St Philip's Christian College presents The Little Mermaid, 2pm, September 3, Civic Theatre Newcastle. Review by Jack Madden
After 40 years of making waves, St Philip's Christian College commemorated its milestone with a massive cross-campus production of Disney's The Little Mermaid, which migrated from its 1989 screen origins to the Broadway stage in 2008.
The cast featured young performers from across the four campuses as well as an orchestra pit and creative team staffed by alumni.
This was not the first time that the Waratah campus had touched the material, having staged The Little Mermaid Jr. in 2018.
St Philip's took elements from its last venture that worked, which includes cast members Timothy Davies (who played Sebastian previously) as Prince Eric, and Angus Jewell, reprising his role of King Triton, Ariel's father.
Davies in particular has matured well into a bona fide musical theatre leading tenor-to-be, infusing the oft-basic prince into a love interest with some authentic charm.
Aasha Rao led the company as the titular little mermaid, Ariel, a role that was shared with Madison Barr. Rao sang through the score, including Ariel's famous solo Part of Your World, with a wonderfully smooth pop tone while still delivering authentic, soaring belts when it was demanded of her.
True star quality, however, shone through especially with two supporting players in the great sea of performers. Jack van Esveld's energy as Scuttle the seagull turned a role that would otherwise be tiresome and intolerable into a genuinely charismatic rendition grounded in solid performance smarts, with even the irrelevant act two opener Positoovity landing well.
Meanwhile, on the less ostentatious side, Ava Gilbert played Flounder, primarily relegated to being the meek sidekick to Ariel, only to let loose vocally on her solo and harmony in She's in Love, arguably the best number of the show.
At other times, it was just as delightful to see the performers find their confidence in front of an audience, with Samuel Mackintosh (as Sebastian the crab) visibly finding the inspiration to add little riffs here and there.
Director Rob Stuart, in his 20th production with St Philip's, steered the ship and its talented cast, which also included Lexi Moore as Ursula (shared with Ruby Pinter), Joel Connett as Grimsby, Isabelle Parker and Alana Gilio as Flotsam and Jetsam, and a solid ensemble with some incredible dancers well-utilised in choreography by Natalie Baker.
The sets were large and multipurpose - with design credited to producer Michael Cooper, and props and set dressing to alumna Jennifer Halliburton - and the grandeur of kingdoms both on land and underwater are served well in the cavernous Civic Theatre.
Menken's harmless Disney pseudo-popera remains as bouncy as one would expect of it, but the true star seemed to be Doug Wright and Glenn Casale's treatment of the book, with a cavalcade of oceanic puns and even a seemingly overly vindictive sister of Ariel being distinct highlights.
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