When it came to finding the perfect Ariel for and upcoming production of Disney’s The Little Mermaid, it turns up she had spent most of her life in Niagara Falls.
“We had 43 potential Ariels,” said Linus Hand, who’s company Linus Hand Productions, is mounting the production. “We chose Samantha Hart. She’s now based in Toronto but she’s from Niagara Falls. We’ve never had one of our leads be a local so this is kind of cool. She has a voice like an angel.”
The show runs for two weekends with shows on Dec. 8, 9, 15 and 16 at the Scotiabank Convention Centre.
A little trickier to cast was the role of Ursula, the sea witch, which calls for someone who enjoys being the bad guy — or in this case — bad girl.
“You need somebody who can come in with a villain’s personality,” Hand said, adding that he thinks they found just the right person for the role in Toronto actor Tenja Hagenberg.
“She’ll bring down the house,” Hand said.
Hand, who is working with his son, Conor, on the show said while the main roles — Ariel, Prince Eric, King Triton, Ursula and Sebastian are filled by professional actors, there are plenty of roles for those in the process of honing their acting chops.
“We have three casts of 40,” Hand said. "And then there’s the look of the production. In the same way technology has changed the way we go about our daily lives, the same can be said for live theatre."
And the Hands is taking advantage of that, and will be employing a mix of real and digital backdrops in production.
“When you get the rights to a Disney show, you have the option of using digital backdrops,” Hand, who is producing the show with his son, Conor, who is an associate producer. “We can use them to help fill in the gaps.”
Digital backgrounds, will come into play during Ariel’s rescue of Eric after he fails from his ship and again in Ariel’s transformation from mermaid to human.
“But we’re still going to have a lot of physical backdrops,” Hand said.
Tickets for Disney’s The Little Mermaid are $55 for adults and $28 for children under 12. Niagara residents can receive a discount on tickets when ordering them by phone. Discounted tickets are $25 across the board.
Visit: <a href="http://www.linushandproductions.com">www.linushandproductions.com</a>
By Robin Hutton for <a href="http://www.niagarathisweek.com">www.niagarathisweek.com</a>.
Photo: Conor Hand and Linus Hand. ©2017 Robin Hutton.
<b>2017-11-25</b>
<b>Niagara Falls: Linus Hand Productions presents "The Little Mermaid" December 8, 9, 15 & 16</b>