Blaxland High School graduate Emma Druett is getting ready to transform into what she describes as the “hugely iconic” Disney princess, Ariel.
Playing such a recognised character that many young people look up to carries a lot of responsibility and pressure, but Druett said she is “excited to have the opportunity to sing all of her beautiful songs”, including the well-known Part of Your World.
Druett has fond memories of watching the Disney film on VHS, as well as the TV series on Saturday mornings.
“The Disney version of the story gives us a young heroine who defies her superiors and her circumstances to transform into who she wants to be and get to the place she belongs; she risks everything to get there, and only then do her family accept her in her rightful form as a human,” she said.
Ariel’s love interest, Prince Eric, is played by Chris Sparrow, a newcomer to Blue Mountains Musical Society. While Sparrow grew up in the Lower Mountains he has only recently returned after spending the last 10 years living in Manly.
“Rehearsals have been a blast,” he said. “It's so great to be surrounded by so many caring and talented people.”
Sparrow works as a shop operator during the day for Mister Minit, but in his spare time he loves to perform, particularly to get that “adrenaline rush you feel right after a performance”.
Druett, on the other hand, is a regular on the BMMS stage, having most recently been seen as Meg in Phantom of The Opera, and before that as The Hawker in The Who’s Tommy and Bombalurina in Cats.
“The team has put together something truly magical. Our show has all the classic songs from the movie composed by Alan Menken (Under The Sea, Poor Unfortunate Souls, Kiss The Girl, Les Poissons) plus more great numbers he wrote just for the musical,” she said.
The director of The Little Mermaid is Woodford local and Blue Mountains Grammar teacher John Forbes. The Little Mermaid is a favourite of his thanks largely to the way it “reminds people to believe in and fight for their dreams”.
Benjamin Roorda, a Springwood resident who is playing the father figure role of Grimsby, echoes the sentiment that the story says “it’s okay to be different”, adding that everyone thinks Ariel “is strange and what she is doing is unnatural but she listens to her heart and she is brave in her difference and by the end she is loved and respected for her differences”.
Blue Mountains Musical Society performs The Little Mermaid from October 21-November 5. Tickets available www.bmms.org.au or by calling 4723 5050.
