The ABC Players newest musical is a rendition of Disney classic The Little Mermaid.
The ABC Players will be traveling into the depths of the ocean for its next theater production.
The community theater group will perform The Little Mermaid at Stuart’s Opera House starting Friday and will run for two weekends. Student tickets cost $8 and adult tickets cost $12.
Joe Asente, a junior studying education with a focus in integrated language arts, will make his directing debut with the company in the production. Asente played the lead in ABC Players’ production of Shrek: The Musical last March. He said the main difference between directing and acting was that the former job comes with a longer list of responsibilities.
“(With) directing, especially in community theater, you have to be aware of everything that is going on,” Asente said.
Because of his age, he added that expectations were low initially, but after people saw and attended rehearsals, the hesitations subsided, and he said they were pleased with the final product.
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As the director, Asente pitched the idea of The Little Mermaid to bring in a show that had the same selling power as Shrek and was family-friendly. The rights to this version of The Little Mermaid — which varies with different musical numbers from the 2008 Broadway version — was released in August 2015. Asente said The ABC Players are the first community theater group in the state to perform it.
Zoie Lanning, a freshman at Trimble High School in Glouster, will play Ariel. She said it has been challenging to add her own spin to the Disney princess while still keeping the part familiar to the audience.
“Disney princesses are known for their perfection,” Lanning said. “The really hard part about playing Ariel is to live up to that expectation.”
Even though he admits it seems cliché, Asente said one of his favorite numbers in the show is “Part of Your World.”
“I have never heard it more beautifully sung,” he said. “I have cried on multiple occasions.”
Because The Little Mermaid takes place underwater, set designer Celeste Parsons said the sets and props used on stage are highly decorative and have a lot of movement. She said she has been working on the handmade sets since last April. Parsons added that the sets are elaborate and take on many different tones.
“(Ursula’s lair) has a more threatening tone, whereas Ariel’s is (happier) and upbeat,” Parsons said.
Asente said the production has already sold close to 500 presale tickets.
“I think we are poised to be the best show that The ABC Players has ever put on,” he said.
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