GREENFIELD — Local children’s theater group KidsPlay Inc. will be putting a new twist on an old fairy tale with its fall production, “Mermaid in Miami.” A twist on “The Little Mermaid,” the story’s protagonist abandons her undersea home and acquires legs to pursue her dream of becoming a dancer.
The play’s ensemble musical numbers will feature an unusually big cast for KidsPlay, with a total of 36 young actors.
Assistant director Ali Kern said the play will feature impressive costumes and set design as well as high-quality acting from its young cast.
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“The kids, they’re just awesome,” Kern said. “We have a lot of people come out and audition, but luckily this show has such a big cast we were able to cast pretty much everyone that came out to audition, which was wonderful. We had very talented kids come in.”
Kern said it takes several months of work to put together a production like “Mermaid in Miami” even before rehearsals begin.
“It’s pretty easy when you have hardworking kiddos, and parents as well,” Kern said. “We’ve got the KidsPlay machine; all the parents come in, and they just do their thing. We have moms who do hair and make snacks and all kinds of stuff.”
“The thing that I love about KidsPlay is that we are giving them a program that is completely free, but they are getting quality acting direction and notes,” Kern said. “The things that we tell them are the same things that we tell adults. They’re learning how to act, but not only that — they’re gaining confidence, making friends, just learning important life skills about working with other people and how you do that in a social setting.”
The play is based in part on Hans Christian Andersen’s original version of “The Little Mermaid.” The tale is somewhat darker than the Disney version — in Andersen’s story, the young mermaid makes a deal with a sea witch to become human because of her desire for an immortal human soul, but can only remain human by convincing a prince to fall in love with and marry her.
This version of the story departs from both the original and the Disney version. The mermaid main character, Breeze, makes a deal to become human to pursue her dream of becoming a dancer, and is guided in her journey by an old fisherman, Ernie, who becomes her reluctant mentor.
Joseph Shininger, who plays the role of Ernie, said his character’s story is about helping Breeze learn how to be human while guiding her away from human mistakes — like falling for Rico, an arrogant professional dancer.
“I don’t want to spoil the ending. You’re just going to have to come and watch it,” Shininger said.
Shininger has been in nine other KidsPlay productions, and said he enjoys the experience of getting to know other performers.
“The people are really nice. You grow friendships when you do KidsPlay,” Shininger said.
Joseph’s mother, Vicky Shininger, is an involved KidsPlay parent. She said “Mermaid in Miami” has been an exciting and challenging show for the group.
“This season’s really challenging, because we have several dance scenes throughout the show, costume changes, movements that we don’t normally have. This has really amped up the difficulty of our show,” Vicky Shininger said.
Vicky Shininger, like many of the parents involved with KidsPlay, works hard to help pull the production together. Parents contribute to all aspects of production, including lighting and set design.
“Rehearsals alone are four hours a week. Per week, I’m probably putting in ten, 15 hours following up with people or making sure things are getting taken care of. When you love theatre, it doesn’t really seem like work. It’s fun to watch them develop as actors.”
Participating in theater can have other benefits, too. Cheryl Hentz said her son, Matthew, had difficulty finding a group of peers he fit in with before joining KidsPlay. Matthew plays undersea ruler Lord Tropico in “Mermaid in Miami.”
“The first time he came here, he said, ‘Mom, these kids get me.’ He found his place,” Hentz said.
Zora Coe plays Rojo, one of a pair of sisters also striving to prove they are the right dance partner for Rico, Breeze’s love interest.
“We are very competitive in this show, which brings out our true colors, because we’re both competitive girls. I think our part fits us very well,” Coe said.
Coe has been involved in four previous KidsPlay productions.
“We’re all just one big family. I think we’re really different from other acting companies because of that,” Coe said.
Vicky Shininger said children who participate in the program learn important life skills, like the confidence to speak in front of groups, in addition to acting abilities.
“This program is a gem for the community. You would not believe the things they learn from this program that you don’t get hardly anywhere else. They learn to project their voices and not a microphone, they learn how to become the character that they are — all these skills that you usually don’t see until high school or even the college level, these kids are learning. Every season, I am just so grateful for the things they learn.”
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KidsPlay will perform "Mermaid in Miami" Friday, November 8 and Saturday, November 9 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, November 10 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $5 at the door. Email [email protected] for more information.
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