Three weeks before The Little Mermaid Live! airs on ABC, the network dropped a behind-the-scenes video featuring the stars of the musical that give exciting details about the part-animated film, part-live spectacle TV event.
Auli’i Cravalho, who will play the title role, calls The Little Mermaid Live! a “truly unique experience.” The 18-year-old actress also reveals that the live TV event is going to have “12 showstopping songs,” which come from the original 1989 The Little Mermaid film and its 2007 Tony Award-winning Broadway adaptation.
Queen Latifah, meanwhile, promises fans that The Little Mermaid Live! is gonna be “mindblowing.” The Oscar-nominated actress, who will portray Ursula in the musical, also explains what exactly the viewers are going to see: “The actual movie is gonna be playing, but then there are these musical numbers that go live.”
The behind-the-scenes video also shows interviews with Cravalho and Latifah’s co-stars Shaggy (Sebastian), John Stamos (Chef Louis), and Graham Phillips (Prince Eric). In between interviews, the video also flashes shots of the cast members belting tunes in the recording booth, rehearsing dance routines, and practicing stunts.
Directed by Hamish Hamilton, The Little Mermaid Live! will air on November 5th to mark the 30th anniversary of the original Disney animated feature. ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke said at the Television Critics Association summer press tour that more Disney films could get the live TV musical treatment if The Little Mermaid Live! turned out to be a success.
For those who are confused, The Little Mermaid Live! is different from Rob Marshall’s upcoming The Little Mermaid live-action movie. The big-screen project, which will star Halle Bailey as the titular Princess of Atlantica, is set to begin production in early 2020.