The Little Mermaid musical on Broadway opens last night. Unfortunately, not much has changed since its out-of-town preview that received scathing reviews.
Newsday says "...the most amazing part of Disney's latest musical is its amazing shortage of originality - not to mention magic or cross-generational wit."
Reuters reviewer had this to say "...this production is visually unappealing and often murky in its execution."
The Chicago Tribune liked the actors: "Thanks to a tidal wave of stellar individual performances -- with Tituss Burgess' vocally stunning Sebastian at the top of the list -- the hugely talented human components of this latest Disney extravaganza save their show from the rocks. But despite the pleasures of their performances, the piece fails in its central obligation: finding a viable theatrical metaphor for the underwater universe that forms the bedrock of the beloved cartoon."
On the whole, the actors were highly praised, especially Tituss Burgess's performance as Sebastian. But the problems that dogged the preview appear to be continuing here, the most common being the confusing set and the flow of the story (no pun intended). No one appears to like them.
Whether The Little Mermaid musical can be immune to poor critical review just like Beauty and the Beast was remains to be seen. But Beauty was produced under very different circumstances - it was Disney's first foray into Broadway musical of its movies, there were very low expectations (or at least no one knew what to expect), and there weren't already this line of Disney Broadway hits. Certainly, Julie Taymor has created such high standards with The Lion King. Unfortunately, all subsequent Disney's adaptation of its animation musical to stage will be compared to that groundbreaking production. The Little Mermaid appears to have failed that comparision.
Zz.
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