The Little Mermaid - Showtime!

This weekend was showtime for The Little Mermaid.  The kids did a great job even with approximately 100 actors and actresses, 20 scene changes, and probably over 200 props.  Here are some highlights:

 
King Triton - he appeared manly and in charge even in a merman tail, and he loved his trident, which lit up when he "destroyed" Ariel's grotto - see the battery pack at the bottom?  The producer and I collaborated on the concept for the trident, and he put it together.

 The Mersisters sing a cute 50's-ish number called "She's in Love." 

Nothing says, "the beach" like a bunch of seagulls standing on rocks, right?

Ursula in her lair...  What are the "white things" (my daughter's friend's question).  Ursula's lair is in a whale skeleton.  the curved things are rib bones (thoroughly doused in florescent paint).  She is sitting on the tailbone.  I take credit for the tentacle design, although, not the construction - my friend who made all the rest of the costumes actually did the sewing... and as both girls who played Ursula told us, "it's HEAVY!"  See Flotsam and Jetsam in the front?  They light up, too.  My idea, thank you very much!  :-)

Ariel's grotto was a total team effort.  This started out as an entertainment unit to which I applied aluminum screening.  Then the producer sprayed spray foam insulation all over it to make it appear like barnacles and coral were growing on it.  Another couple of people sprayed with paint, and still others gathered and attached the "human stuff".  When Triton "destroys" the grotto, actors turn it around to show the back of it, which has broken human stuff attached.  By the way, isn't Flounder's costume awesome? It took over a dozen hours to sew, and was so thick in places my friend the costume designer broke at least 10 sewing machine needles making it.

Flounder and the jellyfish with Ariel on the rocks (LOL - sounds like a beverage - Ariel on the Rocks).

I consider the stage crew "my" kids and when the curtain opened and I saw this tablecloth, I just had to laugh - it was something I could see my own, real life kids doing.  But look - the table is perfectly set!

"...and Girl, you've got to pucker up like 'dis."  Our Sebastian did a pretty nice job with adopting a Jamaican accent like Sebastian in the movie.

All those animals... all those kids, not enough light!  It was hard to get this shot, so it wasn't as nice as I was hoping it would be, but you get the idea.

SO much fun! Now, go on and Kiss the Girl!