September 5, 2007
Ariel Rocks!

Mesmerizing.  Last week Jan and I were the lucky ones, scoring seats to “The Little Mermaid”.  This is the latest on stage musical masterpiece from Disney, the “The Lion King” people.  Luckily for Colorado, “The Little Mermaid” producers picked Denver’s Ellie Caulkins Opera House as the venue to work out the show’s kinks before taking it to Broadway.  (A side note. Sitting in the plush comfort of a balcony seat at the Opera House, it’s difficult to realize that when it was the Auditorium Arena, an early 70’s evening was spent in the same building squirming for comfort on the hardest bleacher seat in history while watching Spencer Haywood, Byron Beck and the rest of the Denver Rockets dismantle the Anaheim Amigo’s in ABA basketball.  All the transformation from barn to palace took was a little imagination and 75 million bucks.  It was money well spent.) 

Anyone, parents or grandparents, spending time around the younger set, especially girls 8 and under, has every mermaid melody memorized from “Kiss the Girl” to “I Want the Good Times Back” due to endless “play it again Grandpa” instructions.  Still, in an evening that can only be described as out and out fun, Ariel, Scuttle, Sebastian and all other members of the mermaid menagerie were brought to life in a most enchanting way. 

How in the world, I wondered, can you portray life under and over the sea on a stage?  Answer, it took all of about thirty seconds to buy the premise.  Hint:  If you have a youngster with a Heely habit, those shoes with wheels in the soles they love to wear at the mall and buildings with hallways, encourage their use.  Rolling wherever you want to go on cue, and voice lessons, could lead to starring on Broadway as a sea creature. 

Denver’s own, George Washington High grad, Sierra Boggess plays Ariel.  What a thrill to star in her own hometown.  Especially when her first job, after graduation from Milliken University, was portraying a shark at Ocean Journey Aquarium. 

A cautionary note. While last week’s performance of  “The Little Mermaid” will forever stand out in memory, one should keep in mind the track record is less than stellar in picking the next big thing.  Confession, they say, is good for the soul, so know I have also in the past waxed most enthusiastically about new Coke, the Chicago Cubs and the Bush administration.  

One strange rule for the evening, considering the show is a Disney production, has long been thought of as “kid friendly”.  Yet they recommended against bringing children under the age of six to “The Little Mermaid”.  Jan and I pondered taking the grandsquirts but were discouraged by box office personnel.  Others in attendance weren’t so intimidated.  They brought youngsters.  Even though “Mermaid” didn’t start till 8 and finished two and a half hours later, the two year old in the adjacent seat was wide-eyed and quiet the entire performance with only one complaint, asking “Why did they stop?” at intermission time.  C’mon Disney, lighten up.