Fort Wayne Civic Theatre IN THE WINGS ArtsInEducation Program

 Fort Wayne Civic Theatre IN THE WINGS Arts­In­Education Program Study Guide Compiled and Written by Emma Paulyne Kowatch Phillip H. Colglazier, Executive Director Eunice Wadewitz, Music & Education Director Fort Wayne Civic Theatre 303 East Main Street Fort Wayne, IN 46802 260.422.8641 www.fwcivic.org THE PLOT & CHARACTERS Time: Renaissance­Type­Period w/ modern influences Place: An underwater sea kingdom of merpeople & a nearby kingdom on land The Little Mermaid opens as a young, red­headed mermaid named Ariel breaks through the ocean waves to witness the surface above. She is instantly enraptured and feels a sense of belonging in “The World Above”. She returns to her kingdom below, while a ship comes into view. On board, the excited crew sing of the mysteries of the “Fathoms Below”. At the helm is Eric, a young prince next in line for the thrown. He doesn’t care about the crown but wants to venture into the unknown, free in the sea. We return to Ariel and her dear fish friend, Flounder as they discuss their found human items with a seagull named Scuttle. Ariel is intensely drawn to humans and the land they live on. She’s restless and thirsty to learn more. Realizing she’s late for a music concert held in her father’s, King Triton of the merpeople, honor. She rushes back to King Triton’s court but is too late. Her six older sisters are over it, her choir teacher (and right hand man to the King) Sebastian is distraught, and her father is disappointed. Triton wants Ariel to value her special singing ability because it was inherited from her departed mother. Next we travel deeper into the ocean and into Ursula the Sea Witch’s lair. We soon learn that Ursula too was the seventh daughter of the once great king, Poseidon. She was envious of her sisters and wanted the power her father possessed, so she managed to do away with all her sisters. But the throne wouldn’t be her’s for long, for she had a younger brother, Triton. When he grew into the crown he soon banished the wicked, greedy, witch. Meanwhile, Ariel pines away in her secret cave of human artifacts and dreams of being part of the world above. As she visits the surface again, she goes closer to a human ship than she ever has before. There she sees Prince Eric and falls in love with him. Suddenly a storm hits and the ship crashes. As Eric sinks to his death, Ariel rescues him and leaves him on the beach shore. As he lays unconscious, Ariel sings again of her true desire to be part of his world. As Eric comes to consciousness, he remembers a beautiful voice of someone who saved him, but he doesn’t know who. Down below, Ariel’s sisters figure out she’s in love. Flounder accidentally lets it slip that it’s probably that human they saw. While up above, Eric sings of finding “Her Voice” and reuniting with his rescuer, Sebastian down below tries to convince Ariel to stay “Under the Sea”. But when Triton learns of Ariel’s human crush, they fight and he destroys her cave collection. He doesn’t understand how she could love a human when it was humans that killed his wife. This pushes Ariel to visit the Sea Witch to find a way to walk on land. Ursula convinces Ariel that she loves to help “Poor Unfortunate Souls”. In return for giving up her voice, Ariel is granted human legs. She has three days to get the prince to kiss her or her soul will be Ursula’s forever. On land, Ariel is weak and excited but worried about her lack of voice to communicate. Scuttle encourages her that she needs is a little “Positoovity”. Prince Eric fines on the beach and invites her into the palace, clothing and feeding her. Eric and Ariel quickly bond and connect, even without the two­way verbal communication. They eat together, picnic together, and Eric even teaches Ariel how to dance. Below, Triton worries about his daughter and Ursula worries Ariel will get that kiss afterall. We learn of her plan to win Ariel’s soul and by doing so, win over Triton and the power over the seas. ­1­ Sebastian steps in and tries to set the mood to encourage Eric to “Kiss the