The cast of the South Portland High School’s production of Disney’s “The Little Mermaid.” Courtesy photo/Jen Fletcher
SOUTH PORTLAND — The South Portland High School musical theater program is finally back.
South Portland High School’s theater group will perform for the first time since the pandemic in its production of Disney’s “The Little Mermaid.” The show is based on Hans Christian Anderson’s adored story and the classic animated film from Disney. The audience can expect to hear favorite songs including “Under the Sea,” Kiss the Girl” and “Part of Your World.”
The story follows Ariel, King Triton’s youngest daughter. On one of her visits to the surface, which is forbidden by her father, she falls for a human prince. Determined to be with her new love, human Prince Eric in the world above, Ariel bargains with the evil sea witch, Ursula, to trade her tail for legs. But the bargain is not what she wanted, when things begin to go array, Ariel needs the help of her sea friends.
“We picked “The Little Mermaid” based on the students we had at auditions,” said Jen Fletcher, South Portland Elementary School band teacher. “We wanted to see what the talent pool looked like, as our goal is to make each kid as successful as possible in their role. Aside from this, we wanted to do a show that would be exciting for the students to put together and for the community to come see. You can never go wrong with a Disney classic.”
The “Little Mermaid is being held at the South Portland Auditorium located at 637 Highland Ave., South Portland. The play opens on April 29 and will run through May 7. Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for students and seniors. The show starts at 7 p.m. and doors open at 6 p.m. On Sunday, May 1, the performance will be interpreted in American Sign Language. The interpreter will be located on the right side of the auditorium. Tickets are on sale online or in person at the box office on Thursdays from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and Sundays 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. A limited number of tickets will be available for purchase at the door.
For the two years of the pandemic, the school has been unable to stage its annual production, so the strain and stress that goes with that break in performance has taken a toll on students and staff. Kaelan Gildart, who plays Ariel, said she is glad to be back on the stage.
“I’ve been really thrilled to be back on the stage this year, I’ve been acting for about 61/2 years, and to lose two of them to COVID-19 was really difficult,” Gildart said. “Theater is what I hope to pursue during and after college, so I feel very at home on the stage and performing in general. I have also missed seeing my peers at rehearsal, so I am very thankful to be on my home turf again and cannot wait to perform at the end of April.”
During the beginning of the stages on the play students had to follow the mask wearing and social distancing rules, but due to the mask restrictions being lifted students have been able to have the choice of wearing a mask.
“Creating our first show after COVID has been incredibly exciting and nerve wracking all at the same time,” Fletcher said. “It is so hard to gauge what the reception will be to a large gathering after two years of COVID precautions. Our cast, crew, and pit accepted the challenge and have done a wonderful job pulling this show together. Many of our students have not done theater before and are trying it for the first time. Everyone has worked so hard to bring “The Little Mermaid” to life on our stage and we cannot wait to share it with the community.”
The production team for the play is made up of four South Portland High School musical theater alumni, Fletcher, Aaron Matthew, Nick Sutton and Sarah Gay. Fletcher teaches fifth-grade band in South Portland elementary schools. Matthew works at Bath Savings, Sutton is a music major at the University of Southern Maine and Gay teaches academically gifted classes in South Portland.
“The common thread is our love of theater and working with students,” Fletcher said. “Many of our volunteers are parents of kids, but a handful are also alumni parents. The “Grumpy Old Men,” who have come out of set building retirement, are three dads (Ralph Baxter, Chuck Igo and Mike Fletcher) who have been building sets for South Portland High School musical theater since 2008. We are so fortunate to have them on our team to create the under the sea world you will see on stage.”
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