The Little Mermaid
at The Philadelphia High School for Creative & Performing Arts (CAPA)

Reviewed on April 12, 2018

Sarah Eckstein Indik
Jack M Barrack Hebrew Academy
Submitted for publication to Philadelphia Inquirer - 1

With glowing floating jellyfish, shimmering mermaids, and devilish eels The Philadelphia High School for Creative & Performing Arts' production of The Little Mermaid brought the audience "Under the Sea", giving them a FIN-tastic time!

Based on the 1989 Disney film, Doug Wright's and Alan Menken's The Little Mermaid details the tale of a young mermaid princess, Ariel, who falls in love with a human prince, Eric. Ariel wishes to be a part of the same world as Eric so that they can be together. However, she finds herself trapped without a voice. With the help of her loving and loyal friends, Flounder, Scuttle, and Sebastian, she gets her happy ending.

Anchored by dramatic makeup that sets the scene and beautiful harmonies from the ensemble, the production was performed with aplomb and was full of life.

With grace and poise, Ariel, played by Ariana Droz-Santiago, portrayed her character's eagerness to be a part of the human world. Her singing voice was clear and bright, showing Ariel's childlike passion. Her romantic interest, Prince Eric, portrayed by Cameren Sullivan, beautifully performed and sung his many solos. Accurately characterizing Eric's personality, his love of the sea was very believable.

As a whole, the ensemble was energetic, performing brilliantly in their rendition of "Under the Sea" as they flooded the audience with their brightly colored costumes and individual personas. Flounder (Mazie Wolf) magnificently portrayed her character's lovable nature, loyalty to Ariel, and adorable awkwardness, winning over the audience. Some other standout performances were that of Ursula (Zami Buggs-King), Sebastian (Anaya Manley), and Grimsby (Saul Threadgill). Each having very different characteristics, they all captured their characters with ease. Ursula, evil and conniving, maneuvered her tentacles naturally and sang out proudly. Sebastian and Grimsby both impressively kept up accents throughout the performance, each causing the audience to burst of into fits of laughter. Although at times actors had difficulty connecting with their character's truth, the singing was stupendous. Though there were uncomfortable pauses between dialogue and song, the production engaged the audience.

This musical's orchestra was made up entirely of students. Although it was an impressive feat with challenging music, they accomplished it with professional quality. Because there were some microphone problems, the sound coming in and out, they could be overpowering at times, but the actors persevered. With large moveable sets, the crew could be slow in changing it at times, but transitions were also fun. One featured a seagull dancing around while clearing feathers, causing eruptions of laughter. Remarkable, the makeup (Ellie Smith, Isabella Stein, Amirror Johnson, LeVar Brown) of this production truly transformed each actor into a creature of the sea.

The Little Mermaid presented by the Philadelphia High School for Creative & Performing Arts indeed MERMAID the audience laugh, dance, sing, and smile.

Rivkah Wyner
Jack M Barrack Hebrew Academy
Submitted for publication to Philadelphia Inquirer - 2

The fathoms below of life under the sea is a mysterious world that The Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts absorbed the entire audience into during their sensational performance of The Little Mermaid.

Based on the beloved Disney film, The Little Mermaid is a cheerful, light-hearted musical about the mermaid Ariel, daughter of Tritan, king of the sea. She longs to live on land and be with her human love, Prince Eric. Antagonizing this plot is the sea-witch Ursula, who schemes to take away Tritan's power by taking advantage of Ariel's treacherous dreams.

Ariana Droz-Santiago was beyond our "wildest dreams" in her portrayal of Ariel. She had a stunning voice and shone on stage. Cameren Sullivan, who played Prince Eric, was a perfect complement to Santiago. Their chemistry on stage was so authentic, and Sullivan's vocals blew us all away. In the role of Ursula, Zami Buggs-King brought a sassy flair to the esteemed role. Every scene of hers was a wonder to the show. Playing Sebastian the crab, Anaya Manley was hilarious; she superbly embodied Sebastian's Caribbean accent and crab walk.

A tremendous standout in the performance was Mazie Wolf in the role of Flounder, Ariel's sidekick. Every moment on stage, Wolf made brilliant and comedic character choices while also exceptionally personifying her part as a fish and being underwater. Erisa Pikuli, in the part of the goofy seabird Scuttle, was vivacious on stage. She was bold, funny, and positively delightful in every way.

The ensemble members that made up both the underwater creatures and the humans were very strong and energetic. The large numbers, particularly Under the Sea, were vibrant and lively so that you really felt immersed in the underwater world. The ensemble members were particularly strong dancers, but also strong vocalists, making it so that these numbers were both fun to watch and wonderful to listen to.

