Update! Watch Magical Glimpse of The Little Mermaid With Sara Bareilles, Darren Criss and More!
Backed by a promised 71-piece orchestra conducted by Michael Kosarin, the concert will be performed June 3, 4 and 6.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the four extra songs written exclusively for the Broadway show, with music by Alan Menken and lyrics from Glenn Slater, are being sung as accompaniment to ”a peek-behind-the-curtain glimpse of early concept art from the film.”
Pop singer/songwriter Sara Bareilles, who recently made her Broadway debut as a composer with her Tony-nominated score to the new musical Waitress, is doubling down on her theatre career. She will star as Ariel the Mermaid in the June 3 and 4 concerts. Jodi Benson, who provided the voice of the title character for the animated film, will reprise that role for the June 6 performance.
Also appearing only in the June 6 performance is Susan Egan, who played Belle in Broadway's Beauty and the Beast, and Brad Kane, who provided the singing voice of the title character in Disney's animated Aladdin.
Also in the cast: Tituss Burgess as Sebastian the Crab, Darren Criss as Prince Eric, Rebel Wilson as Ursula the Sea Witch, Norm Lewis repeating his Broadway role as King Triton, Joshua Colley as Flounder and John Stamos as Chef Louis.
Stamos posted a brief video of a rehearsal on Instagram. Sara Bareilles can be glimpsed. Warning, it's rotated 90 degrees:
Burgess went on The Late, Late Show With James Corden and sang a snatch of the song “Kiss The Girl” from The Little Mermaid, a number he performed during his run in the Broadway stage adaptation of the film:
On all three nights the doors will open at 6:30 PM followed by a costume contest. The concert will begin at 8 PM.
The stage musical adaptation of the 1989 animated film opened on Broadway in 2008, with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman, Tim Rice and Glenn Slater.
Bareilles released a statement saying, “I’ve been pretending I was Ariel in swimming pools since I was a little girl, and now I get to pretend on a bigger stage. This is just fantastic.”
Menken was quoted saying that there has been talk of touring the film version of The Little Mermaid backed by live orchestras in front of audiences, but there are “no concrete plans yet.... For a lot of us, it’s wait and see how the Hollywood Bowl goes.”
Menken will take part in the Hollywood Bowl show playing a medley of his hits from his shows and films Beauty And The Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, Newsies, Enchanted and Tangled.
