Avari Coleman's powerful voice, brings new life to the beloved character "Sebastien." (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Under the sea

Prince Albert youth theatre group takes deeper plunge with latest production

Nov 30, 2023 | 2:00 PM

Featuring bright and colourful costumes, and a setlist of nostalgic songs, the latest production by the Broadway North Youth theatre group will take the audience to new depths of fun.

Their adaptation of “The Little Mermaid”, based on the Hans Christian Andersen story and the Disney film, starts Friday night at the E.A. Rawlinson Centre. There are four evening shows spread out over the next two weeks and a number of matinees.

Sam Malenfant plays the mermaid’s love interest. “Prince Eric.” Malenfant, a grade 12 student at Ecole St Mary, has been involved with the Broadway North Youth group for 10 years and will move on to University in the Fall.

“It’s been such an incredible journey. I’ve had so much fun and I’ve made so many memories. They’ve made me who I am today,” he said.

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Malenfant is no stranger to royal garbs, having played the cursed beast in last year’s play “Beauty and the Beast”, as well as Prince Hans in “Frozen” the year prior. Acknowledging there was a darker side to his previous roles, he said he enjoyed playing the hero.

“It’s been so fun and it’s been a bit easier on my mental health,” he said.

Sebastien explains to Ariel why life under the sea is so much better. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

Rehearsals have been going on for months and while Malenfant acknowledged it wasn’t easy getting up on Saturdays to come to practice, added it was totally worth it.

“It’s one of the best decisions I made 10 years ago and I’m so grateful my parent put me in the company,” he said.

Willow Vogelgesang, who also attends St. Mary High School, plays the villain “Ursula.” Describing the experience of stepping into the role as daunting, and even scary, she confessed she’s also had a lot of fun playing the bad guy.

“Being the good guy is nice but sometimes there’s not as much as depth to the characters so getting to play a character with so much depth and who had so much oomph to her, is very, very fun,” she said.

Vogelgesang who also admitted to being a fan of Disney her whole life, said she was sitting in the audience when Broadway North Youth first performed the show about 10 years ago. Reflecting on one of her last performances in Frozen, and seeing all the young girls in the audience wearing princess dresses, she acknowledged there’s a bit of pressure placed on actors when it comes to performing a well-loved story.

“You know make sure the girls are excited about what they have come to see, make sure they recognize the songs,” she said.

(Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

(Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

Assistant Director Elizabeth Chamberlain has been working for months with the young actors. She explained that while their story is similar to the one done by Disney, the characters themselves are different. For example, “Sebastien” the crab is played by a girl.

“She created a completely unique version of that character and we are all really proud of that,” she said.

In total, there’s 80 cast members, who range in age from 7 to 17 and have been practicing for months. While joking some practices are like herding cats at times, Chamberlain said it’s been a very positive experience.

“All of the students that are here, want to be here. They all signed up for this and they are all stoked every week to be here,” she said.

The first two shows are Friday night and Saturday night at 7p.m. Tickets are available through the E.A. Rawlinson Centre website.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @nigelmaxwell