By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

Theater goers will be able to enter the enchanting under sea world of Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” this weekend.

The Hays Community Theatre will present the story of a mermaid who falls in love with a human prince at 7 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday at Beach/Schmidt Performing Arts Center.

Tickets are still available for all three shows and can be purchased through the HCT website or at the door if tickets are still available. Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for children.

Cody Kreutzer, a recent FHSU graduate in theater, is making his directorial debut with HCT with “The Little Mermaid.”

Kreutzer directed at FHSU, but nothing on the scale of the 50-member cast of the “The Little Mermaid.”

Organizing a large all-volunteer cast and using rehearsal time wisely has been a challenge, he said.

Trying to costume a cast of sea creatures has also been a challenge, but he said he has had a wonderful costume and set design team who is bringing both the underwater and terrestrial worlds to life.

“We had to come up with a ship for all of the sailors and the big sea numbers and having something on stage during under the sea so its not just on stage. … It’s been difficult, but I think what we finally have and decided on is good.”

For those not familiar with the cartoon classic, “The Little Mermaid” is the story of Ariel (Erin Muirhead), King Triton’s (David Koshiol) youngest daughter, who wishes to pursue the human Prince Eric (Ryan Will) in the world above.

She bargains with the evil sea witch, Ursula (Haileigh Jacobs), to trade her tail for legs. But the bargain is not what it seems, and Ariel needs the help of her colorful friends, Flounder the fish (Addy Brull), Scuttle the seagull (Micheal Hernandez) and Sebastian the crab (Travis Grizzell) to restore order under the sea, according to the HCT website.

Muirhead, 19, a Hays High School grad and student at K-State, loved the Disney movie when she was a child.

“I think the biggest challenge for me is to take a character people know and make it my own,” she said.

She said she could relate to Ariel as a character who is forced to make difficult decisions and is trying to follow her dreams.

“I think everyone has had to make those decisions to follow their passion, and I hope I am doing that as well,” she said.

Muirhead went to high school with her leading man, Ryan Will.

“He is a close friend of mine. I think he is doing a great job, and it is great to work with him,” she said.

Will, 19, is a sophomore at FHSU majoring in psychology. This is his first HCT production, but he is no stranger to the stage. He played Quasimodo in the HHS production of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”  among pother productions. He also played Pepper in “Mama Mia” and Antonio in “The Marriage of Figaro” at FHSU.

Will said “The Little Mermaid” has been much more challenging than he anticipated from both musical and acting perspectives.

“At this point, I am excited to perform. I hope we can provide the community with an escape for a night or two,” he said. “I really think this is going to showcase a lot of people and the time and effort we put into it. I think it is going to be a good one.”

His favorite music from the performance is “If only,” a quartet during which Prince Eric weighs his options for the future.

Will had never seen Disney’s movie version of “The Little Mermaid” until just last weekend. He said he much preferred the stage version, which includes much more music.

Kretuzer said his favorite scene in the musical is a number in which Prince Eric teaches Ariel to dance, a sequence that is not in the movie.

“It is the first moment we see they could fall in love,” he said. “Just talking about it gives me chills. It is so beautiful. ‘Part of Your World’ is my favorite Disney song written, so when Erin (Ariel), sings ‘Part of Your World’ every night, I love it. It is so good.”

Kreutzer said he is proud of his cast.

“They are all working so hard,” he said. “We have rehearsals three hours a night, five nights a week. They are just excited to do it and excited to be here and excited for people to see it.”

Although many people might think “The Little Mermaid” is a production just for kids, Kreutzer said older audience members will enjoy the production as well. HCT not only has grand sets and costumes, but the production has humor adults will appreciate too, he said.

Kruetzer said he and the cast have had fun putting the show together.

“Part of it is for ourselves to make us feel good, but we also want people to see it because we want to bring them joy,” he said. “We want them to get as much joy out of seeing this as we have had putting it on.”

Cast list