Hilton's "The Little Mermaid"
A review by Lauren Morris and Ana Rivera
A review by Lauren Morris and Ana Rivera
Every year, the musical performed by our Hilton students never ceases to amaze us. After seeing the performance, it is evident that there was a large amount of effort put into this production. The sets were colorful and bright, bringing the audience into the world of The Little Mermaid. The large stage and technology crew worked very hard to make the visual aspects of this production a success. Lighting, sound effects, sets and props truly brought the audience under the sea.
There was originally a total of four shows, with a fifth one added, a Sunday 7 pm show, because of its popularity. Each showing was practically sold out. The Little Mermaid sold more tickets than White Christmas, which was one of the most popular productions of Hilton High School’s recent shows.
Hilton’s rendition of The Little Mermaid mainly followed the plot of the 1989 original movie, but with additional songs as well as expansion on characters. Audience members found themselves liking an added song “Daddy’s Little Angel”, a song that gave more backstory to Ursula, more than “Poor Unfortunate Souls” thanks to the stunning performance given by Faith Keller, a junior who accepted the role of Ursula and went above and beyond in her acting.
While no one questioned Ariel and Eric’s relationship in the movie, the musical showed more of their relationship, leaving no room to doubt that Eric loved Ariel and she loved him. Taylor Tydings, playing Ariel, and Jason Keirsbilck, playing Prince Eric, did a stupendous job bringing the characters and their chemistry to life. In the musical, Eric has the chance to sing multiple times and one of his solos, “Her Voice”, sung by Keirsbilck, ended with well deserved applause. Tia Clark, a senior, was the dancer in the background during the song and her dance skills blew everyone away.
Taylor Tydings, a senior, has never failed to put on a performance worth paying for and in her final high school musical production, she truly finished her musical debut with a bang. Spectators had high expectations for one of the most popular Disney songs, “Part of Your World” and Tydings did not disappoint. Many children were in the audience and you could see some of them, dressed as a character from the show, quietly singing “Part of Your World” along with Tydings. Tydings’ performance was so spot on that the children could not wait to meet the actual little mermaid after the show.
But what would a show be without its supporting characters? Where Ariel does succeed in being with her one true love, she could not have done it without Sebastian, who was played by David Eve. Eve, a senior, had his time to shine multiple times in the show, and boy, did he shine. Just as popular as “Part of Your World”, the two songs “Kiss the Girl” and “Under the Sea” were sung by Eve with passion and finesse. Eve had the audience laughing, smiling, and reminiscing as he portrayed everyone’s favorite crustacean flawlessly.
And Ariel would not know much about the human world if it were not for Scuttle, whose role was done by Mariana Ban, a junior who clearly has a bright future ahead. Ban had the energy and the skill to bring Scuttle’s cheerful personality on the stage five times in the span of three days, while keeping up the voice, the dance, and the character.
Flounder, played by sophomore Riley Ball, continued to follow and spill all of Ariel’s secrets to King Triton, played by senior Antonio Platt. In addition, Grimsby, played by junior Dillon Iannone, was much more helpful to Eric in the musical than in the movie. The mersisters had more of a voice in the musical and their song “She’s In Love” will linger in people’s minds for weeks to come.
No one can truthfully say that the high school students did not put their heart and soul into the performances, did not put all their time and effort in learning their lines, the choreography, creating the sets and moving them. Under the instruction of Derek Baird, Leah Oltean, Ben Giesselman, and Amanda Hartmann the students put on the best show they possibly could have.
All roles, whether big or small, were executed with near perfection. The Little Mermaid was a smashing success and it, no doubt, will lead people excited for the drama club’s coming production in 2019.