By David Gordon

“The Little Mermaid,” Disney’s 1989 animated classic, is now on Broadway. It replaced Disney Theatricals’ highly successful Broadway musical adaptation of “Beauty and the Beast,” which should have stayed open. “The Little Mermaid,” the Broadway musical, is definitely a thrill for fans of the film. But if you are a fan of the film, you’ll have a sinking feeling of disappointment once the Broadway version ends.

Ariel (Sierra Boggess), the little mermaid of the title, yearns to be human. She is dissatisfied with undersea life and her overprotective father, King Triton (Norm Lewis). She saves Prince Eric (Sean Palmer), falls in love and enlists the help of evil Auntie Ursula (Sherie Rene Scott) to turn her human. But there’s always a price: her voice. If Ariel doesn’t kiss Prince Eric by midnight on her third day as a human, her voice becomes Ursula’s forever.

Of course, 80 minutes later, there’s a happy ending. On Broadway, after two-and-a-half hours, you get the same happy ending but rather than Ursula’s transformation into beautiful Vanessa to compete for Eric’s affection (as happens in the original animated film), a singing contest ensues where Eric searches for Ariel’s voice. It’s one of the many unnecessary additions-by librettist Doug Wright-which bog down the simple plot.

It’s unfortunate that the cast must follow his holey and underwritten book, especially considering how strong the film’s screenplay was. Because of this, Sierra Boggess and Sean Palmer, who have lovely voices and fine chemistry, aren’t able to properly create “original” characters. By contrast, Tony nominee Sherie Rene Scott cannot be more different than the screen Ursula. Yes, it’s a very underwritten role, but Scott truly sells her 45 minutes on stage, bringing the house down with her saucy rendition of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken’s “Poor Unfortunate Souls.”

Broadway favorite Norm Lewis is dreadfully under-used. Tituss Burgess needs to lose the noticeably put-on Jamaican accent, but is otherwise solid in his role as Sebastian. And John Tracey Egan steals the second act with his cameo as Chef Louis.Ashman and Menken’s score, containing the aforementioned “Souls,” along with classics like “Under the Sea” and “Part of Your World” has never sounded better. The added material, by Menken and Glenn Slater (Ashman passed away in the late 1980s), is serviceable, though a number of the ballads seem to be from a totally different show.

Broadway novice director Francesca Zambello creates some dazzling stage pictures (okay, two or three), but it’s clear she’s in over her head. She’s directed innovative productions of various operas, and has tried to do the same thing here. The result is a mish-mash of bizarre, yet striking designs, (Plexiglas sets symbolizing water by George Tsypin, strange costumes by Tatiana Noginova, and gorgeous blue-and-green lighting by Natasha Katz), and songs which are delivered front-and-center to the audience. (It doesn’t help that Stephen Mear hasn’t created show stopping choreography.)Perhaps with a more experienced team at the helm, “Mermaid” wouldn’t sink to the depths of “why wasn’t it as good as the movie, or even the show at Disney World?”

This is not to say you’ll be entirely disappointed, but as you leave the theater, you’ll surely marvel at the thought of what could have been.

Little Mermaid on stage (timeout.com)