Theater News

Edward Watts Joins the Cast of The Little Mermaid at Paper Mill Playhouse

The New Jersey theater is producing a reimagined stage version of the Disney classic.

Edward Watts
Edward Watts
(© David Gordon)

Paper Mill Playhouse has announced the cast and creative team for its production of Disney’s The Little Mermaid, scheduled to run from May 29-June 30 (official press opening set for June 2).

Paper Mill plans to completely revamp the stage version of the popular animated Disney film, which was first produced on Broadway in 2008. The creative team will lend a revised script, additional songs, and a fresh interpretation to the story of Ariel, a provincial young mermaid who wishes to explore the bigger world on land.

Directed by Glenn Casale with original choreography by John MacInnis, the creative team includes Craig Barna (music direction), Kenneth Foy (scenic design), Amy Clark and Mark Koss (costume design), Charlie Morrison (lighting design), Randy Hansen (resident sound design), Leah J. Loukas (hair and wig design), and Paul Rubin (flying-sequence choreography).

The cast will feature several Broadway veterans including Nick Adams (Prince Eric) who starred on Broadway as Adam/Felicia in Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Liz McCartney (Ursula), who comes to Paper Mill directly from Broadway’s Annie, and Edward Watts (King Triton), who recently appeared in Broadway’s Scandalous as well as the Encores! production of It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman. The production will also star Jessica Grové (A Little Night Music) as Ariel, Matt Allen (The Wedding Singer) as Scuttle, Scott Leiendecker (Fiddler on the Roof) as Flotsam, Sean Patrick Doyle (La Cage aux Folles) as Jetsam, Alan Mingo, Jr. (The Little Mermaid) as Sebastian, Timothy Shew (Evita) as Chef Louis, Christian Probst (Beauty and the Beast) as Flounder, and Ron Wisniski (Annie) as Grimsby. Rounding out the cast will be Kristine Bennett, Ward Billeisen, Lauryn Ciardullo, Thay Floyd, KC Fredericks, Rod Harrelson, Lisa Karlin, Nicole Javanna Johnson, Morgan Kirner, Erica Mansfield, Dennis O’Bannion, Robbie Roby, James Shackelford, Katie Ulrich, and Jessica Wockenfuss.

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