After a weeklong process of auditions our spring musical, The Little Mermaid, has finally been cast. The Little Mermaid follows the story of a young mermaid named Ariel who wants to go to the surface to meet the man she loves, Prince Eric. Prince Eric is a charming young man who doesn’t want to get married off as quickly as his guardian, Grimsby, would like. Prince Eric’s ship gets thrown off course and destroyed, but he is saved when Ariel pulls him out of the water, and only gets to hear her voice before she swims away. Ariel collects memorabilia from the surface world, but when her collection is found by her father he destroys it, believing humans to be the cause of the untimely death of his wife, leaving his youngest daughter heartbroken. The sea witch Ursula, the sister of King Triton, sends her eels Jetsam and Flotsam to seek out a deal with Ariel: she can trade her voice for her legs and go to the surface, but if the prince doesn’t kiss her within three days, Ursula takes her soul. Ariel accepts this deal and is found by Prince Eric on the shore, but he begins to lose hope about her being the girl who saved him after finding out she can’t speak. 

This production of The Little Mermaid will be directed by Carol Bulter, who has directed and choreographed ten shows for our theatre; The Little Mermaid will be her eleventh. With a wonderful cast set for this production, everyone involved is ready for rehearsal. Britta Jorgensen has been cast as Ariel with Landon Thompson co-starring as Prince Eric. Thompson will be accompanied by Josh Friang as his guardian and caretaker, Grimsby. Ariel’s best friends and companions Flounder and Scuttle will be played by Alana Flores and Brandon Oke. King Triton, Ariel’s caring but overprotective father, will be played by Tigan Ridgeway. Ursula, the infamous sea witch will be portrayed by Arietty Power, alongside Will Lemcio and Hayden Austneburg as eels Flotsam and Jetsam. “It’s going to be a bittersweet ending because it’s nice to graduate, but it’s going to be very hard moving on from our theatre and saying goodbye to a lot of people. I will be happy to continue to support and come to all the shows. I am very excited to work with everyone again though,” Lucas Heber, who has been a member of theater for four years and will be portraying Sebastian the crab, said. 

Brandon Oke, the acting president of theatre club and a senior, has been an active member of the club since his freshman year and has been doing theatre productions since the age of six. Even with the shutdown of the Covid-19 pandemic, he still found a way to attend and rehearse online. When students were allowed to return to school full time, he was ecstatic when Cinderella was announced to return for production after getting pushed back for a two-year period. “I was excited to get a chance to do it again. The first time we didn’t get to perform, so to do it again in a new role with a new cast was super fun. When The Little Mermaid was announced it was a similar feeling because it’s a show I’ve already done before,” Oke said. 

Alex Estoy, tech president for theatre club, will be the stage manager for this production alongside her assistant stage managers Elizabeth Shapley and Fatih “Dido” Tanis. The student set lead for this production is Rain Moore who will be accompanied by Tristan Kean, the props master. Lighting will be led by Noah Skrinde with the help of Gil Waite, the mic wrangler. Mrs. Power, more commonly known as Macbeth to cast and crew, will be leading costumes. Macbeth has helped our theatre with several shows, with state awards given to her for her costuming work. “I am always worried because the first few days of rehearsals are rocky due to the anxious excitement of making a wonderful performance. Even I’ve had my doubts, but seeing our current cast and crew chemistry, it will be a good legacy to carry for next year’s newcomers,” Estoy said. 

Tickets will become available starting April 1, so don’t miss out on this spectacular performance!