‘The Little Mermaid’ review

By Savannah Milam

This Carnival weekend, Scotch’n’Soda’s production of Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” took audiences on a journey under the sea. With five performances, two of which were sold out, this show swept audiences off their feet and transported them into the world of Ariel, Prince Eric, Flounder, and Ursula. The show was directed by computer science and arts senior Val Nayak and assistant-directed by School of Music first-year Keira Tantillo.

First and foremost, the cast did a fantastic job. Senior Deepti Kumar as Ariel was a perfect casting choice. Not only was her voice beautiful, but her acting and facial expressions were spot on. Third-year Trey DuBose was incredible as Prince Eric and second-year Jesús Feliciano as Grimsby was absolutely amazing. First-year Jaqueline Germer killed it as Sebastian; I thoroughly enjoyed both “Kiss the Girl” and “Under the Sea.” First-year Aurora Martinez Henning was fantastic as Ursula; her rendition of “Poor Unfortunate Souls” was chilling.

One of my favorite casting decisions was first-year Elaine Gombos and second-year Abby Glass as Flotsam and Jetsam. Their movements and facial expressions fully captured the spirit of the eels from the original film.

I can’t forget to mention second-year Whitney Ribnick and first-year Ella Mineroff as Scuttle and Flounder, respectively. They embodied their characters perfectly.

First-year Luke Orlan Balaguer, who played King Triton and Chef Louis, brought the house down with his performance of “Les Poissons.” The ensemble also did a fantastic job at carrying the story.

As a musician, I can’t go any further without mentioning the pit orchestra, which was directed by third-year Zoё Brown and master’s student Michael Loguercio. The pit musicians are always so talented and the show would not be the same without the live music.

The costumes and sets for this show were also extremely well done. I thought that the creativity was next level. Making human actors look like mermaids, and ensuring that they can also move and dance was no small feat.

The sets were also very well done. The two platforms separating the sea and land were very clever and did a good job at setting the scene while also being functional. They were also great for the choreography (choreographed by sophomore Cordelia Pride and first-year Sienna Lehner), as they made the movements more varied and interesting to watch.

Overall, “The Little Mermaid” was a successful Scotch’n’Soda production that rounded out this year’s Carnival weekend. I can’t wait to see what they do next year!