When I first heard about The Little Mermaid in Concert Live to Film, the first show had already sold out and they were adding a second show. The evening that tickets went on sale, I asked some friends if they’d be interested in going, and when they said yes, I went online to book tickets — and of course, they were already down to single seats. Well, when they added a third show, this time with the original voice of Ariel (and Disney Legend) Jodi Benson, even though it was going to be on a Monday night, I made sure to camp out by my computer so we could get tickets!
Even though I ducked out of work early, Ursula did everything in her power to keep me and my friends from getting there. 😛 Besides the typical rush hour traffic, Hollywood Boulevard was closed in preparation for the red carpet premiere of Warcraft (lol) the next day.
After we finally parked (valet, no less, since there wasn’t any other choice), we found the massive line of people waiting for the “Bowl Bus” that would shuttle us from Hollywood & Highland to the Hollywood Bowl. Cramming onto the packed bus (and standing in the aisle, natch), we took almost a FULL HOUR to make the 1.2 mile trip.
As we approached the entrance, the monitors by the box office taunted us with their live feed of the event, which had already wrapped the Costume Contest, the Opening Show (featuring Brad Kane, the singing voice of Aladdin, and Susan Egan, Broadway’s Belle) and was well into the film itself. (I did run into friends Red Velvet Cosplay and veveisme after the show, though.)
We finally made it through the joke of a bag check at the entrance and found our seats right after Ariel and Flounder’s onscreen introduction (the chase scene through the shipwreck with Glut, the shark), so we had missed “Fathoms Below” and Daughters of Triton”. 😦
We settled into our seats, which were actually not that bad, although they were still just benches in the section we were in. Even though no cameras were allowed, everyone was using their cellphones so I pulled out mine as well. Never to do anything halfway, especially for mai waifu Ariel, I made sure to not only take pictures but to run some video as well as audio. XD Please excuse the crap quality of my captures.
As songs came up in the film, the screens would go dark and the emcee would introduce the performer(s) and the song. Then, the film (or work-in-progress/behind-the-scenes footage for songs from the Broadway musical) would play on the smaller screens while the main screen showcased the performer(s). The cast for the night included original Ariel Jodi Benson, Rebel Wilson as Ursula, Broadway’s Tituss Burgess reprising his role as Sebastian, Darren Criss (above) as Prince Eric, Broadway’s Norm Lewis reprising his role as King Triton, Joshua Colley as Flounder, and John Stamos as Chef Louis. Not really sure how they filled some of those roles, but I especially enjoyed Stamos on “Les Poissons”.
Appropriately, there were fireworks and a focus on the violinist during the “Jig” sequence (although it wasn’t actually billed violinist Sandy Cameron), and after the literal show-stopper “Poor Unfortunate Souls” (immediately before the 15-minute intermission), I made a dash down to one of the concession booths. They’d already sold out of some items and when we went back after the show even more stuff was gone so I was glad I was able to get a few things.
I got back to my seat right as the second half started, and eventually the film ended to much applause and fireworks. However, there was one more surprise left — an encore by Jodi Benson! She said a few words about being part of the Disney family for 30 years before singing “Disneyland” from the musical Smile, which was also written by The Little Mermaid‘s lyricist Howard Ashman. After one final cast rendition of “Under the Sea“, the lights came up and it was time to go.
On the way out, we stopped at the merchandise booth again so my friends could shop, but things were selling out so fast that the clerks were selling them off the displays, lol. All the Snapshot Stops were already being dismantled (rhetorical question: how were they expecting people to use the Snapshot Stops if no cameras were allowed?), although there was a private party for Walt Disney Records’ 60th Anniversary (sponsored by H2O+ Beauty) underway.
Well, anything worth doing is never easy, but despite all the obstacles, my friends and I all had a great time. Hopefully we’ll be able to do it again soon (and with fewer problems XP ). While I did get videos of all the songs we were present for, I only uploaded three of them to my YouTube Channel since they’ll prolly get taken down at some point anyway, lol.
See the full album on my Fan Page on Facebook, check out the three videos on my YouTube Channel, and be sure to Like The Vault on Facebook, where I’m finally caught up through 2010! 😀
2016 06 06 Mon: The Little Mermaid in Concert Live to Film
Full Coverage of The Little Mermaid in Concert [2016]:
The Little Mermaid in Concert: Videos [2016]
The Little Mermaid in Concert: Photos [2016]
That Just Figures! 