Girl”. Ursula intervenes, disrupting the kiss. Then it’s time for Eric’s ball, organized by Grimsby (Eric’s right hand man). The ball is actually a singing contest to try to find the voice of the girl who saved the prince and whom Eric cannot shake from his mind. As princess after princess sing their heart out, Eric grows weary. Then Ariel steps up and dances for Eric, her eyes brimming with love. Eric doesn’t care about the voice anymore, he has fallen in love with Ariel. But before he can kiss Ariel the sun turns red and Ursula snatches up Ariel, turning her back into a mermaid and dragging her deep into the sea. Triton comes to his daughter’s rescue but he sees it’s too late. He gives his trident and power over to Ursula in exchange for Ariel’s soul. Ursula confesses to the murder of Triton’s wife. Triton is captured and Ursula had control over the seas, until Ariel breaks her dark magic shell, killing Ursula. Ariel and her father reunite and ask for forgiveness. They now understand each other better now. He gives his blessing to Prince Eric. Ariel and Eric live happily ever after. THE CHARACTERS The Sea Ariel​: a mermaid, King Triton’s youngest daughter Flounder​: a fish, Ariel’s best friend Scuttle​: a seagull, expert in human artifacts King Triton​: King of the Sea Sebastian​: a crab, advisor to King Triton Mersisters​ ​(Aquata, Andrina, Arista, Atina, Adella, Allana)​: daughters of King Triton Windward & Leeward​: trumpet fish, heralds in King Triton’s court Ursula​: the Sea Witch, sister of King Triton Flotsam & Jetsam​: eels, lackeys to Ursula Sea Creatures, Gulls The Land Prince Eric​: a human monarch Grimsby​: guardian of Prince Eric Pilot​: helmsman of Prince Eric’s ship Chef Louis​: the Palace chef, a culinary perfectionist Chefs​: sous staff of Chef Louis Princesses​: potential mates for Prince Eric Maids, Sailors, Animals ­2­ THE SONGS Act I 1. ​Overture 2. ​The World Above ­ Ariel 3. ​Fathoms Below ­ Pilot, Sailors, Eric, Grimsby 4. ​Daughters of Triton ­ Mersisters 5. ​If Only (Triton’s Lament) ­ King Triton 6. ​Daddy’s Little Angel ­ Ursula, Flotsam, Jetsam 7. ​Part of Your World ­ Ariel 8. ​Part of Your World (Reprise) ­ Ariel 9. ​She’s in Love ­ Mersisters, Flounder 10. ​Her Voice ­ Prince Eric 11. ​Under the Sea ­ Sebastian, Sea Creatures 12. ​If Only (Ariel’s Lament) ­ Ariel 13. ​Sweet Child ­ Flotsam, Jetsam 14. ​Poor Unfortunate Souls ­ Ursula Act II 15. ​Positoovity ­ Scuttle, Gulls 16. ​Beyond My Wildest Dreams ­ Ariel, Maids, Grimsby 17. ​Les Poissons ­ Chef Louis 18. ​Les Poissons ­ Chef Louis, Chefs 19.​ One Step Closer ­ Prince Eric 20. ​Daddy’s Little Angel (Reprise) ­ Ursula, Flotsam, Jetsam 21. ​Kiss the Girl ­ Sebastian, Animals 22. ​If Only (Quartet) ­ Ariel, Eric, Sebastian, Triton 23. ​The Contest ­ Grimsby, Princesses 24. ​Poor Unfortunate Souls (Reprise) ­ Ursula 25. ​Ursula’s Demise ­ Ursula 26. ​Ariel’s Transformation ­ Mersisters 27. ​Finale Ultimo ­ Triton, Ariel, Ensemble, Eric ­3­ THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE MUSICAL The Great Duo: Alan Menken & Howard Ashman Before becoming the successful Stage and Disney Animations partners, Alan and Howard both started off with childhood dreams. Alan Menken​ was born in 1949 to Judy and Norman Menken. It’s not a surprise Alan always wanted to be a composer with his mom an actress and playwright, his dad a piano­playing dentist, and his family growing up enjoying musical theatre. After graduating from NYU, marrying Janis Roswick, and working as an accompanist for ballet studios, Alan was ready for a big break in the musical industry. Howard Ashman​ was born in 1950 to Shirley and Raymond Ashman. Howard always adored theatre and would direct little shows for his sister’s birthday parties. Howard attended Boston University, transferred to Goddard College, and finally got his MFA at Indiana University. While at IU, Howard wrote a musical production for his own adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s ​The Snow Queen. Little did he know he would end up making another Andersen fairy­tale a worldwide hit. Before Howard met Alan, he