Students rehearse for Disney classic The Little Mermaid

Times Reporter   

 

Another beloved Disney classic is coming to life at Strathmore High School (SHS). Two years ago students performed “Beauty and the Beast”, a story many of us know and love. This year the students are excited to be bringing the Little Mermaid Jr. to the stage. 

“It’s amazing for us…because after Beauty and the Beast we were just raring to do more Disney stuff,” said Zac Klassen-Rau, who plays the role of Sebastian. 

The performance follows along the original story line: Ariel, a mermaid who lives under the sea, is enchanted by humans and wants to know about them. One day she comes to the rescue of Prince Eric, a human, and she falls in love instantly. She fantasizes of a way to be with him, and even makes a deal with Ursula the sea witch; only the deal isn’t as simple as it sounds. 

“It’s more of a Broadway show than it is the actual movie, so there will be familiar parts from the movie…but we added a little bit of a kick to it,” said Caitlin Tourout, who is cast as Flounder. 

Cody Neale, who plays King Triton, is ecstatic about showing the play to his family and friends. 

“We have so much fun performing it even in just rehearsals, so I feel because of the amount of fun that we have it’s got to be fun to watch. There’s no way it won’t be fun to watch,” said Neale. 

For everyone involved with the play, there is a different scene that stands out as special to them.

“I love the whole chef scene, I think that scene is so funny and phenomenal. I also absolutely love Ursula, she’s so evil and so awesome,” said Neale.

“It’s a big moment when you see her become human, she’s swimming in the ocean, trying to get out of the sea and she can’t breathe. She washes up on the shore unable to do anything, she can’t walk like she expected herself to be able to do. It’s not as magical as she thought it would be at first,” said Klassen-Rau.

Tourout agrees with Klassen-Rau that there is something special and magical about Ariel becoming human. 

“There’s a lot of emotions in this, so not everyone is happy about her being in love and Sebastian is following her (Ariel) around like a lost dog trying to figure out what she’s doing,” said Tourout.

The show is on June 2 until June 5 at 7 p.m. nightly. Tickets are $10 each and can be purchased at the door or preordered by calling the school at (403) 934-3135.