Alan Menken has reignited hope that the musical stage adaptation of Disney’s The Little Mermaid will come to the UK.
It has been 17 long years since the show debuted on Broadway with theatre stars Sierra Boggess, Norm Lewis and Tituss Burgess amongst the original cast.
There have been a number of international productions in the intervening years (minus the Heelys shoes Broadway adopted to give the illusion of swimming on stage), but it has yet to make a splash upon these shores.
The story, which is loosely based on the 1837 Danish fairy tale The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen, follows a teenage mermaid princess named Ariel, who dreams of becoming human and falls in love with a human prince named Eric. She then trades her voice for human legs with an evil seawitch who tells her she has just three days in which to make Eric fall in love with her, or else her soul will belong to her.
Composer Menken worked on the original 1989 Disney animated film with late lyricist Howard Ashman. It won him his first Oscar for Best Score and he and Ashman also picked up Best Song for Calypso-styled Under The Sea.
Then, two decades later, The Little Mermaid was adapted for the stage with Menken bringing onboard lyricist Glenn Slater, with whom he penned ten new songs. The production began previews in late 2007, but was hit by a number of snags, including the 2007 Broadway stagehand strike, which forced it to temporarily shut down. It also had its official opening date pushed back from December 2007 until January 2008.
The show ran for 685 performances and 50 previews before closing the following year, with Thomas Schumacher, producer and president of Disney Theatrical Productions saying at the time: "it would be fiscally irresponsible to our shareholders to risk operating losses with such a big show in the historically challenging fall months. We are closing the Broadway production to concentrate on the long future life of this title.”
Speaking to The Standard ahead of his first ever UK solo shows in the West End next month, Menken - who was also instrumental in Disney’s 2023 live action movie - says he will be “shocked” if The Little Mermaid didn’t make its way here “in the next few years”.
“I assume it will,” he said. “I think there’s a reworking now of that. There was also reworking post-Broadway. There were aspects of the production that we’ve improved immensely since then and I believe there’s more work happening.
“I’ve got to say, Disney Theatrical and Thomas Schumacher have been fantastic at keeping these shows fresh, keeping them alive and being able to get them out into the world. I’m very grateful for the team that will be working on that. I’d be shocked if it didn’t open in the next few years in London, but we’ll see.”
Fans will be hoping to gleam some more when Menken takes to the stage in the capital for two shows on March 9 - a matinee and an evening performance - which will delve into his storied career, spanning more than 40 years,
They promise to be an unforgetable experience with the New York-native touching on his time before and at the centre of the Disney Renaissance (Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, etc) and beyond, with his current projects including a live action and stage adaptation of Disney’s Tangled, musicals of Night At The Museum, Animal Farm and Nancy Drew. Plus, two Disney musicals make their highly-anticipated West End debut this summer with Hercules opening at Threatre Royal Drury Lane in June and a specially staged concert of Hunchback of Notre Dame at the Prince Edward Theatre on August 17.
For more tickets and to buy tickets to see A Whole New World of Alan Menken, visit www.aegpresents.co.uk