wrote several plays and became the Artistic Director for the WPA Theatre, which he was also co­founded. While working for the WPA Theatre, he started work on a musical that bring together one of the greatest duos in musical history. The Duo In 1978 Alan Menken wrote the music for ​God Bless You Mr. Rosewater, a new musical written and directed by Howard Ashman based on the Kurt Vonnegut novel. Several years later this pair would win their first Academy Award nomination for their next musical the classic ​Little Shop of Horrors. Not only did Howard do the book and lyrics, but he also produced the show. Alan of course did the music. Getting into a lovely rhythm, by Howard’s push, the pair brought their talents to Disney’s animated studio. They worked together on the 1986 film ​The Little Mermaid doing what they both did best. This won them several awards and lead them to doing the music for Beauty and the Beast and ​Aladdin. Howard wouldn’t live to see ​Beast or ​Aladdin. In 1988, while working on ​Beast, Howard found out he was HIV positive. Though he completed his work for ​Beast and had also written several songs for an untitled film that would later be ​Aladdin, he would pass on March 14, 1991 due to AIDs complications. He was only forty years old. But Howard left his mark on the theatre and film industry, stories being his passion all his life. He had an Academy Award, two Grammy’s, a Golden Globe, plus many more distinguished awards. The three Disney films he wrote classic lyrics for and contributed huge plot points, would go on to becoming successful Broadway stage musicals. ­4­ Also during the Disney success, Alan Menken joined a project for a new musical movie that would flop as a film, but later become the Broadway hit musical ​Newsies. ​Since his breakout success, Menken has composed many films for Disney, a film for Marvel (​Captain America: The First Avenger), a t.v. show for ABC (​Galavant), and more musical productions. He has received many nominations for an Tony Awards, Emmy Awards, Grammy Awards, and Golden Globes. Has won eight Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, eleven Academy Awards, and one Tony. Co­Lyricist: Glenn Slater For the 2008 musical adaptation of the Disney film Glenn Slater, the Brooklyn­born writer, would join the​ Little Mermaid team to help Alan Menken write eleven new, added­in songs. Since ​The Little Mermaid Glenn Slater has written the lyrics for 2012’s ​Sister Act and ​Leap of Faith, 2015’s ​School of Rock ­ The Musical. He also helped write lyrics for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ​Love Never Dies, the sequel to ​Phantom of the Opera. Like Howard and Alan, Slater’s has also worked on Disney films: 2004’s ​Home on the Range and the recent 2012 hit ​Tangled. Librettist: Doug Wright Doug Wright, originally from Dallas, Texas wrote the book for ​The Little Mermaid the musical. Before working on ​Mermaid, Doug had written the book for another musical, ​Grey Gardens (2006). Just in 2013, he wrote the book for 1997 documentary turned musical ​Hands on a HardBody. Doug won a Tony Award and a Pulitzer for his first play, ​I Am My Own Wife. But Doug hasn’t simply written for the stage. He wrote the screenplay for Quills, a Golden­Globe nominated film starring Geoffrey Rush and Kate Winslet. Choreographer: Stephen Mear British choreographer Stephen Mear brought originality and inventiveness to the underwater creatures of The Little Mermaid. The challenge of having half your cast and set take place underwater is how to create the movement. Mear happened to be in Disneyland when he discovered a boy wearing a fad that would be perfect for controlled movement and fluidity. Actors who played fish or merpeople wore newly constructed Heelys to move as if underwater. Mears called the new form of Heelys “merblades”. Mear created a whole flow and movement from the tips of the actors fingers down to their Heelys toes. ​Little Mermaid was not Mear’s first broadway show. He choreographed for ​Mary Poppins, another Disney film turned musical. ­5­ PRODUCTION HISTORY The Premiere​: The