I did an interview with all the leads for this year’s musical Disney’s¨The Little Mermaid¨

Ariel-Peyton Rodgers

Prince Eric-Stephan Gibson

Ursula-Amorae Lyles

Sebastian-Rocco LItrenta

Scuttle-Nicholas Bogaert-Lee

King Triton-Khalil Johnson

Flotsam-Ava Pierce

Jetsam-Madelynn Hanna

Flounder– Jaxon Bogaert-Lee

Chef Louis-Karen Murphy

We hope you enjoy the interview Canes! Make sure you go see this year’s musical!

Q-How long have you been a part of the musical?

Ariel- I’ve been a part of the musical for 3 years now

Prince Eric- This’ll be my second year doing the musical.

Ursula- I have been a part of the musical for two years now.

 Sebastian- This is the second musical, I’ve done.

Scuttle-  About three years, musicals Hello Dolly, Pippin, and Grease. This will be my fourth year in the Little Mermaid

King Triton- Since last year, for Grease.

Flotsam- This is my 4th year!  I didn’t get to complete Hello Dolly though 🙁

Jetsam- Hey! I’ve been a part of musicals at the high school for 3 years now since 2020, but I’ve been doing plays and musicals for the past 11 years at other public theaters.

Flounder- 5 years 

Chef Louis- This is my second year!

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Q-How did you feel when you got one of the lead roles?

Ariel- I’m so excited about this musical season, and I’m so happy that Mr. Lee chose me for this role. I’m eager to portray Ariel and make her my own.

Prince Eric- I was a little surprised. I haven’t been a part of the cast for long, so I wasn’t fully expecting this, but I’m very excited to be chosen for a role.

Ursula- It felt absolutely amazing. I’ve always wanted to play as a villain and being able to do it now is so fun!

Sebastian- I was really excited when I got a lead role.

Scuttle- About three years, with the musicals Hello Dolly, Pippin, and Grease. This will be my fourth year in the Little Mermaid

King Triton- I was really excited, being able to play a lead from the little mermaid is a really cool opportunity.

Flotsam-  I was SO excited, Flotsam was the role I wanted most (and even the better eel!) and I’ve been doing my best in the musical long enough that I was really ambitious this year

Jetsam-  I was so excited to hear I got an eel! I love their songs and it’s just such a fun part! 

Flounder- I was very excited but very nervous 

Chef Louis- Excited! This is my first lead role.

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Q-What is your favorite part about the musical?

Ariel- definitely the sense of family that you make, every year I make a group of friends and we’re closer than ever (I miss my seniors from the class of ‘22)

Prince Eric-  Honestly, I love dancing the most. It’s not something I do often, but it’s definitely my favorite part.

Ursula- My favorite part about the musical is on dinner break when the cast gets to talk to each other aside from practice and we actually get to know each other if we didn’t previously and build relationships.

Sebastian- My favorite part of the musical is hanging out with everybody. 

Scuttle- I was surprised but very excited to have a lead role in the musical!

King Triton- Being on stage and performing.

Flotsam- I love the dancing honestly, it’s super fun to try and learn to operate as a group without stepping on toes (and it’s a good workout, too)

Jetsam- My favorite part of the music definitely has to be the connections and friendships you make with people who wouldn’t talk otherwise

Flounder- Seeing what it looks like in the end

Chef Louis- Definitely the people, everyone is from a different walk of life, and it’s so interesting to listen to them.

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Q-What are you looking most forward to in this upcoming musical?

Ariel- being on stage again!

Prince Eric- I’d say I’m most looking forward to the costumes. I can’t wait to see all the sea creatures, plus I’m really excited to dress up like a prince!

Ursula- I’m looking forward to the costumes and wigs for sure!!

Sebastian-  I’m looking forward to and most excited about the song “If Only” because it’s a quartet with Me, Peyton, Stephan, and Khalil. 

Scuttle- I am honestly looking forward to all of the designs for the musical. This is a show when sea creatures and above sea animals come together in harmony, and just getting that feel of them being on stage will be a feat. Another part of the design is dancing, and how all of it will move just like the waves of an ocean.

King Triton- Being able to be in my home district, I recently switched schools, and performing is something I still do at New Castle.

Flotsam- I can’t wait to see our costumes and sets!  The flashiness of everything is the best part

Jetsam- I’m looking forward to making new connections this year and meeting new people, especially because there are a ton of new faces. 

Chef Louis- Definitely Amorae as Ursula! She’s an incredible singer and I cannot wait to see what she does with the character.

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Q-What are you most excited about for the upcoming musical?

Ariel- My wigs! I love wigs!

Ursula- I am most excited about how upbeat and fun the songs are this year. 

King Triton- Being King Triton, as he is one of the biggest roles I’ve done so far. 

Flotsam- I want to see the reactions from the crowd to Ursula and the eels, we are definitely going to go big and I’m super happy to be a Disney villain cause the audience loves them

Flounder- I’m excited to become flounder

Chef Louis- Probably the accent I get to use? I don’t really get to show off any of the accents I can do, so this is a perfect character for me to work on them for.

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Q-What do you think will be your biggest challenge?

Ariel- Portraying such an iconic character 

Prince Eric- This year, the most challenging part for me will probably be singing. I have a pretty low voice naturally, so some of these songs can be difficult for me to sing.

Ursula- I think portraying as evil instead of sassy. 

Sebastian- My biggest challenge for me is definitely my songs because they are so recognizable and I don’t want to mess up. 

Scuttle- I think the tap dancing. I’ve never been the best at dancing, so going straight to one of these more complex dancing techniques will be hard. Plus my song has a big dance break of just tapping, so it will definitely be a struggle for me.

King Triton-  Singing in duets. 

Flotsam-  If we get skates or Heelys, then keep my balance.  If not, then definitely balance school and musicals so my work gets done

Jetsam- I think my biggest challenge is gonna be my songs just because they’re duets and I really wanna make sure they mesh properly. I also have to make sure I can balance school and my job with all of the practices. 

Flounder- The Acting

Chef Louis- The Little Mermaid is a dance-heavy show, so definitely the dancing will definitely be very hard for me.

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Q-Are there any traditions you have when performing in musicals?

Ariel-  Always having the same routine every day on the week of the show!! (along with other traditions that come with the whole cast and crew)

Prince Eric- I haven’t come up with any personal traditions yet, but the cast traditions make up for that part.

Ursula- I sadly do not, I just shake out the nervous jitters. 

Sebastian- My only tradition is to try and make people laugh when performing because laughter is the best medicine and people need a good laugh.

Scuttle- We have a few. A couple I would like to mention is when the girls get to roast the guys for fun. Another tradition we have is when seniors gather around to say a speech on how they have enjoyed being a part of the musical family.

King Triton-  Not yet! However, I hope to make some this year.

Flotsam- Not really!  I do love the annual senior speeches though and am nervous about my turn

Jetsam-  There are a few traditions including going to Applebees after opening night, and we just started one last year where we do a walk through the school halls, but the most fun things that we do end up being the last-minute plans to hang out or get food as a cast!

Flounder- No 

Chef Louis- Mouthing the lyrics to songs very dramatically backstage is one of my favorite traditions.

Hope you all can come out and watch The Little Mermaid on March 30th,31st, and April 1st