Little Mermaid closing on Broadway August 30

[SamRoc]

Since this is the Disney boards, thought i would post here. The show will be closing after 50 previews and 685 performances. The National tour will be going out after that. Sad to see another Broadway show closing.

 

[TheDisneyGirl02]

I am so sad! I really wanted to see it an I'm not going to have a chance to now.

 

[DisneyBlonde]

I saw it for our anniversary in June. I loved it and definitely planned to see it again...I was so sad to find out it's closing.

I like it better than Mary Poppins and Lion King (from Dec '08).

 

[Nik's Mom]

With this economy, I imagine that a lot of shows are closing. It's sad.

 

[SamRoc]

Avenue Q is closing in september after 6 years. It won the best musical beating out Wicked which i will NEVER understand! Sometimes the Tony awards just go to the wrong shows!

 

[Minnie824]

although that is sad, it makes me excited that it will be in chicago at some point and I can take my DDs to it!

 

[KSchwagg86]

saw it twice--it was great--so sad

 

[missypie]

saw it twice--it was great--so sad

I heard it wasn't all that good. We loved Lion King but thought that Mary Poppins was just okay.

 

[CowboyCO]

I saw TLM in Denver just prior to it going to Broadway. Out of all the Disney shows currently on Broadway, I'm not surprised this one closed first.

They completely emasculated Prince Eric and made Ariel the lone heroine. The second act wraps way too fast without allowing any real tension to build before the climax, which again was disappointing.

Hey -- I'm OK with heroine, but not at the expense of the original story, which was Ariel and Prince Eric defeating Ursula TOGETHER, rather than Ariel defeating her while Prince Eric is wet tissue.

 

[JenM]

I heard it wasn't all that good. We loved Lion King but thought that Mary Poppins was just okay.

I haven't heard too many good things about it, either. Rumors have been going around awhile that it was going to close soon.

Broadway's actually having a great year, even with the mass closings that went on earlier this past winter. Avenue Q (which I thought did deserve the Tony over Wicked) has been running for 6 years and recouped a long time ago, so even though it's closing, it was a big hit.

It looks like one of The Little Mermaid's cast has already found another job - one of the boys playing Flounder (who also played Chip in Beauty & the Beast) has been cast as Michael in Billy Elliot. According to one of the theater message boards, he's leaving TLM this month to join the other show.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

It is a shame. However the ticket prices are still astronomical. For our family to go see the show it would cost about $800. Sorry but that is crazy. We can take our kids all over the city for a lot less than that and they can see so much more. I did want to see it but not for that price.

 

[FireDancer]

Does anyone know if this is a premature closing or if it just ran its course. I know nothing about theater and was curious to know if it is because of a lack of ticket sales or because it was just time to tour, just like with Lion King.

I wonder if tourism is down more in NYC when compared to other locals because it is so expensive. If so are other plays closing? I know I could spend the time looking this up but someone here probably knows.

 

[TheDisneyGirl02]

Does anyone know if this is a premature closing or if it just ran its course. I know nothing about theater and was curious to know if it is because of a lack of ticket sales or because it was just time to tour, just like with Lion King.

I wonder if tourism is down more in NYC when compared to other locals because it is so expensive. If so are other plays closing? I know I could spend the time looking this up but someone here probably knows.

Most musicals close because of lack of ticket sales. At least that is how I understand it to be. I love Broadway but it is so expensive.

 

[JenM]

Does anyone know if this is a premature closing or if it just ran its course. I know nothing about theater and was curious to know if it is because of a lack of ticket sales or because it was just time to tour, just like with Lion King.

I wonder if tourism is down more in NYC when compared to other locals because it is so expensive. If so are other plays closing? I know I could spend the time looking this up but someone here probably knows.

It's a premature closing. Disney was definitely hoping for a longer run than this, and I don't think it's recouped it's investment. Reviews were mixed at best, and general word of mouth (at least from people I know who saw the show and what I gathered from reading other theater sites) was that the show just wasn't all that good.

Obviously the show has a lot of fans too - there are quite a few just on this thread - but unfortunately there were not enough to keep the show going.

It should do well through the summer because the schools are out and the tourists are in town, but early fall is generally slow and I'm guessing their advance sales for the fall and beyond couldn't justify staying open longer.

It's too bad, I hate to hear when shows close.

 

[missypie]

When I saw Alladin at Disney's California Adventure, I was certain that it would be the next show made into a Broadway musical. Years have passed, so I guess I was wrong.

 

[SamRoc]

Does anyone know if this is a premature closing or if it just ran its course. I know nothing about theater and was curious to know if it is because of a lack of ticket sales or because it was just time to tour, just like with Lion King.

I wonder if tourism is down more in NYC when compared to other locals because it is so expensive. If so are other plays closing? I know I could spend the time looking this up but someone here probably knows.

They weren't planning on it closing this early. Same as Tarzan. That cast was taken by surprise as it closed much earlier than they expected. I love The movie The Little Mermaid, but Disneys Broadway production of it hasnt got the best reviews. Most people i know that have also seen it were a little disappointed. When we saw Tarzan with Josh Strickland we were impressed with the actors, but the play dragged on and the story line was a little boring. My nephew did have 3 callbacks as Young Tarzan but was always too small. Sad thing is the show closed before he even got a chance to perform in it.