Little Mermaid: The Musical opened on January 10, 2008 at the Lunt­Fontanne Theatre. It was directed by Francesca Zambello, choreographed by Stephen Mear, and starred Sierra Boggess, Derrick Baskin, Tituss Burgess, Jonathan Freeman, Cody Hanford, Eddie Korbich, Norm Lewis, Tyler Maynard, Sean Palmer, Sherie René Scott, J.J. Singleton, Heidi Blickenstaff, John Treacy Egan. ​Little Mermaid was Disney’s fourth production to go from film to stage musical, following ​Beauty and the Beast, ​The Lion King, ​Mary Poppins, and ​Tarzan. The opening reviews were harsh, attacking the shows intense spectacle of a loud set and tacky costumes. New York Times also wasn’t a fan of the new songs. Broadway Reviews also wasn’t a fan of the busy and loud production, but did offer up that “There are times that the arrangements of actors and set pieces recall nautical maps and Renaissance oil paintings, giving the show a suavely stylistic sense of time and place.” When the show was revamped in 2013, Doug Wright even touched up his book, in an attempt to create a cleaner show. But the much loved music and lyrics, done for the film by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, are what keep drawing people back to this show. Little Mermaid ran for almost two years on Broadway before closing in August of 2009. However, the show has been performed all over the US. It also was performed in Canada, Tokyo, Moscow, Netherlands, and the Philippines. The show was even taken to its Hans Christian Andersen’s roots in Copenhagen Denmark in 2014 and performed in Danish. AWARDS 2008 Tony Award Nominations Best Original Score Written for the Theatre Best Lighting Design of a Musical 2008 Drama Desk Award Nominations Outstanding Actress in a Musical ­ Sierra Boggess Outstanding Lighting Design Outstanding Set Design of a Musical 2009 Grammy Award Nomination Best Musical Show Album ­6­ THE INSPIRATION The 1989 Classic Disney Film The Little Mermaid the musical is taken directly from the Disney animated classic of the same title. It premiered in November in 1989. It was produced by Howard Ashman and John Musker. It was written and directed by John Musker and Ron Clements. The story was taken from the classic fairy­tale by Hans Christian Andersen. The music was written by Alan Menken and the lyrics by Ashman. The first song written for the film was Part of Your World. It was Ashman’s idea to make Sebastian the crab with a West Indies accent and song. Ashman was also the one who brought in Jodi Benson, whom he had worked on in his 1986 show Smile, to be the voice of Ariel. Another important part to the success of the movie was the detailed and beautiful work done on the concept art by the likes of artists like Rowland B. Williams and Donald Towns. Disney had been struggling with its last few films. The success of ​The Little Mermaid brought in the Renaissance Period, a revival, of Disney animated films. It brought in a larger audience and set Disney on a more modern, fun story­telling trajectory. It won an Academy Award for Best Song (Under the Sea), a Golden Globe for Best Song (Under the Sea), and a Grammy for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture (Under the Sea). The Man Behind the 1837 Story: Hans Christian Andersen Birth, Theatre, & Education: Hans Christian Andersen​ ​was born on April 2, 1805 in Odense, Denmark. His father was a shoemaker; kind, intellectual, and an admirer of Napoleon. His mother filled him with shame and confusion; promiscuous, harsh, and mentally unstable. Andersen from the start was artistic, sensitive, driven, and always fond of stories. ​Arabian Nights (1704) was a childhood favorite and an important inspiration. He often compared himself to Aladdin and the “rags to riches” journey. He would become an world­renowned author of some of the most beloved fairy­tales. Andersen also loved the Theatre as a child. This would carry on into adulthood. He was inspired by Shakespeare and was often drawn to his closely friends on the basis of sharing a love of Shakespeare. He eventually would himself write twenty­one works for the stage. His