'Disney's The Little Mermaid' by Strong Elementary School Drama Club - My Review

Strong Elementary School in the Plantsville section of Southington CT has a brand new Drama Club. This weekend 21 members of the club starred in their debut production of ‘Disney’s The Little Mermaid Jr.’ under the able direction of Eddie Vitcavage. Mr. Vitcavage, a senior at Southington High School, directed the students with the help of fellow senior Emily Sargent as his music director and a slew of Southington HS students working backstage.

Mr. Vitcavage writes in his notes that directing this Disney classic was difficult because “everyone expects to see a musical that will resemble the movie in some way” and he also needed to adapt it to the stage with a group of eight- to ten-year-old actors. He shares that he chose the show because of the strong characters, especially Ariel; he wanted his cast to learn first hand that they should let nothing stand in their way when they feel something is right and stand up for what they believe in. His young cast members clearly adored both him and Ms. Sargent; after the curtain call of their closing performance, Ariel presented her director with a small thank you gift and clearly said “We love you” as she did so. Watching both directors lovingly direct their actors from the pit area throughout their performance was a joy for the teacher in me.

CLICK HERE TO READ MY ENTIRE REVIEW ON ONSTAGE 

Strong Elementary is lucky to have these talented high school mentors to lead the way for their young actors. I hope that their Drama Club will remain in place for many upcoming school years.

Pictured: Cate Sheldrick as Ariel and Ella Perillo as Flounder in Strong Elementary School’s ‘Disney’s The Little Mermaid Jr.’ and the entire cast of the show backstage. Photos by Eddie Vitcavage