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CRANBURY: Arts Council travels ‘Under the Sea’

Play featured young people between second and ninth grades

By Jenine Clancy, Special Writer
The Cranbury Arts Council Theatre Summer Program traveled down ‘under the sea’ Friday for its annual summer musical, performing songs from The Little Mermaid Junior, based on the 2008 Broadway Musical at the Cranbury School.
About 30 kids, in their fishiest costumes, danced and sang in front of a backdrop of clear blue skies.
The Broadway show was also based off the 1989 Disney animated movie of the same title.
According to Director of the Theatre Camp for the Summer Program for the arts council Gary Charwin, The Little Mermaid Junior is a condensed version of the Broadway show, geared towards middle school students.
Ages of the performers ranged from third grade to freshman in high school.
"We had two weeks to rehearse it," said Mr. Charwin of the one-day-only show. "This is a full day program, we have a musical instructor, choreographer and art director."
He also said this was the first show for some of the kids, and some have worked all their way up from children performing in the chorus to becoming a lead in the musical since the program started 10 years ago.
"They are a blast," he said. "I think it works because of the atmosphere we always try to create. We know its summertime and we want to have fun and have it be a positive learning experience. They really accomplish great things."
The familiar story finds Ariel, the title character, a princess of the deep who defies her mighty father, King Triton and travels up to the non-marine life, on land.
She meets Prince Eric along the way.
The only way to become part of the human world though, Ariel must enlist the aid of Ursula, the evil sea witch, who transforms Ariel’s fish tail into human legs.
Julia Thomson played the popular redheaded princess, Ariel.
Stealing the show though was 13-year-old Jill Lehman, who perfected a Jamaican accent as Sebastian, the wise-old sidekick crab.
Julia was getting lots of laughs from the crowd and thunderous applause after Caribbean sounding song "Under the Sea."
Next up, Mr. Charwin said, is the arts council’s annual winter show, where it will return to the Cranbury United Methodists Church after a roof collapse last year.
Plans for the winter show could be either A Cinderella Christmas or Godspell Junior, he said.