Every year Palmer Ridge’s Bear Necessity theater department puts on a play. Last year for fall it was Once Upon A Mattress. This year it’s Disney’s The Little Mermaid Directed by Ms.Christy Inama. The Little Mermaid is a classic. Ariel, played by Georgia Lawrence, is one of the princesses everyone grew up with when they were little. Everyone knows the Disney 1989 movie based on the Brothers Grimm story of a mermaid who trades her voice for a chance to walk on the human world and marry her prince. The Little Mermaid musical made its debut in 2007 in Denver from July-December 2007 before premiering on Broadway November 3, 2007. It was produced by Disney Theatrical. Palmer Ridge orchestra is also playing music for the show. There has been so much work and passion put into this play and so many different components that pulled it all together. The musical is complicated backstage because it’s an aquatic setting which is difficult to create on stage, despite this the stage crew did an amazing job and the whole musical looked magical with the help of the technical director Mr.Josh Belk. The show also included the orchestra hiding away from the audience’s view in the pit. They sounded amazing. The music was directed by Mrs.Katy Mariotti, Orchestra by Mr.Raleigh E. Eversole, lV (Mr.Butch) and Accompanied by Mr.Mark Raphael.

Garrett Pyle (9) is on the bear necessities stage crew. This is his first year in theater at Palmer Ridge. In an interview, we asked what a normal day in preparation for the play is like. He explained that in the stage crew there are seven different deviation crews which are stage crew managed by Addison Baldwin, sound crew headed by Wyatt Blecha, lights crew headed by Comet Yoder, props crew wrangled by Jayna Patrick, costumes crew coordinated by Emily Osborn, special projects crew managed by Olivia Murphey and construction crew coordinated by Lauren Smith. Each crew works on whatever their crew is meant to do. In Pyles case he is in the props crew so he works on getting props for the play. Some of the props this year include a statue that breaks, a glowing trident, fake food and a pipe that shoots bubbles. When asked If there were any problems this year Pyle said “There’s been some, like some miscommunications and things not coming in on time like costumes but other than that there hasn’t been many issues.” 

In rehearsals, disaster struck actor Megan King (11) who played Chef Louis, a sailor and a sea creature was in the middle of a scene change when she suddenly slipped on her costume and fell onto the hard concrete floor breaking her leg. This made the choreography for the play very difficult for her because she then had to use crutches for her leg. Despite this Megan continued on with the play. Because of her injury she couldn’t do all the things on stage she originally planned on doing. During scene 4 the palace kitchen when Chef Louis tries to kill Sebastian and put him into the dishes Chef Louis is preparing. King couldn’t chase Sebastian as planned and had two other chefs come off with her to hold her crutches for her while she sang and cut up the food. We interviewed King to see what she thought about being an actor, the play and breaking her leg. She said “it was really embarrassing and really annoying but in the end it all worked out.” King said the play went really well and that it was a lot of fun. King was also very happy about the choice of play because of the publicity it brought. King’s favorite part about acting is acting with other people and getting to know them. “It’s just really fun,” said King. To prepare for opening night they play improv games, read lines and drink lots of water. It’s incredible how Meagan overcame her injury and still went on with the show after it. She did an amazing job.