first play was written in 1829 called Love on St. Nicholas’ Tower and debuted at the Royal Theatre. The play may have been full of ­7­ grammatical errors, but Jonas Collin , the managing director of the beloved theatre of Denmark, took it on. Jonas Collin would end up becoming Andersen’s guardian in 1822. His second son, Edvard Collin would finish school with Andersen and would often check and correct Andersen’s continual grammar errors. Andersen’s education lasted from 1822­1828. He learnt under Simon Mesling in Slagelse and later Helsinger school. Starting school was painful and embarrassing for the boy of seventeen. Do to starting late he had to learn among children much younger than he. Andersen also had a feminine, sensitive side that was often made fun of by the other boys. His headmaster didn’t help either. Mesling was harsh and cruel. Eventually Andersen was taken out and tutored in Copenhagen. The hard times of schooling didn’t hinder Andersen. He was quite ambitious and unashamed to network himself with people far above his station, age, and success. His first known work of writing was sometime in the early 1820’s. A short, prose, allegory called ​The Tallow Candle. He self­published his first fiction novel in 1829 with Journey on Food from Holmen’s Canal. The novel wasn’t successful but shows Andersen’s determination. Fairytales: Hans Christian Andersen is one of the founding fathers of classic fairy­tales. He shortly followed Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, who first began collecting old folklore stories in 1806 at 20 and 21 years old. (Andersen was born just a year earlier) The Brothers Grimm can boast over 200 short fairy­tales. Among their classics are ​Cinderella, Rapunzel, and ​Hansel and Gretel. The Brothers Grimm published their first volume of fairy tales in 1812 and a second volume two years later. In 1837 Andersen, in his third fairy­tale booklet, would write ​The Little Mermaid. ​The Little Mermaid was published in one of Andersen’s booklet of fairy­tales. This third booklet had only two stories: ​The Emperor’s New Clothes and ​The Little Mermaid. Andersen’s many fairy tale short stories go beyond the silly­little­child’s bedtime­story category that modern audiences often put the classics into. He took from his own life, his own experiences, his own fears and put that heart into his stories. Child mortality is a constant theme throughout his stories at a time when infant deaths were rampant. The mortality theme could also be traces of his loss of childhood through witnessing great violence, harsh schooling, and being bullied by other children. He also incorporates lost love and pangs of yearning in a lot of stories. He himself was always yearning for his best friend Edward and living a life of love that was socially nonexistent at that time. His fairy­tales inspire empathy, curiosity, questions of morality. ­8­ Love­life & Death: Andersen never married. He did have a couple affairs with a Danish aristocrat named Henrik Stampe in 1843 and Harald Scharff a ballet dancer at the Royal Theater in Copenhagen from 1862­1863. However his heart seemed to always belong to his old friend Edvard Collin who rejected any affection from Andersen in 1830. In 1872 symptoms of liver cancer began to show eventually leading to his death in 1875 on August 4th. Andersen traveled to Italy and Germany, won the Freedom of the City of Odense, met Charles Dickens, and was a Privy Councillor for Copenhagen. He wrote over two hundred fairy­tales, several novels, autobiographies, travelogues, and over a thousand poems. Hans Christian Andersen’s ​The Little Mermaid’s Plot: Hans Christian Andersen’s story of a young mermaid’s dream to be on land and desperation to receive the love of a human prince is different from Disney’s 2008 musical. Though the setup is somewhat the same, the bulk of the plot and dark German Romanticism ending could come as a shock to those first familiar with Ariel and Prince Eric’s happy ending. Andersen paints a beautiful and intricate world down below the surface of the ocean. Sea plants grow like trees