Review: 'The Little Mermaid' at Croswell Opera House is great fun with perfect Ariel

ADRIAN — If you’re part of the generation that was introduced to the animated Disney movie “The Little Mermaid” as a kid — or if, like me, you were, um, somewhat older when you first saw it — then the stage-musical version of the story that came along some 20 years later was probably a real treat.

As with other Disney stories that have gotten the same stage treatment — especially “The Lion King” and “Beauty and the Beast” — there’s a real challenge in making something of that nature come to life. Animals and household objects, after all, are easy to animate in a movie, but putting that sort of action onstage is a whole different thing. And with “The Little Mermaid,” of course, you also have to recreate a largely undersea world.

The Croswell Opera House does a fine job of it, though, using all sorts of projections, flying some of its actors, and having cast members transit the stage or move their bodies in ways that represent the sea creatures they’re portraying.

Preview: 'The Little Mermaid' to be part of Croswell Opera House's world for three weekends

One of this production’s best examples of using movement to great effect certainly has to be by Ursula’s minions, the eels Flotsam and Jetsam. As played so excellently by Madelyn Bowman and Cooper Adams, the two are in constant, sinuous motion that is, as a bonus, appropriately menacing.

But, of course, all the good staging in the world would be for nothing if a theater didn’t have just the right Ariel in its production. And the Croswell has exactly that person in Emma Skaggs.

Skaggs plays Ariel to perfection, with all of that character’s wide-eyed wonder at the world above her ocean home, occasional teenage angst, and awkward transition from mermaid to fully human. Plus, she nails the vocal demands of the often-tricky music.

Croswell audiences who saw Skaggs as Carole King in “Beautiful” will find her work in this role just as satisfying. Besides that, all the little girls who come to see this show with certain expectations for Ariel will be happy with Skaggs’ look and performance.

Ariel’s Prince Eric is played by Xavier Sarabia, in a role that’s really kind of a departure for him compared to other parts we’ve seen him play over the years. He certainly has the vocal chops to sing this music, and his Prince Eric is thoroughly engaging. Plus, he and Skaggs have a nice chemistry together.

Really fine performances come from the actors playing Ariel’s three friends, Sebastian, Flounder and Scuttle. Ella Flumignan plays Flounder with all the puppy-dog-like eagerness and childlike awkwardness this character should have, while Jonah Hiatt provides perfect comic relief as Scuttle.

And Zachary Flack as Sebastian? Amazing. He nails Sebastian’s Jamaican accent and nervous fussiness excellently and even gives him the right sort of scuttling walk that you’d expect of a guy playing a crab. When he’s onstage, you almost can’t take your eyes off him no matter what else is going on, because he’s so very solid as the foil in so much of what happens.

Speaking of people who command the stage whenever they’re on it, Anjewel Lenoir does exactly that as Ursula. Pretty much every Disney story has a really good villain in it, and Ursula is one of the greats. And Lenoir is simply terrific in this role, with a huge voice and an equally huge onstage presence.

Plenty of first-rate performances come from the actors in the other major roles as well. I’ve already mentioned Bowman and Adams as Flotsam and Jetsam. There’s also Brian Jones, who plays King Triton with gravitas and depth, along with having a fine, very resonant voice for the role when it comes to both speaking and singing.

John Lamb does excellent work as Eric’s friend and adviser Grimsby, while Jeffrey King is just a hoot as Chef Louis, who prepares the royal banquet with, shall we say, gusto. And Triton’s other daughters, played by Amber Wilkes, Alexandra June, Lila Brighton, Rachel Ogger, Emily Smith and Kayla Garlick, make a perfect ensemble and are lots of fun to watch.

Sarah Nowak both directs and choreographs the production and does so with a tremendous eye for how to use the stage well and how to move the characters around on it. Her work moves the story right along and gives the dance elements a seamless quality with the rest of the action.

When the action needs to slow down and be more thoughtful, it still doesn’t lag, and the production numbers are all that they should be. “Under the Sea,” which of course has to be the showstopper of the whole musical, is a veritable riot of color and action and creative movement.

Costuming the show was in the very capable hands of Pam Krage, with additional costuming by Abby Sage Hall and makeup/hair/wig design by Anjewel Lenoir, the woman also playing Ursula. The results are creative and very colorful and suit each character to a T.

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A tip of the proverbial hat, too, to the team making the various onstage settings come to life: Marty Flake’s scenic design, Rachel Slupe’s lighting design and Nick Wass’ projections all work together to make the undersea scenes especially look very fine. And the backstage crew that makes the scene changes and all the flying action happen does a great job with all of that.

When the movie version was translated to the stage, a whole host of extra music had to come with it, but the new tunes do fit in nicely with the familiar songs, and conductor Ray Novak and his orchestra make their way through the score, with all its creative elements, very well.

Friday’s opening-night production came off smoothly, except for some occasional issues with getting mikes operating in a timely fashion and some dialogue therefore getting lost. It was also true that some of the dialogue was a little hard to decipher because it was either too quickly or too unclearly spoken. But none of that was a real detriment to the performance overall.

The production does clock in at right around two and a half hours with intermission, but with its action and color — and such a perfect Ariel to anchor the story — even the youngest members of the family should find plenty to hold their attention. Adults and children alike will find plenty to enjoy in the Croswell’s production; it’s great fun to watch unfold onstage and is an extremely satisfying rendition of this classic story.

If you go

WHAT: “The Little Mermaid”

WHERE: Croswell Opera House, 129 E. Maumee St., Adrian

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 24; 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 25; 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 26; 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 30; 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 2; 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 3

TICKETS: Adults $44/$33/$22, students $25/$20/$15

HOW TO ORDER: Calling 517-264-7469 or visit croswell.org

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Review: 'The Little Mermaid' at the Croswell Opera House