by Kevin Shaw | photos by Steve Wilson and Mark & Tracy Photography
For the past four years, Robbie Roby (doesn’t that sound like a Disney name already?) has been the Dance Captain/Swing for the national tour of The Little Mermaid. His job is to keep all the choreography on point, train the new performers who join the tour and step in at the last minute whenever one of the male performers gets sick or is injured. In short, this man has been with this tour longer than anyone else, so Focus Magazine was eager to get his take on what makes this show so great!
Focus: Let’s go ahead and address the elephant (mermaid) in the room…Disney has had enormous success in transferring its past animated musicals (Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Aladdin) to the Broadway stage, but the 2007 Broadway version of The Little Mermaid was “dead in the water.” What happened?
Roby: I don’t know if I have a specific answer for that because when I saw it on Broadway, I loved it. It might have something to do with how The Lion King director Julie Taymor presented the African culture through music, dance and costumes. It was VERY artistic and people responded to it so well (especially the puppetry), but for some reason the underwater creations of The Little Mermaid weren’t received as being just as amazing. I loved the Broadway version and saw it twice. I thought it was fantastic! It’s my favorite Disney musical! However, with this national tour, one thing we do that people really gravitate towards is that we fly the characters in the air anytime they are “under water” as opposed to having them skate around on Heelies (shoes with wheels in the heels) like they did in New York. I think this is what really makes our version magical for people. That’s the number one thing audiences talk about. For example, when Ariel sings “Part of Your World,” not only is the actress amazing, she’s singing the song in the air flying the entire time!
Focus: So, did the director of the Broadway version (Francesca Zambello) direct this national tour?
Roby: No, Glenn Casale did. Casale had a lot of experience directing productions of Peter Pan around the world and his strong relationship with the company that manages the flying of actors on stage (Flying by Foy) is what prompted him to add this magic to our production. Every city we go to, we sell out. People just love this show—they love the story!
Diana Huey as Ariel in “The Little Mermaid”
Focus: Let’s talk about your Ariel! She’s Asian-American!
Roby: Yes! Her name is Diana Huey.
Focus: Is she the very first Asian-American Ariel?
Roby: Yes and this was a very big deal for her! You know, when we hired her, she was amazing. She was the best one–she sang unbelievably, was the right size and she had the fire that Ariel has. We found her in Seattle which has a large population of Asian descent, so when we opened the show in Seattle, it wasn’t really a big thing—people didn’t really talk about it. It’s once we left Seattle that people started saying, “Wow, this is a big deal, huh?” And we said, “Um, I guess, but she was really the best for the job.” It hasn’t really been that “newsworthy” until we take the tour to the middle of the country, like Kentucky or Indianapolis, where they are more interested in this as a storyline.
Jennifer Allen, Brandon Roach, and Frederick Hagreen in “The Little Mermaid”
Focus: If there is anyone left on the planet that’s not familiar with this story, is there anything you want to say to them about this show?
Roby: You know, I saw this movie when I was 10 years old and I was too young at the time to pick up on the gay overtones of the story. Specifically, the metaphor of Ariel not being accepted by her family and it wasn’t until I was in my mid-thirties that I realized that almost every line she says before singing “Part of Your World” (“Why don’t they just understand me?”) had me saying, “My God, is she literally speaking to me, a gay man?” But with the songs and the story, there is just such strength that you can gain as a member of the LGBTQ community, you have to wonder, “Is this why gay people love this show so much?” Like so many Disney musicals, every story starts the same way with the same question—“How can everyone not see that I’m normal?”
The Little Mermaid plays at The Orpheum Theatre July 25-30, 2017
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TITLE: DISNEY’S THE LITTLE MERMAID
EVENT TYPE: Broadway
DESCRIPTION: In a magical kingdom beneath the sea, the beautiful young mermaid Ariel longs to leave her ocean home to live in the world above. Based on one of Hans Christian Andersen’s most beloved stories, with music by eight-time Academy Award winner Alan Menken, it’s a hauntingly beautiful love story for the ages. Come fall in love with the magic for the first time—or all over again with classics such as “Under the Sea,” “Kiss the Girl, “Part of Your World” and more! Disney’s THE LITTLE MERMAID is produced by Pittsburgh CLO & Kansas City Starlight.
VENUE: Orpheum Theatre, 203 S. Main Street, Memphis TN 38103
DATES: July 25 – 30, 2017
• Tuesday, July 25, 2017 7:30 PM
• Wednesday, July 26, 2017 7:30 PM
• Thursday, July 27, 2017 7:30 PM
• Friday, July 28, 2017 8:00 PM
• Saturday, July 29, 2017 2:00 PM
• Saturday, July 29, 2017 8:00 PM
• Sunday, July 30, 2017 1:00 PM
• Sunday, July 30, 2017 6:30 PM
TICKETS: $25-$125
BOX OFFICE: 901.525.3000
GROUP SALES: 901.529.4226
