Take a magical journey under the sea when Musical Theater West (MTW) brings Disney’s The Little Mermaid to the Carpenter Performing Arts Center July 12-28. Based on Hans Christian Andersen’s story and Disney’s acclaimed film, this beautiful love story for the ages features a swimming score of classic songs, from “Part of Your World,” “Kiss the Girl” to the Academy Award® -winning “Best Original Song,” “Under the Sea,” composed by eight-time Academy Award®- winner Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Pocahontas) and his frequent collaborator, the legendary Howard Ashman (Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and Little Shop of Horrors). The live musical boasts 11 new songs by Menken and lyricist Glenn Slater (Tangled, Love Never Dies and Galavant), from a book by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award® -winning playwright Doug Wright (Grey Gardens, Hands on a Hardbody). Tickets are now on sale at musical.org, at the MTW Ticket Office, or by calling (562)856-1999. Tickets start at $20.
The journey of Disney’s The Little Mermaid begins in a palace in a kingdom beneath the sea, where a beautiful young mermaid named Ariel longs to leave her ocean home to live in the world above. But first, she’ll have to defy her father, the king of the sea, escape the clutches of an evil sea witch and convince a prince that she’s the girl with the perfect voice.
Bringing magic to the sea and land is a cast of Broadway and regional theatre talent. KATHARINE McCONOUGH (Ariel) is known for her work as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady and the title role in Disney’s Mary Poppins (Musical Theatre West), as well as Emily O’Dowd in the World Premiere of EMPIRE: The Musical (La Mirada World Premiere and NYC Readings). Other recent roles include Marian Paroo in The Music Man (Norris Theatre), Eponine in Les Misérables (Anchorage Performing Arts Center) and as Elsa in FROZEN: Live at the Hyperion at Disneyland.
DAVID BURNHAM (Eric) first gained critical acclaim replacing Donny Osmond as Joseph in the national tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, earning him a Dramalogue Award. On Broadway, he starred as Fiyero in Wicked, a role he originated in the developmental workshops of the show. Additional credits include The Light in the Piazza on Broadway, for which he received the prestigious Helen Hayes Award for “Best Actor” as well as the Garland Award; the National Tour of Jesus Christ Supersta; and the Off-Broadway show The Best Is Yet to Come – The Music of Cy Coleman. Film and television audiences will recognize Burnham’s voice as the Prince in the animated film The King and I and can be heard on the soundtracks to Gepetto, Home on the Range, and Comedy Central’s “South Park.” Burnham has released two solo albums, his self-titled CD and One Day.
CYNTHIA FERRER’s (Ursula) credits include more than 100 national tours, regional musicals, and New York productions, including the national tours of Singin’ in the Rain (Kathy Selden) and Happy Days – The Musical (Marion Cunningham). She appeared at Madison Square Garden in Elf, and the MTW production of the show, as well as MTW’s Yankee Doodle Dandy, Mary Poppins, Dirty Rotten Scoudrels, and Oliver!. Other regional credits include Thoroughly Modern Millie, 1776, and Anything Goes. Ferrer She has worked with and performed alongside Garry Marshall, Julia Roberts, Carol Burnett, Alec Baldwin, Courtney Cox, in such films as Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, and Georgia Rule. Soap fans will remember her turn on General Hospital as Dr. Rachel Ryan, as well as appearances in “Cougartown,” “Crossing Jordan,” “Judging Amy,” and “Port Charles.”
Classically trained opera singer MARC CEDRIC SMITH (King Triton) has performed with San Francisco Opera, the Chicago Lyric and Seattle Opera. After his Seattle Symphony debut, (Faure’s Requiem), he was asked to join Hal Prince’s First National Tour of Show Boat, performing throughout the United States, Canada and the West End. This led to starring roles in National Tours and regional productions of Ragtime, Secret Garden, Lion King, Aladdin, Jesus Christ Superstar, Aida, and Tarzan. He reunited with Prince in Phantom Las Vegas Spectacular. Smith will be a familiar face to Disney fans, as he appeared as Grand Pabbie and the Bishop in Disney’s Frozen at the Hyperion Theatre in California Adventure.
