'Mermaid' must grow up to float

Lisa Bornstein, Rocky Mountain News

Friday, August 24, 2007

The curtain rises on murky lights and bubbles, promising a world of mystery, only to quickly merge into the sight of a stage- sized ship of orange fiberglass, bathed in bright lights and crowned with singing seamen.

The profound and the prosaic clash uncomfortably throughout The Little Mermaid, which opened Thursday in Denver, where it has been developed for its move to Broadway this fall. The 1989 movie that ushered in a new golden age of Disney animation has been transferred to the stage in a lavish production. It's no Lion King or even Beauty and the Beast, but the show does have its moments of glimmering magic, particularly in the open-faced charms of Sierra Boggess as the title character, Ariel, and Broadway star Sherie Rene Scott as a rivetingly wicked Ursula.

Director Francesca Zambello made a motto of "no water, no wires," but the show could have used a bit more of both. The most thrilling moments came during the two scenes where characters actually floated upward through the ocean, and wires were visible on the set, if not on the actors. Instead of water and wires, Zambello worked with set designer George Tsypin and costume designer Tatiana Noginova, both colleagues from the world of opera, to come up with a world of translucent plastics, iridescent fiberglass and sea creatures who glide along on shoes with wheels on their heels.

Even with legendary lighting designer Natasha Katz on hand, the stage seldom carries any sort of otherworldly affect, and many of Tsypin's objects are incomprehensible, such as large swirly columns that occasionally carry fish in their arms. Noginova has mermaid tails extending from the actors' backsides, when their skirts conveyed the impression. Tails and legs? That's not a mermaid, it's a deformity.

Composer Alan Menken has written a full show's worth of songs to flesh out the handful from the movie, with Glenn Slater stepping in for late lyricist Howard Ashman. Only one, Positoovity, reaches the level of the film's score, aided by Eddie Korbich leading a spirited tap dance as the streetwise seagull Scuttle. Sweet Child comes close, as Ursula's eely assistants (Tyler Maynard and Derrick Baskin) seduce Ariel. Otherwise, the movie's hits carry the day, with new zest on Poor Unfortunate Souls and Les Poissons derived from Zambello's direction and Scott's and John Treacy Egan's performances.

Broadway pro Norm Lewis is wasted in the small, unexciting role of King Triton, while Tituss Burgess is playful and occasionally breathless. Scott and Boggess change the water temperature every time they step onstage. Scott's villainous octopus draws on Liza Minnelli with dashes of Marlene Dietrich and Joan Rivers to create an original character who pulls the first genuine laughs of the show.

Boggess, a Denver native who'll be making her Broadway debut, has Ariel's ethereal voice but, more importantly, the spunk and sparkle of a girl capable of saving both herself and the prince.

Unlike other Disney fare, The Little Mermaid remains solidly a children's show with little of the sly humor that appeals to adults. Zambello does send those children an entertaining and well- meaning story, with characters of all skin tones and sizes and a heroine who truly does her own acts of derring-do. But at Broadway - or even Denver Center - prices, the show needs to hit a wider age range with a bigger quotient of magic if it hopes to float.

The Little Mermaid

• Grade: B-

• Through Sept. 9 at Ellie Caulkins Opera House, Denver Performing Arts Complex, Speer Boulevard and Arapahoe Street

• Cost: $20 to $77

Information: 303-893-4100 or www.denvercenter.org