The Little

Mermaid Jr.

Taking the stage underwater could be really simple. I could've just used blue on our LED Down Lights and Cyc Lights. But there were some issues with taking such a simple route. A show as exciting and vibrant as Little Mermaid needs lights that mirror that energy, and that can't be achieved through just blue lights. Another thing I had to consider when making a watery look was, how do I differentiate from a scene closer to the coast, and one on the sea bed?

The Little Mermaid Jr. was the first show I did lighting for, and I think this show was one of the best places to start. Going into this show, I knew one of the most important tasks in regard to the lights was making it look like they were underwater. Other than that, I felt the show allowed for a lot of creative liberty in what the lighting demands, leaving this show open for a lot of different opportunities.

Making the Water

Any scene that takes place in the deep sea, I use darker toned blues. I then noticed there were some already installed gobos in some of the side lights, which had a leafy-forestry texture. I used those to add texture to the sea bed, and emulate sunlight peaking in from the surface. Whenever near the surface, but still close to the water, I altered an effect that was pre-programmed into the board, that shifts the colors on the downlights between different blues, greens, and whites.

I made sure to utilize the moving lights we have in our theatre to add more motion and color to the songs, as seen in the following images, where in one I'm hitting Sebastian with a sea green--making them stand out as it contrasts with their red suit-- and in another where I'm hitting the mersisters with pink in She's in Love. I also used the moving lights in a storm scene to emulate lightning.

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