The Show: 

Hans Christian Andersen’s classic tale of The Little Mermaid has been adapted by Rosa Guy into the beautiful, heartbreaking, but hopeful story of the peasant island girl Ti Moune who falls in love with Daniel, a son of the French nobility that rules her Caribbean island. Her love is so strong that she makes a deal with Papa Ge, the Demon of Death, to sacrifice her life in order to save Daniel's. But class and racial prejudices are strong emotions as well, and the Frenchman Daniel may not be willing to defy his family and his upbringing that seek to keep the two apart. It’s a powerful and touching story of hopeless love, and of one girl who still loves despite its hopelessness. Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty have transformed the story into a highly popular musical full of poetic lyrics, engaging reggae, and mesmerizing ballads.

The Production: 

Studio 3 is also a dance studio, and it shows in this vibrant production directed and choreographed by Emma England. Dance is used to create the island atmosphere in which Ti Moune lives and to nicely flesh out the characters. It’s all performed by an ensemble whose talent and charisma keeps the audience of their intimate theater space completely immersed within the flavor of the island. They shine in everything from the opening number to developing the relationships between the sprightly Little Ti Moune (Ryan Donovan-Schager) and her parents, to the dramatic Rain sequence, the joyous Mama Will Provide, and the hopeful Why We Tell the Story.  

As Ti Moune, Jessica Webb is the heart of that story, and she sets the stage nicely with her singing and dancing of Waiting for Life to Begin and later dancing in front of the nobility who start out judging her and end up dancing with her. When her heart lies in the balance between love and life, she helps deliver a strong climactic scene. Daniel, the rich man with whom she falls into forbidden love, is sensitively portrayed by Jonah Carlson who also delivers some nice vocals about the girls you marry and the girls you love. Alexia Filler completes the love triangle as a jealous Andrea dismissive of Ti Moune’s poorer background. A background filled with the love of her adoptive parents, featuring genuinely tender performances by Marty Loehr as Tonton Julian and Emma Welch as Mama Euralie.  

And playing with the fates of all the mortals are the four island gods with Jenna Thrush singing of The Human Heart as a gentle goddess of Love, Savoy Thompson setting up the test as Agwe bringing down the dramatic Rain, deep-voiced Caleb Foreman challenging the mortal Ti Moune as the ominous god of Death, and Jacqueline Brecker using great voice, personality, and dancing as the fun and lively goddess of the earth who leads the people, the animals, and the storytellers in a zesty celebration of life.

Rob Hopper
rob@nationalyouththeatre.com
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Executive Director
National Youth Arts

~ Cast ~ 

Storyteller: