BADC The Little Mermaid Wrap Story

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On April 14, 15, and 16, 2016, the Bel Air Drama Company performed their 2016 Spring musical, Disney’s The Little Mermaid. The musical, written by Alan Menken with lyrics by Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater, was a huge success for the company, with about 2,700 students, alumni, staff, and Bel Air residents coming out to see the performance.

The show tells the story of a teenage mermaid, Ariel (Kiley Ernest), who, while watching a ship from the shore, falls in love with human Prince Eric, (played by Drake Lupus) and the futile attempts of her father, King Triton (Hector Belarmino) sisters, and her mentor, Sebastian (Emma Shibley) to stop her. Eventually, King Triton’s evil sister, Ursula (Kaitlyn Moore), bribes Ariel with a promise to make her a human in exchange for her voice.

Morgan Nikol, the company’s House Manager, was pleasantly surprised by the success. “We were selling general admission tickets at each performance,” she says. “A show this big hasn’t happened since [the company] performed Titanic.”

The cast, led by sophomore Kiley Ernest in the role of Ariel, gave a performance worthy of the sold-out weekend. Exceptional Heely skills were demonstrated by the cast to replicate swimming, and the merfolk all danced around in remarkable costumes. Musical numbers such as Sebastian’s classic “Under the Sea” and new additions such as Ursula’s “Daddy’s Little Angel” all served as major showstoppers, with the former even being reprised when the cast took their final bow.

Kaitlyn Moore, who played Ursula in her final role with the BADC, says that playing an evil character “was very new, but also exciting.  My favorite song was definitely Poor Unfortunate Souls, it was where I felt I could best play my character.”

Kalea Bray, an ensemble performer, says that “Kiss the Girl was my favorite number, because all of the different parts sounded nice together. It was a very fun song to participate in.”

In the end, the Bel Air Drama Company gave a spectacular performance of yet another Disney classic, once again becoming one of the first high schools in the region to do so. If you see any of the talented cast and crew in school, make sure to thank them for all of their hard work and dedication to this great weekend spent Under the Sea.