‘Little Mermaid’ a big production for Coast Union

This year’s spring musical at Coast Union High School takes a trip “Under the Sea” as the high school stages its production of “The Little Mermaid” on two consecutive weekends beginning Friday, March 10.

In contrast with the last couple of years, when Coast Union put on more adult-themed plays, the school is seeking to broaden its audience by presenting something a little more family friendly.

“The last two years have been more mature themes, with ‘Guys and Dolls’ and ‘Young Frankenstein,’” said Todd Steeb, who serves as production manager for the show. “This year, we’ve gone back to something — well, it’s Disney — that will draw in a younger audience.”

The lead actors provide another contrast: Katrina Cleave, who plays the title role of Ariel, has been acting since seventh grade (she started out performing at a Bakersfield melodrama at the age of 12), including the role of Inga in last year’s “Young Frankenstein.” Fellow senior Connor Chisler, meanwhile, is appearing in his first full-length production after performing in a series of skits during the fall. He’ll play the male lead, Prince Eric.

Steeb said this is the first year Disney has made “The Little Mermaid” available to be performed. The 1989 animated film is based on a Danish fairy tale of the same title by Hans Christian Anderson.

A seven-member student board was instrumental in choosing the production, Steeb said.

“It’s amazing,” said Cleave, 18, who plans to continue her education in New York and pursue a career as an actor and director. “I’m really excited to play Ariel. She’s my favorite Disney princess, so this is like a dream come true.”

Cleave, who counts Audrey Hepburn and Tim Conway among her role models, added: “It’s a love story, so there are a lot of different dynamics. I love all the different aspects of emotion, and because it’s Disney, it’s just magical.”

Chisler, 17, had planned to study either computer programming or game design after high school but admits he’s now also thinking about continuing with acting.

“I’m really excited,” he said about his part in the current production. “It’s just a lot of fun seeing everything that goes into it and then just being a part of it.”

Chisler said the highlight, for him, is “being able to work with the tech crew and all the other actors — being able to mesh together in common cause, because in this production, there are a lot of fluid scene changes.”

New approach

Steeb said the move away from hard scene changes was a conscious decision of director Randy Schwalbe.

“He’s not doing what we refer to as hard cuts,” Steeb said. “He’s doing more fluid scene changes this year, so the tech crew will be on stage as actors (even though) they won’t have speaking parts.”

The change, he added, will give the appearance of a larger cast, such as when four crew members come on stage during a scene change that takes place aboard a ship.

“It gives a much more full appearance on deck,” Steeb explained. “It makes the ship look more full than with just three actors.”

Steeb said students began rehearsing in the cafeteria, then started three weeks of rehearsals in the gym once the basketball season ended. He said some 65 adults are involved in staging the show, in addition to more than 30 students from Coast Union and Santa Lucia Middle School acting, working on the tech crew, choreographing and building sets.

The small size of the student body (about 250 students) gives most students who are interested a chance to be involved.

“Pretty much any kid who wants to be in the production can get a part,” said Scott Stern, who is working on publicity, set construction, fundraising and the program. “If you want to be on stage, with a little bit of initiative, you’ll be on stage.”

This is Stern’s first year working on the spring musical, and he said he came on board after being impressed with the scope of last year’s project.

“I knew it was big, but once you get behind the scenes and see what’s going on, it’s pretty huge.”

This year’s show features a full orchestra and choreography by Coast Union student Anna Harrington. Larry Frost is the producer, student Isabella Hargear is the stage manager and Nancy Taylor is the house manager.

“Between the special effects, dazzling costumes, choreography, and sumptuous set design, this show will be feast for the eyes,” director Schwalbe said. “For the ears, the cast will be singing delightful songs from the Disney movie and more written for the musical version, all underscored by a 12-piece live orchestra.”

Other students involved in the production are Alexis Solar, Annika Marthaler, Brandon Loredo, Ellie Kennedy, Emily Dubnow, Ethan Walters, Hayley Zinn, Helena Hansen, Isabella Edwards, Jacob Taylor, Jesse Hauser, Jonathan Cleave, Lindy Ortiz, Maggie Hall, Maryn Steeb, Meg Stern, Michelle Campos, Nate Ehlers, Octavia Dolan, Olivia Hargear, Paul Butterfield, Phoebe Hauser, Sam Light, Sophie MacKinnon, Tori Ehlers, Tyler Seng, Zachary Taylor and Zoe Markham.

This story was originally published March 7, 2016 at 9:53 AM with the headline "‘Little Mermaid’ a big production for Coast Union."