ART BRIEFS: CHILDREN PLAY
Think back to your childhood and try to remember a live play you saw as a child. Coming up short? Mt. Hood’s Theatre program is working to give local children the experience many of you may have missed.
On Saturday, Nov. 17, MHCC students and the general public will have an opportunity to see “The Little Mermaid” live in the College Theatre.
This college production is complete with Mt. Hood student actors and actresses, puppets, and creative staging and lighting. Before the 17th, there will be several other weekday showings exclusively for local children. Each year during Fall Term, the theatre program stages a performance geared toward schoolchildren, exposing them to the art and perhaps creating future live theatergoers, said Mace Archer, head of the MHCC program.
In this case, there will be a mix of human and puppet characters. The puppets help appeal to the children and also help to show the difference between the sea and the land worlds.
Another interesting aspect of this production is that Mt. Hood will use the names from the original story. When Disney produced the classic, animated 1989 version of “The Little Mermaid,” it changed the names from the original story to make them more Disney-like. For example, it used Ariel and Ursula, who are traditionally named Anabelle and Odessa.
Theatre students has been working steadily this term to prepare for the show, which begins Monday for invited school groups and runs through Nov. 19. Auditions ran on the first and second days of class, and the cast has been rehearsing at least three times each week.
Tickets for the lone general admission show, at 2 p.m. on Nov. 17, are $2 for anyone, at the door.
Archer encourages MHCC students and families to come see the show: It could be a great way to introduce the children in your life to something they might love.
I actually have a question about the play. I’m hoping to take my great nieces who are 5 and 3 and other than using the original names, are there other changes to the story? I hesitate to tell them it’s The Little Mermaid if the story is much different from what they would be expecting. I’d probably have to spend a goodly portion of the play explaining why it’s different. Thank you for your time.
Janet Kenny