One of the strongest traditional Broadway musical
scores to come along in a while is captured in a glowing recording that
repays repeated listening with new revelations of the care and craft that
composer Alan Menken, the original movie lyricist, the late Howard Ashman,
and the lyricist for the Broadway expansion, Glenn Slater, brought to what
could well have been a simplistic and formulaic juvenile show. The show is
the latest in the string of Disney movies turned into Broadway shows, the
first of which was Menken and Ashman's other collaboration, Beauty and the
Beast. That was followed by the 1998 Tony Award Best Musical The Lion King
and then the short lived Tarzan and the currently running Mary Poppins. In
returning to a Menken/Ashman project, Disney works its magic again. |
Storyline: Ariel, a
mermaid daughter of Triton, King of the Sea, rescues a human, Prince Eric,
who has been washed overboard at sea. She falls in love with him and wants
to join him in his world, but merpeople are not permitted at the surface.
Her evil aunt
sees in her desire a chance to strike a deal
that may make her the undisputed ruler of the sea - but at a terrible cost.In a period when unconventional scores for Broadway
musicals are becoming more and more frequent (Grey Gardens, Spring
Awakening, juke-box scores such as Jersey Boys) this throwback to
traditional approaches to moving a story along through character and plot
driven songs in a variety of styles unified by full counter-melody rich
orchestrations and spirited dance segments is a delight. Menken and Ashman's
score for the 1989 movie had a distinctly Broadway feel to it and so the
shift from film to stage is a logical one. There were seven songs, not
enough for a full Broadway show. Glenn Slater, who had worked with Menken
before, took on the task of crafting lyrics for what turned out to be
another eleven songs for the stage musical. His lyrics are clever in the way
Ashman's were with a sentimental streak that matches nicely. His "I Want the
Good Times Back" (which sounds just a bit like an homage to Kander and Ebb)
is a great match for Ashman's "Poor Unfortunate Souls." He's also
contributed nifty comedy numbers "Human Stuff" and "Positoovity" that seem
appropriate for a score that features Ashman's "Les Poisons" and a fine
dance piece "One Step Closer" that features the dance arrangement of David
Chase.
The cast is superb. Sierrra Boggess, making her
Broadway debut, not only sounds like you would expect the Little Mermaid to
sound - young, romantic, a bit feisty - she sells her numbers in the big,
bold way reminiscent of the original movie's Jodi Benson. Her prince here is
Sean Palmer - also young, romantic with a full voice. With support from such
Broadway veterans as Norm Lewis (Side Show) Jonathan Freeman (How To Succeed
in Business Without Really Trying revival) Eddie Korbich (The Drowsy
Chaperone) Titus Burgess (Jersey Boys) John Treacy Egan (Jekyll & Hyde) and Merwin Foard (1776)
the score is delivered with panache. The biggest name of the bunch is that of Sherie Rene
Scott of Aida and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels fame. She takes on the role of the
heavy, the evil sea witch who was voiced in the movie by Pat Carroll.
Scott's take is thoroughly delightful in a take-such-joy-in-evil sort of
way.
The recording has a sonic breadth and a sparklingly
clean sound thanks in part to the efforts of recording engineer Bruce
Botnick, but mostly to the orchestrations of Danny Troob and the vocal
arrangements of Michael Kosarin, who also conducts the large, full string
orchestra. Of course, none of that work would be half as valuable if there
weren't such a rich melodic and rhythmic base on which to build -- the
credit for that has to go to Alan Menken.
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