Daily Archives: May 27, 2011

Erik plays prince in The Little Mermaid

Erik plays prince in The Little Mermaid
DIRECTLINE By Boy Abunda (The Philippine Star) Updated May 27, 2011

Erik Santos has never had it so easy yet so hard at the same time.

Picked by director Bobby Garcia himself, to play Prince Eric in Atlantis Productions’ staging of Broadway Musical Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Erik didn’t have to undergo auditions. He was virtually assured of the role two years ago when Bobby, whom Eric has worked with in past concerts, gave the singer a CD containing songs from the project that spawned the well-loved tunes Part Of Your World, Kiss The Girl and the Academy Award-winning song, Under The Sea.

“Direk Bobby told me, ‘Listen to this because you’ll be doing this role one day,’” Erik recalled. “And it wasn’t as if he was asking me if I wanted to do it — he was telling me that I was his one and only choice.”
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Little Mermaid in Philippines Will Be Divided By Eastern and Western Worlds

Little Mermaid in Philippines Will Be Divided By Eastern and Western Worlds
Playbill.com
By Adam Hetrick
26 May 2011

mermaidThe Manila production of Disney’s The Little Mermaid, which will flip its fins this fall, will take a new approach to the musical, incorporating Eastern and Western styles of design and puppetry to delineate its unique worlds.

Bobby Garcia, who has staged Next to Normal, Xanadu and Avenue Q for Atlantis Productions, will direct The Little Mermaid alongside Chari Arespacochaga. The production will run Nov. 18-Dec. 11 at the Meralco Theatre.

The Manila engagement is among the first stagings of the musical since its Broadway run in 2008. The Little Mermaid will make its U.S. regional debut in June at the Tuacahn Amphitheatre and Center for the Arts in Utah. A U.S. national tour had been announced, but never surfaced.

Garcia and Arespacochaga have conceived a production in which the undersea kingdom will be designed using traditional Asian elements and the above-water world will be Western in theme. The Little Mermaid will incorporate puppetry ranging from Wayang shadow play, bunraku, nang kaloung and Western hand puppetry. Liz and Benny Batoctoy and Sam Fuentes will design and create the puppetry for the production.

The Little Mermaid in Manila will feature Ann Go and Erik Santos, as Ariel and Prince Eric, respectively. Additional casting will be announced shortly.
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Ready for the stage

Ready for the stage
By Bot Glorioso
(The Philippine Star) May 27, 2011 12:00 AM

erik santosMANILA, Philippines – It feels exciting to see Erik Santos and Rachelle Ann Go tackle projects that are different from the usual sing-and-dance routines and, if I may add, dash of acting that both often display either on TV or in the concert scene.

This time, it will be in the grand stage of Meralco Theater where Erik and Rachelle Ann are set to showcase their vocal power and acting skills as they plunge and lose themselves inside the characters of Prince Eric and Ariel, respectively, in Atlantis Productions’ staging of The Little Mermaid.

The Disney Broadway musical, based on the classic Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, is Erik and Rachelle Ann’s initial foray to the theatrical stage. Erik can’t begin to imagine his tension when director Bobby Garcia broached the idea to him and told Erik that he no longer needs to audition. Why? That’s because Erik is the sole choice of the director to play the male lead.

erik santos“I got tense because it’s a big production with director Bobby at the helm. It’s like, ‘Wow!’ It’s really flattering to be chosen for the role,” Eric says.

Atlantis’ production manager Liza Camus further validates the director’s top pick when she reveals, “It is only Erik that Bobby had in mind for the role because his voice is really perfect for the part. If you listen to the Broadway version, Erik’s voice is very similar to the prince there.”

But it doesn’t mean Disney people need not approve it anymore. They did a background check prior to giving Erik their nod to be the local counterpart.
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