New "Little Mermaid" Anchored by Heavyweights

Little Mermaid. Image courtesy of disney.go.com

Unlikely duo takes 'Mermaid' to stage
Friday, September 7, 2007

By EVELYN SHIH
STAFF WRITER


What do Doug Wright and Francesca Zambello have in common?

If you're a theater buff, you might assume that it's a spot at the apex of the theater world. Wright won a Pulitzer Prize for writing "I Am My Own Wife," a one-man play about a charismatic German transvestite. Zambello is a world-famous opera director who has received the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres and Britain's Laurence Olivier Award.

But the real connection between Wright and Zambello is that they are collaborators on Disney's latest musical theater production, "The Little Mermaid," which ends its seven-week pre-Broadway run in Denver today.

"People who only know my playwrighting work are really surprised by the fact that I would be doing 'Little Mermaid,' but people who have known me over the years find it almost predictable," said Wright. "As a kid growing up in Dallas, Texas, I was a musical theater fanatic."

For him, it's a dream come true. For Zambello, who'll make her Broadway debut with "The Little Mermaid," the musical moves her in the direction she wants to go.

"I've been actively trying to do things in the past four or five years that will reach wider audiences," she said. Her recent theater projects included productions of "Showboat" in London at the Royal Albert Hall and "Tibet Through the Red Box," a new play by David Henry Hwang for the Seattle Children's Theatre.

Since the original Disney movie is 18 years old, Zambello and Wright updated some of the themes for today's kids -- and adults who are children at heart.

"Ariel is more proactive, and resolves the drama herself rather than just letting the prince resolve it," said Zambello. "There is more emphasis on the father-daughter relationship between Triton and Ariel, and more of a brother-sister dynamic between Triton and Ursula."

Still, it's the power of themes from the original tale that makes the show special.

"The story is a metaphor, and metaphors that are classic last forever," said Zambello. "It's like a Greek myth archetype of father and daughter, or the Montagues versus the Capulets [in Shakespeare.]"

Wright had a more personal passion for the material. "I think what makes the story universal is the fact that it's about a young woman who really wants to move beyond the confines of her home and family to discover who she truly is," he said. "As a kid growing up in Dallas, knowing that I wanted to leave one day and go to New York to carve out a career -- to reinvent myself to some degree -- the story really hit home."

When he was approached by Thomas Schumacher, the producer of Disney Theatrical Productions, Wright cut right to the chase. " 'What's up with 'The Little Mermaid?' " he asked. It was a serendipitous moment: Schumacher was searching for a book writer for that very musical.

Although Wright and Zambello were enthusiastic about the project from the beginning, there were obstacles to overcome. First on the agenda: How do you re-create an underwater world on a stage without it looking cheesy?

"We had to find our own visual language for the piece," said Zambello.

The underwater and aboveground worlds each have a distinctive vocabulary, both in the set and in the movement of actors on stage. Working with plastics company 3M, Zambello and set designer George Tsypin created a special incandescent, translucent material to suggest water. All actors wear shoes with wheels in the heel to allow both gliding and dance movements.

"It's a visual feast," said Zambello.

Wright, who has less experience working on shows with such large casts and lavish design, commended Zambello for her mastery of the atmosphere on set. "I was so daunted by the scale of 'Mermaid' with dancers and a complicated set and amazing lighting design and the use of projections," he said. "But Francesca projects a sense of determined calm and good humor. She brought the most collaborative and winning spirit into the room."

The production was a largely collaborative effort, from the book to the musical numbers -- 12 new songs were added to the original "Little Mermaid" score -- to the feel of the set.

"Usually playwrighting is such a solitary experience," said Wright. "There's been a real sense of esprit de corps on this project, and that's been great. ... There were times when I'd be writing a book scene and realize I needed a song, and I'd bring it up to [lyricist Glenn Slater] and [songwriter Alan Menken]. There'd be other times when they had an idea for a new musical number and asked me to accommodate in the book. Other times the director would say, 'Wouldn't it be great if we had a song here?' "

The musical will be Wright's second, coming after his adaptation of the documentary "Grey Gardens" for the stage. Although he thinks he'll be working on a "small, intimate drama" next, the experience of doing a Disney number has been overwhelmingly positive.

"When I became a 'serious writer,' I started to tackle darker topics," he explained. "But I've always, deep down in my soul, been a song-and-dance man."

E-mail: shih@northjersey.com

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