The hair and makeup in this show by Elli Smith, Isabella stein, Amirror Johnson, and LeVar Brown brilliantly transformed the cast into the sea creatures they were portraying. In this production, the orchestra was completely made up of students who excellently accompanied the performance. The student stage crew was also efficiently run, even though some of the scene changes were slow at times.

Overall, The Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts' production of the Little Mermaid was swimmingly executed. It was an enjoyable and bubbly production with a magnificently talented and strong cast.

Amanda Grant
Haverford High School
Submitted for publication to GPC Website Review 3

Life is the bubbles at Philadelphia High School for Creative & Performing Arts as they produced a classic Disney tale of the Little Mermaid.The Little Mermaid had made its Broadway debut in 2008 at the Lunt- Fontanne Theatre. With outstanding music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater, and book by Doug Wright coming together to work their magic to make the Little Mermaid a beloved musical.

The ensemble of the show helped to capture the Disney music through phenomenal dancing and strong harmonies. "Under the Sea", one of the most well know ensemble numbers, electrified the stage with outstanding technical features and unique costumes. The ensemble helped add the final touches of having an amazing, breathtaking show.

The stunning role of Ariel was played by Ariana Droz-Santiago. Throughout the performance, Ariana showed off the Disney princess with beautiful vocals. Accompanying Ariel Zami Buggs-King took on the wicked role of Ursula. With outstanding acting skills and killer vocals, Zami controlled the stage.

Cameren Sullivan took on the role of the charming Prince Eric. Throughout the whole show, Cameren's breathtaking vocals expressed an array of emotions. With comedic relief by his side, Saul Threadgill showcased his inner Grimsby.

Mazie Wolf played the adorable Flounder accompanied by the daughters of Triton. Her song she's in love alongside the mersisters held down the show with stunning vocals. Mazie added more to her character as Flounder had fallen head over heels for Ariel and helped to bring comedic relief to all of her scenes.

The orchestra of the production included 27 outstanding players. They took on the challenging score of the show and executed it beautifully. The technical aspect of the show helped to bring every scene alive from makeup to costumes, to the set and stage crew.

Overall Philadelphia High School for Creative & Performing Arts Production of the Little Mermaid was well performed and well orchestrated by the entirety of the cast and crew. All of those involved should be very pleased with their accomplishments.

Drew Jacobson
Abington Friends School
Submitted for publication to GPC Website Review 4

What do you get when you combine a human-loving mermaid, an evil half-squid/half-octopus, a human prince, and a cast of talented students? You get the Philadelphia High Schools for Creative & Performing Arts (CAPA) production of The Little Mermaid.

Based on the classic Disney film of the same name, The Little Mermaid follows Ariel, a young mermaid who wants to leave the rule of her father and live on land. Just as Ariel is about to break free, she is stopped by her evil aunt, Ursula, and proceeds to have her voice stolen. With a book by Doug Wright and music and lyrics by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, this convivial musical was brought to life by the students at CAPA.

This production of The Little Mermaid showcased the talented students as they were able to capture the aquatic sense of the ocean while being on stage. Although at times the energy and focus from the cast was lacking, they made up for it in major group numbers such as "Under the Sea" or "Kiss the Girl", where the stunning voices of the cast were shown and heard, loud and proud.

Swimming on stage was the delightful Ariana Droz-Santiago, who played the lovable Ariel. Droz-Santiago's vocals were wonderful in addition to the sense of youth she brought to the character. Playing opposite was Cameren Sullivan (Prince Eric), whose songs "Her Voice" and "One Step Closer" proved to the audience how excellent a singer he truly was. These two showed excellent chemistry which brought a delightful vibe to their performance.

Another notable performer was by the adorably cute Flounder, played by Mazie Wolf. Her superior acting abilities captured the eye of the audience and had them fall in love with her. Additionally, Ursula (Zami Buggs-King) was quite the performer. Along with her killer vocals, her evil being was one that most certainly frightened the audience. The well-known crab, Sebastian, was played by Anaya Manley, whose accent was maintained throughout the whole show, which is no easy task. Some notable performances also came from Scuttle (Erisa Pikuli), King Triton (Dymir Johnson), and the hilarious Chef Louis (Yusef Collins-Bryant).

For CAPA, the technical aspect of the show was definitely an A plus. Amazing and detailed props were constantly being flaunted. The orchestra was a clear success and crushed every single number as if they were a professional ensemble. The makeup and hair was also quite intriguing, and the detailed makeup on electric eels Flotsam and Jetsam was definitely noteworthy.

"If Only" you saw CAPA's production of The Little Mermaid, you would know for sure that it was most definitely "Beyond My Wildest Dreams".