and fish swim through them like birds. Humans are unaware of the merpeople’s existence. When the youngest daughter of the King of the merpeople turns fifteen, she is allowed to visit the surface for the first time. However, the young mermaid is not only drawn to world unlike her own and a handsome young prince, but desperately wants the human condition that merpeople do not have: a soul. She quickly can tell that the human existence, though shorter and dimmer, is much more valuable and comes with an eternal afterlife. The merpeople live for hundreds of years and live among the most beautiful things of earth, but after three hundred years, they become dust. She saves the fragile life of a human prince and falls in love with him, rescuing him from a wrecked ship and returning him to shore. The maiden visits the sea witch and has her tongue cut and drinks a potion that tears her fin apart violently to reveal two legs. She must join the human prince in matrimony to receive a soul or she will be unable to return to her family and become the foam of sea. Even though walking for the beautiful, silent mermaid is like walking on sharp knives, she does her best to win the heart of the prince. Though the prince grows fond of the mysterious mute maiden, his heart belongs to the woman who found him on the shore after the mermaid rescued him. They marry. Before the mermaid dies, her sisters appear by the wedding ship and declare that she can still return as a mermaid if she kills the prince with a special dagger the sisters have gotten from the sea witch. The young ­9­ self­sacrificing mermaid cannot bring herself to do, but throws the dagger into the water, sealing her fate. Instead of turning to foam, she is swept away by The Daughters of Air, where she spends three hundred years bringing winds of grace to children in need, earning the right to a soul. Andersen’s dark, but somewhat redemptive ending, mermaid story was inspired by Friedrich de la Motte Fouque’s ​Undine. Andersen even expressed the importance of ​Undine and its relationship with his story. Andersen’s premise is similar but with a more sacrificial ending. Henrik Ibsen, the famous playwright also from Denmark was a great fan of Hans Christian Andersen. His play ​The ​Lady from the Sea is also about a mermaid. The show​ premiered in 1879, four years after Andersen's death. Sulamith Wulfing was a German artist born in 1901 who was inspired by Andersen’s fairy tales. Other Important Works by Hans Christian Andersen: Fairy­Tales
The Snow Queen (1844)
The Ugly Duckling (1843)
The Little Match Girl (1845) The Princess and the Pea (1835)
The Emperor’s New Clothes (1837)
The Steadfast Soldier (1938)
The Tinder Box (1835)
Thumbelina (1835) Non­Fiction Pictures of Sweden The True Story of My Life Novels Improvisatoren (1835) O.T. (1836) Lucky Peer (1870) ­10­ Ancient Folklore of Mermaids The first kind of mermaid form would be the first gods that were a combination of man and fish. Ea by the Babylonians in 2,000 BC was a half­man, half­fish god. The Greeks had a form of Ea called Oannes. The first actually mer​maid legend would be the Assyrians in 1,000 BC with their goddess Atargatis. Atargatis was the goddess of fertility and life. She was a goddess who accidentally killed a human and to hide from this shame, she hid in the sea as a fish. However, the sea wouldn’t allow her beauty to be completely taken away and so she remained a half­woman, half­fish. Eventually the Greeks changed the legend of Atargatis and she became their beloved Aphrodite, the goddess of love, whose name also means “born from sea foam”. King Triton, from ​The Little Mermaid, also came from Greek mythology. The god of the sea, Poseidon and his wife Amphitrite had a son together. The son was a merman often shown holding a conch shell and able to ride on ocean waves. Around 800 BC with Homer’s ​The Odyssey, came another form of mermaid creature called a “siren”. Sirens were mermaid/women of the sea who lured men to their deaths. From here throughout the years different cultures manifested the ancient mermaid in their legends in