Disney’s The Little Mermaid, JR. will make a splash at Leeds this November

Leeds Center for the Arts will take audi­ences “Under the Sea” this fall, when The Little Mermaid, JR. com­bines the tal­ents of the region’s finest young per­form­ers (ages 8–18) with Disney’s clas­sic sto­ry about the search for true love and the impor­tance of stay­ing true to your­self. From November 8 to 17, audi­ences are invit­ed to join Ariel, Prince Eric, Sebastian the Crab, and Ursula the Sea Witch for the rol­lick­ing adven­ture that has been charm­ing audi­ences ever since the orig­i­nal ani­mat­ed film debuted in 1989.

Based on Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale, Disney’s The Little Mermaid, JR. fol­lows the title char­ac­ter, Ariel, as she yearns for expe­ri­ences beyond her small, under­sea com­mu­ni­ty. She falls instant­ly in love with the dash­ing Prince Eric after sav­ing him from a ship­wreck, and then makes a ter­ri­ble bar­gain with Ursula: she can become human, but must sac­ri­fice her voice. Ariel’s friends race against time to help her win the love of her Prince before it’s too late.

The orig­i­nal film of The Little Mermaid is wide­ly cred­it­ed for reviv­ing inter­est in Disney ani­ma­tion, as it was a return to form for the stu­dio that pio­neered such clas­sic car­toon fea­tures as Snow White, Pinocchio, and Cinderella. The Little Mermaid end­ed up a box office hit, an Oscar-win­ner for Best Song and Best Score, and the first in a series of mod­ern clas­sics, includ­ing Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King. The Little Mermaid was remade as a Broadway musi­cal in 2007 and as a live-action fea­ture in 2023. This “Junior” ver­sion is co-direct­ed by Ellie Miller and Jacob Ernst, with chore­og­ra­phy by Miller and musi­cal direc­tion by Steve Crosby.

“We’ve been want­i­ng to do this show for a long time,” said Ellie Miller, co-direc­tor and chore­o­g­ra­ph­er. “It’s been such an impor­tant part of so many child­hoods. Many of the young peo­ple who saw the movie when it first came out are now par­ents or even grand­par­ents, so we’ve had a hand­ful of gen­er­a­tions in love with this sto­ry — and its incom­pa­ra­ble music — for 36 years.”

Co-direc­tor Jacon Ernst added: “While all kinds of audi­ences can get some­thing won­der­ful out of this show, it’s the chil­dren in our audi­ence who love it most. It’s so spe­cial to watch these tal­ent­ed young per­form­ers bring this show to life for their friends, lit­tle broth­ers and sis­ters, and kids of all ages.”

Performances will take place November 8–10 and 15–17 at Leeds Center for the Arts, locat­ed at 37 N Main St, Winchester, KY. Showtimes are Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 PM and Sundays at 2:30 PM. Tickets are avail­able for pur­chase online at www.leedscenter.org or by vis­it­ing the Leeds box office one hour pri­or to showtime.

Two spe­cial school mat­inée per­for­mances will take place on Thursday, November 7, 9:30 am and 12:30 pm. There is no fee for bus­es through Clark County Public Schools. Interested class­es and pro­grams should con­tact Ellie Miller, Director of Marketing and Outreach, at ellie.miller@leedscenter.org.

Leeds Center for the Arts is a vibrant cul­tur­al hub in Winchester, KY, ded­i­cat­ed to enrich­ing the com­mu­ni­ty through per­form­ing arts, edu­ca­tion, and enter­tain­ment. With a mis­sion to spark imag­i­na­tion, engage com­mu­ni­ty, cel­e­brate diver­si­ty, embrace empa­thy, and to share sto­ries, Leeds Center for the Arts offers a diverse range of pro­gram­ming and events through­out the year.