Reagle’s ‘Little Mermaid’ thrills both young and old

By Rich Fahey

WALTHAM – Rachel Bertone has gracefully picked up the baton Robert Eagle put down  after 52 years leading  the Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston.

Eagle retired in June 2021, and Bertone signed on as artistic director in February 2022.  After taking the handoff, she has run with it. and the results speak for themselves. She has lured a covey of fine actors and designers to spend the summer with her in Waltham.

Bertone’s “West Side Story” opened the 2022 season and was greeted warmly, but Covid 19 sharply curtailed the run of “Pippin.” This season opened with a critically acclaimed production of “Oklahoma!” that Bertone directed and choreographed.

Bertone handed the direction and choreography duties for “Disney’s The Little Mermaid” to the uber-talented Taavon Gamble and the result is a thrilling new production of fhe Disney musical based on the fairy tale by Hans Christian Anderson, now at the Robinson Theater through Aug. 6.

This “Mermaid” is an explosion of color, from the pastels of seashells ringing the stage to the creativity and vibrant colors of the costumed sea creatures who populate the undersea kingdom of King Triton.

This happens to be a Reagle summer for Kayla Shimzu, who delighted audiences as Laurey in “Oklahoma!” and now goes under the sea to portray Ariel, the mermaid who falls in love with a human and longs to be “Part of his World.”  

That human in question is a prince named Eric (Ray Robinson) who is rescued by Ariel; Eric then makes it his mission to find her and has a lovely voice he shows off in the number “Her Voice.”

Davron S. Monroe is a joy as the very red lobster Sebastian, authoring a reggae flavored performance of the Oscar-winning “Under the Sea,” leading a joyous production number that explodes onto the stage; it seems the entire cast of 28 gets into the act. Monroe also waxes poetic on his fellow creatures and the joy of ocean living.

He is trusted with – and fails miserably at – keeping Ariel out of trouble, and he has not one but two vocal highlights– the aforementioned “Under The Sea” and “Kiss The Girl” – and delivers on both.

The good news is that Gamble has assembled a cast that gives fresh and funny supporting performances, headed by the delightfully malevolent Katherne Pecevich as the sea witch Ursula. Pecevich goes delightfully over the top and knocks her signature song – “Poor Unfortunate Soul” – out of the park not once, but twice. The huge cheers for the character before she sings a note may in part be a tribute to Melissa McCarthy’s interpretation of the role in the recent live action film.

Ariel falls under Ursula’s spell and trades her mermaid tail for human legs and soon discovers many unexpected consequences. 

Christhian Mancinas-Garcia makes for an impassioned – if often perplexed – King Triton, who rules his underworld kingdom but can’t convince his youngest daughter Ariel to abandon her dream. He sits uneasily on his watery throne because of the existence of Ursula, his estranged sister who has wreaked havoc with her powers derived from a magic shell.

Ariel’s six “mersisters” are a singing and dancing delight, led by Reagle mainstay Joy Clark as Arista.

Teddy Edgar has a nice comic turn as Chef Louis in Act II’s “Les Poissons” musical number while Kenny Lee wrings out laughs as the hapless Flounder and Jack Mullen gives vivid life to Scuttle the Seagull.

The score by Alan Menken with lyrics by the late Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater has lost none of its luster since the animated movie debuted in 1989 and the show came to Broadway in 2008 with additional tunes.

David Coleman is music director for this production and the orchestra led by Jeff Leonard is in perfect balance with the voices, thanks to Sebastian Nixon’s sound design.

Anyone who has enjoyed the various Disney versions will find this production, while different, does not disappoint. It has the joys of live theater and exudes high energy throughout, the kind of energy that director/choreographer Gamble always has shown as a performer and now has been able to get from his cast.

The theater is also sponsoring family-themed events after matinees during this run.

Perhaps you have been waiting to get back to the theater until now or you have a child you would like to introduce to the genre. This is a perfect opportunity.

Th Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston production of “Disney’s The Little Mermaid.” Based on the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale. Book by Doug Wright, music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater. Directed and choreographed by Taavon Gamble. Sound design by Sebastian Nixon, Lighting by Franklin Meissner Jr. Music direction by David Coleman.  Through Aug. 6 at the Robinson Theatre, Waltham. Tickets $25-68. Reaglemusictheatre.org.