The Little Mermaid, A Broadway Musical : From the Deep Blue Sea to the Great White Way

• From the Producer
• From the Composer
• Part One : Ariel's Story
  In which we come to learn how a nameless little mermaid from an old fairy tale became the much-beloved Disney heroine named Ariel, and where we meet the central figures who translated her story from literature into film and then from film into a full-scale Broadway stage musical
  Writers - Directors - Producers
• Part Two : Ariel's Circle
  In which we meet the Little Mermaid, her father (Triton, King of the Sea), her wicked Aunt Ursula (a particularly nasty sea witch), her charming Prince Eric, her chorus of sisters, and her closest friends (a crab, a seagull, and a flounder)
  Actors - Singers - Dancers
• Part Three : Ariel's Voice
  In wich we meet the creative individuals whose job it was to make The Little Mermaid sing (both literally and figuratively)
  The Writer and Director - Composers - Lyricists
• Part Four : Ariel's World
  In wich we meet the earthly magicians of spectacle charged with conjuring up the cool blue undersea world of our leading lady and the sun-drenched kingdom of her heart's true desire
  Set and Costume Designers - Choreographers - And so Much More !
• Staff for The Little Mermaid
• Fin

The Little Mermaid was born in the imagination of legendary storyteller Hans Christian Andersen more than a century ago. She burst into the lives of a new generation in 1989 when she starred in Disney's animated film, which was an instant hit and the crest of the Studio's celebrated, second golden age of animation. Now Ariel, one of fiction's most beloved princesses, has taken Broadway by storm in an all-musical version of her tale. It features her friends, Sebastian, Flounder, and Scuttle, as well as the witchy Ursula, dreamy Prince Eric, and all the film's favorite songs, plus a dozen more, by Alan Menken, Oscar-winning composer of "Kiss the Girl", "Under the Sea", and many other Disney favorites.

Step behind the footlights of Disney's hit Broadway production of The Little Mermaid and follow all the hidden drama that goes into building a show, from rewriting the script and staging the actors to arranging the music, building the scenery, and lighting the stage. Meet the actors who originated the Broadway roles and hear about the experiences of the entire production team. The book is richly illustrated with drawings by the set and costume designers, archival images from the Disney vault, never-before-seen shots of the rehearsal process, and dozens of dazzling full-color photographs of the show that give you a front-row seat for the entire performance. Get to know the cast, the characters, and the creative community that collaborated on The Little Mermaid and see them at work. It's a whole new world !

MICHAEL LASSELL is the author of four previous books for Disney Editions : Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida : The Making of the Broadway Musical; Celebration : The Story of a Town; Tarzan : The Broadway Adventure; and most recently, Mary Poppins : Anything Can Happen If You Let It. He hold degrees from Colgate University, California Institute of the Arts, and the Yale School of Drama, and is currently the features director of Metropolitan Home magazine. As a writer and editor, he has published numerous books of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. He is the winner of a John Gassner Prize in theater criticism and a Lambda Literary Award for poetry, and he has been awarded a Lowell Thomas gold medal by the American Society of Travel Writers.

From its first publication as a fairy tale told by Hans Christian Andersen, The Little Mermaid has been enthralling children and adults alike with its story of the transforming power of love. In 1989, Disney put little Ariel on film, gave her flaming red hair and an Oscar-winning musical score, and, in the process, reinvented the animated feature as a viable art form. Now the creative powers at Disney have reimagined the mermaid and her friends again, bringing one of Disney’s most beloved princesses to the stage. The Little Mermaid: The Story of a Tale is a look at the process of morphing a 19th-century story and a 20th-century film into a stage event for the 21st century. This oversized, profusely illustrated book traces the evolution of The Little Mermaid from its inception in Denmark, through its triumphant animation, to the hit Broadway stage version now playing in New York. In addition to photographs of the show and its rehearsals, the book will explore the creative process with extensive looks behind the scenes. Writer Michael Lassell interviews Francesca Zambello and choreographer Steven Mear, writer Doug Wright and composer Alan Menken, designers George Tsypin and Tanya Noginova as well as all the stars in the show’s extraordinarily talented cast. This is a grown-up book for children of all ages.