A live special of Little Mermaid will be headed to your TV screen with Moana’s Auli’i Cravalho as Ariel and Queen Latifah as Ursula.
Update: John Stamos is joining Auli’i Cravalho and Queen Latifah for ABC’s live performance of The Little Mermaid, and we finally have our Prince Eric!
According to a report from Deadline, Stamos is joining the cast as Chef Louis. Stamos have previously portrayed the character during the Hollywood Bowl’s live Little Mermaid performance.
And while we’re stoked to welcome Uncle Jesse under the sea, we’re also excited about another casting update. The live performance has also officially chosen its Prince Eric. Graham Phillips of The Good Wife and Atypical will be playing Ariel’s landlocked love interest.
We are so excited to see this cast round out with such awesome talent. The Little Mermaid live will absolutely be an intense feat of live theater, but with such a star-studded cast, this is shaping up to be one you just can’t miss.
Original Post: 8/5/19Can’t get enough of The Little Mermaid? Disney and ABC certainly hope so!
On the heels of the major casting news for Disney’s live-action film remake of The Little Mermaid — starring Halle Bailey as Ariel, Melissa McCarthy, Jacob Tremblay and Awkwafina co-starring and Harry Styles rumored to play Prince Eric — ABC has announced the cast for its live stage tribute to the story of a mermaid who just wants to be a human.
The ABC live special will have Moana’s Auli’i Cravalho as Ariel, singer/actress superstar Queen Latifah as Ursula, and Jamaican reggae musician Shaggy as lobster Sebastian.
The original idea for this live special was initially introduced in 2017, with an October 3, 2017 date listed for the premiere. That idea was then put on hold for financial reasons. However, when Karey Burke joined ABC last December as President of Entertainment, she expressed a strong interest and support for live specials — which put The Little Mermaid back on the table and back on the stage.
The event is officially titled The Wonderful World of Disney Presents The Little Mermaid Live! and is being called a tribute to the original animated classic and its music. It will a feature mix of live-action, animation and puppetry, with Auli’i Cravalho, Queen Latifah, and Shaggy singing some of the movie’s most iconic and beloved songs live on stage.
This hybrid format of the film will feature intricate sets and costumes created specifically for this live special, interwoven with the live performances of songs and a broadcast of the original film. The songs will come from both the original animated film and the Tony Award-winning Broadway stage version of The Little Mermaid.
The Wonderful World of Disney Presents The Little Mermaid Live! will air Nov. 5 to mark the classic Disney animated feature’s 30th anniversary.