Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” is coming to Leland this month via a theater production put on by Leland Public School.
The well-beloved musical tale is directed by Leland’s Music and Theater Director Mary Newman, and will include dozens of students ranging in grades 3-12. Newman said Disney is a fantastic company to work with when it comes to their musical productions, so the making of the show has been a smooth and enjoyable one thus far.
Throughout the preparation process, the school had the chance to utilize as much of the original Broadway choreography as they liked, with Newman adding that they will have large animated projections playing in the background during the show.
With the use of projections, the set is going to be very different from any show Newman has done with Leland school before. In previous years she’s been directing at the school, they’ve used substantial sets that do not move, as well as small pieces that can be moved on and off the stage.
“It (the Little Mermaid film) was a revolution in animation and “Little Mermaid” on Broadway was a revolution for musical theater as well. So just the fact to get to sit there and to sing these songs and to watch them on stage — I just get chills even in rehearsals,” Newman said. “It’s so sweet and so beautiful, and it’s one of those shows where your face will hurt just from smiling and you’re going to have to put your hand over your mouth to stop from singing along.”
The students have been rehearsing since late February, four days a week and on Saturday mornings to prepare for the show. Although there are nearly 50 students playing roles in the production, Newman said many are double-cast in quite a few roles. The production crew helping Newman to make the show possible include her assistant, Alayna Nielly, Rick Church, who helps with musical direction, and costume technicians Molly Lowe and Mary Beth Lowe.
“It is also so much fun (double casting) to see the difference that each cast brings,” Newman said. “That is one of the really cool things is to see the intricate differences that each of the actors bring, that’s just a subtle difference to each different character.”
The costumes, which include professional and elaborate ball gowns, wigs, and other accessories, come from three different sources. Newman said the grandmother of one of her students is on the board of TKTS, which is a discounted Broadway show ticket company based in New York. The same company is also in charge of TDF, the Theatre Development Fund, a not-for-profit service organization for the performing arts.
The TDF organization offers a costume collection rental program that houses older and used Broadway costumes that productions can utilize. Newman said they were able to rent some of those Little Mermaid costumes from TDF thanks to a generous monetary donation that provided the funds to do so. Among the pieces they were able to rent include all of the maid costumes from the original run of the Broadway show, Prince Eric’s original coat and his accessories, and a couple of the original Ariel dresses, just to name a few.
“It is incredible. The costumes all came in eight huge boxes and when we unboxed them in my classroom, it was screams and giggles and just chills,” Newman said. “Then we have another costume shop where we are renting the footmans outfits and a few of the sea creatures, Sebastian, Flounder, Scuttle’s costume is coming… and Ariel’s under the sea costumes are coming from this other costume shop. Then Mary Beth and Molly are making some of the other sea creatures — so it’s a whole little collab of costuming.”
Aside from the top-notch costumes, people can expect to see students, depending on the part/sea creature they play, using their Heelys and roller blades to glide across the stage to appear as if they are underwater.
Leading up to the first show, Inland Seas Education Association (ISEA) and Leland school’s theatre program are also teaming up for a unique but fitting collaboration that aims to blend science, sailing, and the performing arts. On Saturday afternoon, “The Little Mermaid” student cast plans to board the ISEA tall ship schooner for a musical photo shoot on the waters of Suttons Bay, highlighting both Leland’s upcoming spring production and ISEA’s 2026 sailing season.
Leland Drama will present Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” at the Leland Performing Arts Center on April 24 and 25 at 6:30 p.m., April 26 at 2 p.m., May 1 and May 2 at 6:30 p.m., and on May 3 at 2 p.m. For more information about tickets, call 231256-3815 or go online to https:// cur8.com/40758/project/138081.
