we’re telling the tale with circus elements. We’re using silks and nets and things that fly up. It’s very theatrical, more dance-like, more gymnastics in the air. We’ve hired a company from New York called 2 Ring Circus who are coming to perform, as well as a few people who are already in the show. We had a couple focal scenes at first, but once we started brainstorming, we came up with all sorts of creative elements. What they do is stunning, it’s a show all to itself.
Yep. I’m officially gushing. What other behind-the-scenes stuff can you tell me?
MRA: Well, Ursula’s costume is also its own event.
AJJ: It looks insane. I’m over eight feet tall with the platform heels and the giant wig. I’m huge next to Ariel. King Triton is also really tall, so the two of us standing together is just pretty great. And to top it off, I’m doing, like, full drag makeup. I’m learning how to glue my eyebrows down and do crazy contouring. I’m a big fan of RuPaul’s Drag Race, so now I’m actually getting to try it all out for myself. Getting into full costume the first time took two hours. That’ll go down, but it’s still quite a production.
KE: Yeah, I keep reminding myself to flip my tail any time I’m sitting. It’s a small thing, but it’s just such a part of the character.
AJJ: It’s so true. And I love how all the underwater characters have these tendrils to give the illusion of movement when you’re standing still. It’s so cool.
SK: Other productions I’ve seen really were missing that. You don’t have to yell at the audience “Hey look. Fish.” People are intelligent, so you design things based on that connection. Everything is just so brilliant and done so well.