Don't be fooled - Little Mermaid is HARD
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We just finished performing this show this past weekend, and let me tell you - it was a difficult run. The kids did "okay", but were very upset because of the difficulty of this show. TONS of music and cues. TONS of set changes. Special lighting effect, sounds cues, lots of costumes, difficult staging requirement - and high G abound and can't really be changed or fixed. Just hope you have some high singing sopranos! Just a lot of stuff to do and take care of.BUT the worst part, was the score. It is nearly impossible to play (I don't know who the arranger was - but they obviously *don't* play the piano. A 3rd of it was hard, a 3rd was very hard, and a 3rd of it was impossible to play. Literally impossible because of the writing. Notes out of the reach of your hands and very difficult cross patterns and runs. You would think they would have "dumbed it down" a bit for the general music market, but they didn't - so be prepared to use the CD). Also, many, many mistakes and typo in the actual score. So spend a day going through it with a fine tooth comb to make sure you are doing it right. I had kids in tears on the first show day - and we were *well* prepared. Lovely show, just very, very hard to pull off in the general music market. sigh.
22 Answers
Susan,
If your production isn't until the spring hopefully you can change your production times? My school is presently doing The Little Mermaid Junior. The Junior shows are wonderful for the middle school level and changing voice. While it's not the full show, Cindy and the entire team takes such great care of the show for students to succeed. The Junior version isn't a picnic but in my opinion, the thought and time put into the Junior rewrite gives the kids a level of difficulty that they can obtain. I am finding that the technical things are the challenge and the acting to convey the show is the hurdle to climb. The pieces allow for 2 and 3 part harmony at times and sets and costumes truly are what you make of it. I know that my production team is putting these things together now and I would be happy to loan out or help in any way possible. I'm a native NYer myself so I am in the area regularly. If you look on here Christine Jeter has some awesome pics and stuff on here as well. When I inherited my program the first change I made was that the ensemble would rehearse but then the leads or certain groups would have to put in a different day. My group rehearses afterschool for 2 1/2 hours 3 days a week and my leads or certain groups have an extra rehearsal date.
I have to say that while we are all seasoned pros in some way if you have time to attend the iTheatrics Summer Intensive. There you are able to really get a lot of time in on how to work with a group and maximize your performance time. I have been doing this for 10 years now and I can say that after recently attending the workshop and working with Cindy and the iTheatrics staff you will gain some valuable tools. My students this year are much farther than ever at this time and that's a lot of things I put from the Intensive to work. While we want to push and make our kids amazing performers, I always worry "Am I pushing too hard or putting the expectation too high?". Junior Productions can and are as challenging as anything else but as it's been said your preparation and homework are a part of this network to get the kids to where they can be. The CD is well worth the investment. It also has freed up so much money to do other things to help with the kids.
But in the end it is for the kids and that's the goal of everyone working on the shows to us presenting the shows. No show is perfect, everyone has typos at some point but we can overcome them and have wonderful productions by knowing our kids, knowing our limits, doing our homework and adjusting on the fly as all of us have done many times
We just licensed this for a 6th grade production. We did Beauty and the Beast JR. last year - the community loved it!! I have a 3 member staff to work with my kids - director (me), choreographer and music director. So each of us breaks each part down for the kids and is rehearsed at different times. Seems to work wonders for the kids too.
Yes Joseph, we do/did the same thing. Not only does it makes it easier, it also makes it fun for us and the kids!
I work at a performing Arts school here in the city, so we have a pretty talented bunch of kids! I only had to work on the music, as we had others to do the staging, costuming and the sets ect.
VIP Answer
Thanks for your comments and input Robert. My biggest concern is that your kids did not have the experience we know they can have with musical theater. We pilot, we write, we re-pilot, re-write, try the shows in different areas of the country etc., before they go to print. No doubt, there will always be things to improve on, especially with this being such a new show. I hope you get to see the changes of the new guides for some of the older legacy series, (Music Man JR, Guys and Dolls, Once On This Island.) The important thing for you to know is that you can edit, yes with the CD to make it adaptable and performable with your kids. They are not professionals, and MOST importantly they need to have a positive experience that makes them feel good about themselves and the artistic form they are sharing. If incidental music is too long for your staging, fade it out. Certain changes of course need permission, as MTI does not own the shows, they simply represent the composers. MOST of the time, directors/teachers are granted their request, especially if it isnt adding or deleting entire songs etc. I would hope, with help, LMJR could have been adapted so you felt your kids had a better performance experience. You sound like you have had great experiences and some shows under your belt. Cant tell you how much I wish this experience were more positive for ALL of you. Please know we are happy to help in any form as you go through the process of JR shows. I also think you would love taking our Teacher Intensive Workshops, (see iTheatrics.com) where we go through the process on how to do JR shows and you work with people that are just like you and put them on all around the country in all types of circumstances. Your thoughts are valuable Robert. Thanks for taking time to contribute and strengthen the vehicle we all know and love for kids.
