ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
“The Little Mermaid” is a story and musical beloved by fans all throughout the world and soon, the story will be swimming its way through Liberal.
The Cottonwood Elementary School music students will presenting “The Little Mermaid Jr” Friday, April 19 in James Maskus Auditorium at Liberal High School. The doors will open at 6:30 p.m., and the show will start at 7 p.m. The show is based on the animated 1989 Disney film of the same name and the classic story by Hans Christian Andersen and follows a teenage mermaid princess named Ariel, who dreams of becoming human and falls in love with a human prince named Eric. Circumstances ultimately lead her to make a magic deal with the sea witch, Ursula, to become human and be with him.
Director Aspen Jaramillo said she has been excited to see her students doing so well with the production.
“One thing I have enjoyed most about working on this show is seeing so many of my kids come out of their shells. Some were in ‘Shrek’ last year, but this year, we have many new faces in this show,” Jaramillo said. “They all are doing such an awesome job, and they work hard on everything they do.”
Jaramillo added it was also her students’ input that made her choose “The Little Mermaid” as the show to produce this time around.
“The reason I chose ‘The Little Mermaid Jr.’ this year is because the remake of the original movie came out in May of last year with Halle Bailey starring as Ariel, and it was all my students could talk about when coming back from summer break,” Jaramillo said. “When trying to make a decision on a musical for 2024, I had three separate musicals to choose from. I had my students vote for their favorite and ‘The Little Mermaid Jr.’ was our winner.”
And even though the show’s opening night is slightly less than a month away, Jaramillo said there is already a lot of positive buzz surrounding the production, including from her young cast.
“The students' overall mood with the show is happiness and excitement. They sometimes get nervous, but can’t wait to get out there and show everyone what they have been working on since January,” Jaramillo said. “I think the thing we are most excited about this show is how much attention it has gotten in such a short amount of time. Many people have said they can’t wait to come see the show. I honestly think this will be bigger than our show last year. Knowing that people can’t wait to come watch the performance just motivates the students even more to do their very best for their audience. It's always great seeing everything fully come together. It’s a big process for everyone putting together a show like this, but every day brings something new and you never know what's going to happen.”
With all of that in mind, Jaramillo said she hopes to see a big audience full of community members.
“It would mean so much to the students for the community’s support. The members of the cast love to make their audience laugh, and it is a goal of theirs to put the biggest smile on everyone's face,” Jaramillo said. “They love what they do, and want to share their talents with the whole community. It's going to be a great show, and there's so much talent in the cast, and they would all absolutely love the support and seeing people in the seats. However, we know things come up, so if you can’t make it to the show but would still like to support the students and what we’re doing, we just ask that you please spread the word to anyone and everyone you know. That would truly mean a lot to us.”
Overall, Jaramillo said, she expects the show to be a success.
“Save the date for Friday, April 19, 2024! Get there early because rumor has it the seats are going to fill up fast,” Jaramillo said. “And I’d like everyone to also remember, admission is free. We can’t wait to see you there!”