A recent graduate of Pepperdine University, where he earned the prestigious John Raitt Award for “Outstanding Contribution to the Performing Arts” JALON MATTHEWS (Sebastian), makes his MTW debut as the Rastafarian crab. He was recently seen as Bobby Child in Crazy for You, Truffaldino in The Servant of Two Masters, Andrei in Three Sisters, and Jack in Into the Woods at Pepperdine and A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Winter’s Tale at the New Swan Shakespeare Festival. He is currently a MFA acting candidate at UC Irvine, graduating spring of 2020.
Rounding out the cast are the talented Connor Marsh (Flounder), Joe Abraham (Scuttle), William Hartery (Chef Louis), Martin Kildare (Grimsby), Jacob Hoff (Flotsam) and Matt Braver (Jetson), Adrianna Rose Lyons, Carlin Castellano, Christine Negherbon, Elizabeth Eden, Fatima El-Bashir, and Tayler Mettra (Mersisters), and Kailyn Leilani, Lisa Stone, Marie Gutierrez, Antoine T. Lee, Brady Thomas Stanley, Chris Hunter, Gabriel Navarro, Galen J. Williams, George Xavier, Raymond Goodall, and Scott Spraags (Ensemble).
MTW’s production of Disney’s The Little Mermaid is under the direction of DANIEL PELZIG. On Broadway, Pelzig choreographed Moisès Kaufman’s five-time Tony Award® nominated 33 Variations, which he also choreographed at the La Jolla Playhouse and at the Ahmanson Theatre. He made his Broadway debut in 2003 choreographing A Year with Frog and Toad, which earned four Tony Award® nominations, including “Best Musical.” In addition to several Off-Broadway collaborations, Pelzig choreographed for the Metropolitan Opera productions of Lucia di Lammermoor, and Iphigenie en Tauride,. He then choreographed La Sonnambula and proudly served as associate choreographer to multiple Tony Award® nominee Graciele Daniele on Armida. His MTW productions of Mary Poppins and My Fair Lady earned rave reviews for his work as a director and choreographer.
Choreographer DANIEL SMITH returns MTW where he earned critical acclaim for his choreography in Guys and Dolls, Sister Act, and Carousel. Also for MTW, he served as director and choreographer for a dozen Reiner Readers Series productions, including She Loves Me, Li’l Abner, Pal Joey, and The Most Happy Fella, and The Goodbye Girl. For the Norris Theater, Smith directed productions of Young Frankenstein, Sweeney Todd: In Concert and Ragtime: In Concert. Additional credits include Teddy & Harry (Nine O’Clock Players); the west coast premiere of Sondheim On Sondheim, Into the Woods, and Jesus Christ Superstar (Broadway at the Gardens/Lewis Family Playhouse); and Pajama Game and State Fair (Musical Guild).
Music Director and Conductor JOHN GLAUDINI’s work with MTW includes productions of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Spamalot, Singin’ in the Rain, Sweeney Todd, and the Ovation Award nominated The Andrews Brothers. At Disney’s California Adventure, he serves as the musical director and conductor for the critically acclaimed production of Frozen at the Hyperion. Glaudini is a mainstay on the Southern California theatre circuit, serving as musical director and conductor for productions of Rent, Billy Elliot, and Les Miserables, Miss Saigon and Cats (McCoy-Ribgy); Putting it Together and Lucky Duck (South Coast Repertory); and Street Scene and Aspects of Love (Musical Theatre Guild), as well as in demand on throughout the country, working on productions in New York, Colorado, and Florida.
MTW’s production of Disney’s The Little Mermaid is made possible thanks to the support of Season Sponsors: Ackerman Family/Evalyn M Bauer Foundation, Kathy Baker Campbell and KC Wilson, Ken & Dottie Reiner, Don & Marlene Temple and The Port of Long Beach; Honorary Producer: Mari Hooper; with Youth Performance Underwriters: Ackerman Family/Evalyn M. Bauer Foundation, Don Black & Judy McNulty Black, Stan Cohen, Cathy King, Craig Myers & Sherri Sobel and Ethel Severson. Paul Garman serves as Executive Producer/Director of Musical Theatre West.