Susan, your formula is exactly what we use for JR and Kids rehearsal hours in our teacher workshops. Estimate 1 rehearsal hour per page of script and go from there.
We just finished our Little Mermaid, Jr run. We had 3 casts of this show - the Little Fish were K-5th - the Middle Fish were 4th-8th - and the Big Fish were 7th-12th Graders. Having done pretty much a case study of LMJr., I would say it fits best for 5th-10th as written. My K-5th group enjoyed themselves immensely and loved the music. We had some pretty respectable 2-part singing in "Kiss The Girl" and "She's In Love", but the complex harmonies were beyond that age group. Unison was perfect in most instances and totally served the story. In retrospect, I'm so glad that my little ones had the opportunity to present LMJr. I had a 7 year old Sebastian with comic timing to beat the band, and an 8-year old "Chef Louis" who brought the house down every night.
With the oldest group, I missed "Sweet Child" and "The World Above". But, the Broadway Jr. version, is not the Broadway version, after all. To add all the material would have ship wrecked the 70 playtime - which is perfect for this age group - in our world.
You are right about the piano vocal score - whew - not easy. I ended up playing parts in small group vocal rehearsals and leaving the accompaniment to the CD. SImilar to Millie, Jr. in that way - tough score! Also, totally worth the investment in the challenge for the kids.
I LOVED the Little Mermaid, Jr. and so did all of my fish - big and small.
VIP Answer
One thing I am proud of with the entire Broadway JR and MTI Kids collection, is that the range of difficulty is from easy to difficult. When teachers ask advice,(and it is marked in our catologs) about the difficulty of a show, we can suggest one that fits their level of experience without hesitation. Disney's Little Mermaid JR is a BIG show, just about anyway you look at it. It has an abundance of music that has been edited to be as authentic as possible to Menkin's original and still be accessible to young performers. Experienced teachers know how to adapt it for more accessibility for their kids by adding voices to some solo parts, not using the high octaves and making other smart but necessary musical adjustments. A brand new teacher? Possibly make another choice for a first show. These shows are also DESIGNED to use the accompaniment CD so that the directors can spend time doing what they need to do, or saving budget on an accompanist and STILL have an accompaniment true to the score. If these were simplified to another level, the directors that use them hoping for a piano/vocal they can perform and arrange from would be dissappointed also. There is an amazing amount of time and expertise that goes into these studio recordings so they are rewarding for this age voice to perform with and sound good. If you choose to perform with the PV and rhythm section, plan on it being more like the original score.
Little Mermaid has been one of the most sought after titles in this collection in years. Is it the easiest title? No. Is it for a grade k-5 performance? Maybe not, yet I can put anyone in touch with a group that adapted it MORE than successfully for 3 different levels. Sometimes directors want a title so much that the extra efforts to make it accessible for their kids is worth it, and I have seen teachers jump into this without a look see or perusal because they love the music. (So do I!). My suggestion is take a look and order a perusal, email and ask other teachers, call me if you have concerns about your choice. It is a wonderful show and CAN be done simply to showcase the story and your kids OR it can be done with every bell and whistle into a "Part of Your World" your audience has never experienced. Rewards are big if you do your homework! C.
I understand and appreciate the fact that the JR. lines go from easy to hard. But, this one is exceptionally hard. I guess it's really my own fault for not ordering a perusal score first. I have done many of your shows in the past, and I guess I assumed this title would be suitable for upper elementary/Jr high school. But I was wrong.
This edition is very close to the original. To much in fact I think. I really thought about using the CD, but then that meant I would have to use all of the music on the CD. Which would have meant choreographing TO the CD. The incidental music it oddly long in the score you have produced. Thus, by using the CD, one cannot have any cuts! So I had to use the PV score. The "Dingle-Hopper" song in particular is extremely hard to pull off. It's in 6/8 and moves at a very fast clip and ends in the key of B. I am an experienced pianist, but I had to edit, edit, edit. And it's range is high AND low. My Scuttle was a great actor and pretty good singer, but struggled with this song. "Frown"
I'm really not trying to sow sour grapes here; I just really wished this show was what it presents itself to be - a true JR. show. And sadly, it's not.