Adelaide Youth Theatre. Arts Theatre. 28 Jan 2016
Adelaide Youth Theatre's reputation for excellence is not exaggerated.
It shines forth in the company's latest production, Disney's The Little Mermaid.
One might be forgiven for thinking The Arts Theatre had just dropped in from Broadway, so slick and confident are the performances, so dazzling are the costumes, so tunefully beautiful is the orchestra.
This is the company created by teachers Kareanna Sarti and Emma Riggs, a company which puts its trust in the talent of its members, some of whom are very young indeed and the oldest are in their 20s.
This production of The Little Mermaid has been in the hands of Thomas Phillips as director, Shenayde Wilkinson-Sarti as choreographer, and Deborah Brennan as musical director. These are up-and-coming talents whose impact with this show belies their youth.
The audition process has flushed out Sophie Guidolin to play the lead of the mermaid, Ariel, with Ben Francis as the handsome prince with whom she falls in love. Guidolin has just the right clear, bright versatile voice and Francis has the voice, poise, and stage presence to carry comfortably the romantic core of the show. The character parts are delivered by wonderfully accomplished young performers: Jerome Javier as Sebastien the crab and Nathan Stafford as Scuttles the Seagull. These two score the added accolade of eliciting special plaudits from the younger audience members when faced with "what did you like best about the show?"
Javier gives splendid strength to the show's most famous song, Under the Sea, while Stafford's song and dance ebullience simply delights every time he is on stage.
Montana Vincent as the skating Flounder deserves mention, too.
Paris Anderson gives good voice to Ursula, the wicked squid of the deep, but it was the behind-the-scenes team of designers and costumiers who brought the house down with a cephalopod costume which, with the help of a team of black-clad puppeteers, filled the stage with a writhing mass of giant tentacles. What a spectacle.
Notable performances abounded with Jaci Gibson and Jess Beattie high on the list, and the six Mersisters up there too. Nice harmonies.
Andrew Crisp stepping in to give his exquisite baritone voice to King Triton and a mass of young singers and dancers in all sorts of stunning fish, jellyfish, and sea creature costumes give their disciplined all to the many big numbers of the show.
In the professional world, this is an economic era of scaled-back musicals so it is rare for audiences to see a full-scale production of any of the big shows, let alone at affordable prices. With a large investment of skill and dedication by a multitude, Adelaide Youth Theatre has found a way with no half measures. The pity of it is that a production of this scale and standard finds its exposure only at the tail end of school holidays.
Samela Harris
When: 28 to 31 Jan
Where: The Arts Theatre
Bookings: Tickets available at the door
