Little Mermaid Swims Into Town

 

 

By Allanah Wills

Fans of The Little Mermaid can look forward to seeing the animated film come to life next month on a Windsor stage.

Based on the 1989 Disney blockbuster, Windsor Light Music Theatre will bring the production to the Chrysler Theatre starting Nov. 13.

The love story follows a young mermaid, Ariel, who wishes to become human. University of Windsor student Amber Thibert plays the lead character.

“It’s kind of daunting finding a good balance between what people expect me to be….and what I want to bring to the character,” said Thibert.

This will be WLMT’s 132^nd production since its first show, The Pirates of Penzance, in 1948. Founded by John H. L. Watson as Windsor Light Opera Association, the company started by producing two full scale shows a year and has kept the tradition going ever since. Originally based in the Walkerville Collegiate, WLMT moved its performances downtown in 1960. The company runs with the help of volunteers.

“We are a registered charity so we rely on ticket sales, patron donations, sponsorships and fundraisers,” said The Little Mermaid director Chris Fazekas. The Leamington native has directed other shows, but this is his first time directing for WLMT.

To take viewers “under the sea” special costumes had to be used. Music Theatre Wichita in Kansas provided WLMT with the wardrobe for the show which will include fibre optics, stilts and tap shoes.

“This show is huge,” said Fazekas. “We would have spent more on material to make the costumes than it took to rent them, let alone the countless hours it would have taken the wardrobe department to design and create them. The costumes are so beautifully vibrant, I don’t think there is a colour on the spectrum the Wichita seamstresses missed.”

According to Thibert, the sets are also elaborate enough to rival the movie.

“The sets are out of this world. It’s such a great group onstage but you would not believe the level of talents backstage. The people putting these sets together, it’s incredible.”

From the first audition to the first day of the show, Fazekas says it takes about six months to put everything together with more than 100 people involved in the process.

“Onstage, we have 65 people, 21 in our pit chorus and a crew that easily doubles those numbers,” said Fazekas. “When you include construction, paint, hair, makeup, lights, sound, marketing, orchestra, backstage crew and all the active members within the organization that volunteer their time, it really becomes a staggering amount of people involved.”

The Little Mermaid runs for six days and tickets start at $16.