different ways. The British Isles saw Sirens as creatures who calmed storms. Arabian Nights had sirens who were very beautiful creatures who could still have children with ordinary humans. China saw mermaids as holy and powerful creatures with valuable tears that became pearls. Persia’s mermaids weren’t mermaids at all but simply humans that could live and breathe underwater. Outside of mythical legends, mermaids were often merely mysterious visions from worn out sailors or the reason behind missing ships. Before sea travel was easily accessible and more known, mermaids seemed like a viable option. Today it most likely that sailors reports of a beautiful half­woman, half­fish were of manatees or durongs. But mermaids were always a great attraction and wonder to people so unfamiliar with the sea. In 1842, the famous P.T. Barnum’s American Museum featured the “Feejee Mermaid”. Though Barnum printed out beautiful drawings of bare breasted women with fish tales, the mermaid ended up being half a monkey sewn to a fish tale. Hans Christian Andersen’s version of a sweet, curious, beautiful young mermaid gave a more innocent view of the ancient and mysterious half woman, half fish figure. His tale brought about a more child­appropriate and likeable spin of mermaids for modern audiences to come. ­11­ Chef Louis’ FRENCH Les Poissons: “the fish”
Ah Mais Oui: “But ah yes”
C’est Toujours Delish: “It’s always delish”
Sacre bleu: “Damn it!”
Quel Domage: “What a shame”
Au Revoir: “Goodbye” Creme de la creme: “Best of the best” Bon appetit: “Enjoy your meal”
Je ne sais quois: “I do not know Iroquois” Voila: “Here is” GLOSSARY INDEX Starboard​: the side of a ship that is on the right when one is facing forward Fathoms​: a unit of length equal to six feet, chiefly used in reference to the depth of water Poseidon: ​in Greek mythology, the god of the sea, earthquakes, and horses, brother of Zeus Crustacean: ​an arthropod of the aquatic group Crustacea, such as crab, lobster, shrimp, or barnacle Roustabout: ​an unskilled or casual laborer, also a deckhand Errant:​ straying from the proper course or standards Crinolines: ​a stiff fabric made of horsehair and cotton or linen thread, often used for petticoats Egads: ​expressing surprise or anger Rigging: ​the system of ropes, cables, or chains employed to support a ship's masts (​standing rigging) and to control or set the yards and sails (​running rigging) Sirens:​ ​in Greek mythology a number of women or winged creatures whose singing lured unwary sailors onto rocks. The Bends: ​a decompression sickness describes as a condition arising from dissolved gases coming out of solution into bubbles inside the body on depressurisation. Sashimi: ​a Japanese dish of bite­sized pieces of raw fish eaten with soy sauce & wasabi paste Lox: ​liquid oxygen Coloratura: ​elaborate ornamentation of a vocal melody, especially in operatic singing by a soprano ­12­ The Little Mermaid Word Search O T J I Z T X N R I Q K V K G N K P Y J G P N G C A E T C A A R Y U Z O I T L I D E N M A R K A R P H N U M L T E D Y X M H G R I B S A R I E L W T S I U U P H B Y S S H H Y L Y P P C Q R X R R N Q Q I P H R M I M E G G P U A B X T M D W G N Q A A K M R D N G S O R L Z R S I G C Y E N K M R I W C S G V C S N U A N K D N J T F K A T T T F I G P M U N W E P I O I R U M N Q L X E B D C G N L H D I U A P F R U L J E K L X X I O C R A V C T K E E S I P F J J X O W T H W E T Q D I U M L R V A P U F V U X G A J D T B S G V L A A N E K N E M Z E T H S N E O A M K O B C T P F D P I O R M K P U R H T G C P I O E Y U Q I G M Y L B X O I L W F M X F C I O R I C K T C L Z N L C Q L B E E N Z E Z O I S N K L D J T F U X Y X S I T A G R A T A B G R P R K I L S V W Y M A Z U S M O M F R W X D U M L P J Y ARIEL
ASHMAN
ATARGATIS
DENMARK
DISNEY
ERIC
FAIRY TALE
FLOUNDER
MENKEN
MERMAID SIREN TRITON UNDINE URSULA VOICE ­13­ POST­SHOW DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
