Page 18 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • June 12, 2013 Production features color and outstanding stagecraft by Dennis Seuling “Disney’s The Little Mermaid,” the final show of Paper Mill Playhouse’s 2012-13 season, is an ambitious production that re-imagines the original Broadway show. This adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale is given the full razzle-dazzle treatment with inventive staging, some new songs, and eye-catching visuals. Based on the 1989 Disney animated movie, “The Little Mermaid” is the story of the pretty young mermaid Ariel (Jessica Grove), who longs to leave her ocean home and live in the world above. While on board a ship, Prince Eric (Nick Adams) hears Ariel’s beautiful voice and is haunted by it. However, Eric’s adviser, Grimsby (Ron Wisniski), reminds him that he must return to court to fulfill his birthright as king. Elsewhere, the sea witch Ursula (Liz McCartney) is planning revenge against her brother, King Triton (Edward Watts), who banished her because she used black magic. She instructs her electric eel minions, Flotsam (Scott Leiendecker) and Jetsam (Sean Patrick Doyle), to keep an eye on Ariel, whom she thinks will be the key to getting the crown and trident. Most of the first act takes place underwater. To create this illusion, actors undulate gracefully with the help of colorful, flowing costumes, various scrims, lighting and sound effects, and wirework by the legendary Foy (famous for flying countless Peter Pans). This inventive combination of stagecraft and direction is a highlight of Jessica Grove (Ariel), Liz McCartney (Ursula), Sean Patrick Doyle (Jetsam) and Alan Mingo Jr. (Sebastian) in a scene from ‘Disney’s The Little Mermaid.’ the production and enchanted an opening night audience containing lots of youngsters and their parents. Overall, the performances are effective, with three standouts. McCartney as the comically evil Ursula is a genuine showstopper in the tradition of Ethel Merman. She belts out a song and, just when it seems she has hit the dramatic peak, she goes for that extra note that seals the deal. Garbed in a glittering, multi-tentacled squid costume, which she uses emphatically during her numbers, the actress joins the ranks of the great Disney villainesses: the Evil Queen from “Snow White,” Cruella de Vil from “101 Dalmatians,” and Malificent from “The Sleeping Beauty.” Grove anchors the show with charm, innocence, and spunk. In a lovely soprano voice she sings of Ariel’s longing early in Act I (“The World Above”) to experience that mysterious place she has only glimpsed and has been warned against her whole life. Alan Mingo Jr., as Sebastian the Crab, the sometimes narrator and guardian assigned by King Triton to look after Ariel, is an old-fashioned vaudevillian delight. He plays the part with a Jamaican accent, a twinkle in his eye, and a sense of fun. “Under the Sea,” his big number (continued on Crossword page)