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Disney flops 'Under the Sea'

By Matt Windman, amNewYork Theater Critic
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January 11, 2008

Sierra Boggess as Ariel , Sheire Rene Scott as Ursula, Derrick Baskin as Jetsam and Tyler Maynard as Flotsam in 'The Little Mermaid.'

Please be advised that this review was not written by a ten-year-old girl. They were all too busy buying Ariel tank-tops at the gift shop.

The Disney musicals just keep getting worse. We go through the same routine again and again: pick out a trendy director, add a bunch of bland songs to make a 90-minute film into a two-and-a-half hour mishap, recruit some legitimate Broadway singers, and poof! Just like Sweeney Todd slicing his victims to bits, another beloved Disney animated film bites the dust and is turned into a ridiculous corporate-minded spectacle.

How does director Francesca Zambello make an underwater fish community come to life? The lavish set looks like a giant cruise ship, with plastic blue panes that fly up and down alongside two revolving towers. How do the mermaids swim? They hide their legs with jazz pants and glide on heelys, those popular shoes with wheels at the heel. The resulting display looks like an ice-skating show within a Halloween party.

Doug Wright's awkward changes to the classic 1989 film attempt to make the characters more three-dimensional and Ariel a stronger heroine. King Triton and Ursula are now brother and sister. And unlike in the film, where the Prince saves the day, now Ariel has to be the one who defeats the evil octopus Ursula. "You should know that Ariel is quite capable of rescuing herself," King Triton reminds us at the end.

25-year-old Sierra Boggess is no different as Ariel than any other young actress that would love to belt "Part of Your World" up to the rafters. (You won't miss it. The song endlessly repeated.) Broadway veterans like Norm Lewis (Triton) and Eddie Korbich (Scuttle) fail to lend the show any credibility, and instead look extremely out of place. And while Sherie Rene Scott is a powerhouse performer, her clownish take on Ursula ruins the character's villainy.

There is, however, a single ray of hope: Tituss Burgess as Sebastian the Crab. Even though Burgess sports a ridiculous accent and top-hat costume, his flavorful stage presence is truly the only human quality in this Disney disaster.

Terrible direction. Awful new songs. Unnecessary rewrites. Adults bored. Children confused. In spite of Sebastian's seductive plea, stay far away from the sea!

Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, 205 West 46th St, 212-307-4747, $41.50-111.50