The Little Mermaid Live

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bookworm
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The Little Mermaid Live

Post by bookworm »

I had heard some time ago that ABC had this production in the works, but somehow didn't catch the announcement when it was aired back in November 2019. Late last year I searched for news on how it was coming along and saw it had actually already been on, so I watched it on Disney Plus. I wrote up my thoughts to post as usual, but the forum was offline so I couldn't do it right away and hadn't bothered to pull the file up again since we've been back until today, so I'm finally making the thread now.

Did anyone else watch this, either when it originally aired or later on?



It wasn't what I expected. I was unaware of this going in, but this wasn't a full live show like NBC and Fox have been doing. This was a special event put on in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the movie.

I've seen the stage version of Little Mermaid, which has some expanded story and new songs, and this wasn't that. This just did the story from the movie, and it wasn't performed. For the story parts they actually played scenes from the animated movie; the only thing that was live were the songs. They did perform the full versions of Fathoms Below and the Poor Unfortunate Souls Reprise, not just the really short bits from the movie, and they included Eric's solo Her Voice which is from the stage musical as well as If Only, but just Ariel and Eric's parts not the full quartet. There was nothing else that wasn't in the movie, which makes sense since this event was specifically about the movie and not intending to put on the stage show.

What was live was a really good production; it made me wish I could have seen them do the full show. The costumes and sets were nice, and there was great wire work done for the swimming effects. I have to say though, at the beginning the audience was insufferable. They screamed and clapped nonstop through the songs, it was awful. They clearly got a talking to at the first commercial break because after that they were fine for the rest of the show.

So anyway, this was a fun event and nice tribute to the anniversary of the movie, though I personally would have rather seen a full show put on.
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Post by Catspaw »

Interesting. I hadn't heard about this (that I remember) or noticed it on Disney Plus. I'm not a big Little Mermaid fan overall. It sounds like a neat production - I do love awesome costumes and singing! I might give it a try one of these days. I'll post about it if I do watch it. :D
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Post by bookworm »

It's definitely worth checking out just as a neat event even if you're not a major fan of the movie.
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Post by Catspaw »

I found it on Disney Plus and added it to my watch list so I won't forget about it. That's no guarantee that I'll watch it soon ;) but I'll remember it at least! I saw John Stamos and became a little bit more interested. O:)
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Post by bookworm »

Catspaw wrote: Sat Dec 18, 2021 6:55 pmI saw John Stamos and became a little bit more interested. O:)
His part was one of the biggest highlights based on internet reaction.
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