TOPICS FOR THOUGHT: Use the following prompts as conversation starters with your students after attending ​Cabaret at the Fort Wayne Civic Theatre. Following the discussion, you may want to have your students write a review of the production. We’d love to hear from them! Please share student responses with Eunice Wadewitz, Music & Education Director, at [email protected]. The Production 1. Review the expectations about the set, costumes, lighting, and sound that you had for production. Were the design elements what you expected? Why or why not? 2. What do you think were the strengths of the production? What were the weaknesses? 3. Think about the different people who were involved in the Civic’s production of ​Disney’s ​The Little Mermaid. You may want to consult your program for the listing of the various designers and other theatre personnel. Are there any particular positions that appeal to you? Explain. What educational background, skills and abilities might you need to fill this role? How might you go about learning more about this type of position? The Characters & Story 1. Discuss the main characters in ​The Little Mermaid. How is their worldview, or outlook on life, of each different from each other or from your own? Similar? 2. Do you think Ariel’s actions throughout the show are brave? Dangerous? Foolish? Selfish? Self­less? 3. What is the progression of Ariel and King Triton’s relationship throughout the musical? What could they learn from each other? Do you relate to Ariel and Triton’s relationship in regards to your own relationship to your parent(s)? 4. Though ​The Little Mermaid is a Disney fairy­tale, how is the story universal? 5. What do you think is the central theme, or message, of the play? The Music 1. What moments or songs do you find replaying in your mind? 2. How did the songs move the plot forward? 3. If you’ve seen the Disney film, what did you think of the new songs added in for the musical? Reflect & Connect 1. What does finding your voice mean for you? 2. What dreams are you chasing? Who or what is preventing you from chasing that dream? 3. Read Hans Christian Andersen’s ​The Little Mermaid. What are differences that you appreciated from his fairy­tale compared to the musical? What are differences you did not appreciate? 4. Watch the Disney animated film ​The Little Mermaid. Did Disney enhance the classic story of Ariel? Or detract? ­14­ FURTHER READING The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen by Paul Binding RESOURCES BOOKS Andersen, Hans Christian. ​The Little Mermaid. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1981. Binding, Paul. ​Hans Christian Andersen: European Witness. Yale University Press, 2014. Finch, Christopher. ​The Art of Walt Disney from Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom. New York: Harry N. Abrams Publishers, 1999. WEBSITES http://www.mtishows.com/disneys­the­little­mermaid http://broadwaymusicalhome.com/shows/littlemermaid.htm http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/theater/reviews/11merm.html http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/theater/2013/06/20/the­little­mermaid­stage­review/2435109/ http://www.onstageblog.com/reviews/2016/3/19/review Reviews of various ​The Little Mermaid productions. http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm.html#chronology http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimmtales.html History of the Grimm Brothers and their works. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/30/arts/dance/30gure.html?_r=0 http://cbl.orcein.net/thelittlemermaid/stage.htm http://www.greatamericanthings.net/music/ashman­and­menken­songwriters/ http://howardashman.com/ https://www.ibdb.com/broadway­cast­staff/glenn­slater­80644 http://www.rnh.com/bio/2917/Slater­Glenn http://www.broadway.com/buzz/179820/posterity­playwright­doug­wright­on­procrastination­martinis­an­inspiring­
trip­to­oslo/ https://www.ibdb.com/broadway­cast­staff/doug­wright­113564 Production information on Menken, Ashman, Wright, Slater, etc. http://www.livescience.com/39882­mermaid.html http://www.realmermaids.net/mermaid­history/ http://www.gods­and­monsters.com/mermaid­mythology.html Various sites on the history of the mermaid legend. **Study Guide Guidance under Eunice Wadewitz. ­15­