Helsinki City Theatre brings Disney’s The Little Mermaid to the stage

Helsinki City Theatre’s major musical investment in autumn 2019 is The Little Mermaid (2008), based on H.C. Andersen’s classic fairy tale (1837) and the beloved Disney animation (1989). The Disney musical for the whole family, written by Doug Wright, composed by Alan Menken, with lyrics by Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater, is directed by Samuel Harjanne, the man behind the hugely acclaimed audience and critically acclaimed musical Kinky Boots.

The musical tells the story of a young mermaid named Ariel, who wants to leave the maritime kingdom and live in a human world. Ariel falls in love with the prince and makes a pact with the Merino Witch in order to live with her beloved. The touching story of the Little Mermaid about the pursuit of dreams and the power of love and its magically beautiful music has charmed musical audiences around the world and is now finally coming to Helsinki.

“Despite its name, The Little Mermaid will be the Helsinki City Theatre’s biggest musical production of all time. At the latest, Kinky Boots showed that you no longer need to go abroad to see a musical of international standard. Now we are planning an unprecedented experience when we bring to the stage the underwater world of The Little Mermaid with all its fascinating creatures,” says Theatre Director Kari Arffman.

“The Little Mermaid is one of those fairy tales that raised me when I was a child. I fell in love with the magical world of H. C. Andersen, and especially the Disney animation with all its captivating songs. Even though the film was released 30 years ago, I still know many of its events and lines by heart – not forgetting the music. It is a great honour, and a challenge, to bring this story to the stage of Nordic theatre,” says director Samuel Harjanne.

“The story of The Little Mermaid touches on many pain points of humanity and identity. Ariel feels that she does not belong in the world she lives in, and she feels that she is in the wrong body. The father, King Triton, strongly condemns any kind of contact with the human world, and the father-daughter theme is one of the most important and recognizable themes in the musical. The work deals with the encounter of different worlds, and adapting to their customs and peculiarities. These themes echo brightly in today’s world, and in the growth story of every person,” Harjanne continues.

Alan Menken’s enchanting music made this film one of the biggest successes in the world. For the musical, he has composed more than 10 new songs, and of course the hits Part Of Your World and the Oscar-winning Under the Sea are included.

Tickets for the performances in August-September 2019 will go on sale on 10 December at 9 am.

The artistic design team and performers of The Little Mermaid will be announced on Valentine’s Day, 14 February 2019.

Premiere of The Little Mermaid musical 29.8.2019 on the big stage of the Helsinki City Theatre
31 € – 88 € (includes PM) Tickets on sale from 10.12.2018. Advance buyer’s benefit -10 €/ticket (tickets redeemed by 31.12.2018).