Countryside Community Theatre's “The Little Mermaid" at the North Scott High School Fine Arts Auditorium -- July 26 through August 4.
Friday, July 26, through Sunday, August 4
North Scott High School Fine Arts Auditorium, 200 South First Street, Eldridge IA
A Tony Award nominee adapted from one of the most beloved animated musicals of all time, Disney's The Little Mermaid wraps up Countryside Community Theatre's summer season with a July 26 through August 4 run at Eldridge's North Scott High School Fine Arts Auditorium, this take on the Oscar-winning film lauded by Broadway World as "a family-friendly stage musical with great visual punch."
In The Little Mermaid, heroine Ariel should be a happy girl – she lives in an enchanted undersea country, her father is a King, and she has the most beautiful singing voice. But she is a passionate, headstrong teenager, and wants what she cannot have: to live on land. When she falls in love with a handsome human prince, Ariel is more determined than ever to gain a pair of legs. But her only option is to defy her furious father, and bargain with Ursula the Sea Witch, giving her voice as the price of entry onto dry land. With the help of Flounder the fish, Scuttle the seagull, and officious court composer Sebastian the crab, Ariel must wordlessly gain Prince Eric's love within three days -- or lose her soul to the ambitious witch.
Based on the classic Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale and the wildly popular Disney film, this musical staging of The Little Mermaid features a funny and fanciful book by Doug Wright, with the beloved score by Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, and Glenn Slater in an expanded but completely faithful form, featuring the rambunctious and persuasive “Under the Sea,” the romantic expectation of “Kiss the Girl,” and that anthem to longing and belonging, “Part of Your World.”
Directing The Little Mermaid is Tristan Tapscott, the co-founder of the Mockingbird of Main theatre company whose previous credits for Countryside include helming A Christmas Carol and The Sound of Music, and who is currently appearing on-stage in the band for the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse musical The Bikinis. Starring as Ariel is Ellerie Hurley, with other signature Disney characters portrayed by Nick Munson (Ursula), Croix Baker (King Triton), Carter Jargo (Prince Eric), Joseph Nguyen (Sebastian), Jack Carslake (Flounder), Mallory Carslake (Chef Louis), and Zoe Zelnio (Scuttle).
Additional members of Tapscott's featured cast include: Wayne Hess; Yvonne Siddique; Stacy Barnett; Tatum Kilburg; Erica Hillyer; Grace Ronnebeck; Jillian Darland; Madison Fouts; Regan Tucker; and Nate Gaghagen. Composing the ensemble are more than a dozen additional talents: Charlotte Madden; Analisa Percuoco; Kate Holsen; Zenziwe Dlamini; Evelyn Beltran; Maddie Rigg; Jo Forgie; Sloan Verner; Hope McGee; Ambellina Kelly; Evelyn Rowe; Addison McFarland; and Anatasia McFarland. And with Kimberly Calhoun serving as assistant director, The Little Mermaid's creative team includes: music director Wendy Czekalski; choreographer Sara Tomasson; costumer Savannah Bay Strandin; set designer Kevin Hurley; props designer Anna Dennis; assistant music director Marcia Renaud; and lighting designer Emmett Boedeker.
Countryside Community Theatre's The Little Mermaid runs July 26 through August 4, with performances Fridays and Saturdays at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Admission is $18, and tickets can be reserved by visiting CountrysideBookTix.com. For more information on the production, visit Facebook.com/CCTQuadCities.
