Disney's The Little Mermaid Presented by Musical Theatre Orange County
Disney's The Little Mermaid Presented by MTOC
Ariel played by the talented Kristin Atkins
Everyones favorite mermaid princess is coming to the stage in a live action play at the Musical Theatre Orange County this July 21- 30th. I was invited to get a peek into their world as they rehearsed some of the songs and worked on costumes. I got a real feel for what goes into the productions MTOC creates and being around so much talent got me even more excited to see this show!!! See who and what it takes to pull off this live show, read about some of the key players and see the some of the design sketches. Oh and how about a chance at tickets to see the finished play?!?
Based on one of Hans Christian Andersen's most beloved stories and the classic animated film, Disney's The Little Mermaid is a wonderful love story for the ages. With music by eight-time Academy Award winner, Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater, this fishy fable will capture your heart with its irresistible songs, including "Under the Sea," "Kiss the Girl" and "Part of Your World."
With a very talented cast, this production delivers some authentic Disney magic with the addition of Dave Avanzino, not only did he create the sets, he's playing the role of Chef Louie as well.
Dave has worked with MTOC for a few years as both a Scenic Designer and Painter. His first project was painting the sets for “HAIRSPRAY” and then he moved on to designing and painting the sets for “TARZAN” and “MARY POPPINS.” Dave is also a production designer for video and film. His work has been seen in the updated "JESUS FILM FOR CHILDREN" and also the version entitled, "MAGDALENE: RELEASED FROM SHAME."
Dave also designs and creates numerous limited edition artwork for Disneyland, Walt Disney World and The Disney Cruise Line.
Fun Facts about the show:
- The show consists of 47 performers
- The cast puts in over 160 hours rehearsing
- There are 20 songs within the performance
- There are approximately 120 costumes used within the show
- Look for the Easter eggs within the sets of the show, every year the "crew monkey" aka set builders hide little wood cut outs of crew monkeys in the set during the run of the performance.
- The theatre seats 620 per show and it's always a sell out!
- First ever play done by MTOC: Wizard of Oz
- Though they do create "other" plays, they are all huge Disney enthusiasts so most of their productions are Disney stories.
Special Guest Artist: Ron Banks as King Triton. Ron Banks has been seen around the world in musical theater, opera, and voice over. He’s received critical acclaim for his portrayal of the King of Siam in The King and I and an 8-year run as Jafar in Aladdin, A Musical Spectacular, and many other roles across a 30-year career. Ron has a passion for youth outreach, often performing in Pacific Symphony’s Family Concerts.
- Dave Avanzino – Scenic Design
- Matt Wood – Crew Lead
- Matthew Cotter – Projection Design – Emmy award winner for Dancing with the Stars
- Joshua Miller – Lighting designer for Disney Resort
- Evelyn Perez – Costume Designer
- Melanie Davert – Head Costumer
- Alysia Smith – Wig Mistress
- Destinee Nicholson/Hannah Sullivan – Make-up
- Puppet Masters – Aran De La Pena, Danny Montooth, Art Vega
- Michelle McKenzie – General Manager
July 21st at 7:30 July 22nd at 7:30 July 23rd at 3:00
July 28th at 7:30 July 29th at 2:00 & 7:00 July 30th at 3:00
All seats reserved
Orchestra - $30 Mezzanine - $25
All Performances held at Performing Arts Center:
1651 N. Valencia Ave.
Placentia, CA 92870
Costume designs- from concept to stage all done in house. Photo Credit: MTOC
About Musical Theatre Orange County
Mitch Atkins is co-founder and President of Musical Theatre Orange County; Mitch’s passion is to instill the love of live theatre into the youth of our community. Mitch recently started a new position at Knott’s Berry Farm as Director of Production. Mitch was with the Disneyland Resort for over 28 years, he has worked on such diverse projects as Haunted Mansion Holiday, Electrical Parade, Fantasmic!, Parade of Dreams, Celebrate!, ElecTRONica, Mad T Party, Aladdin and Frozen Live at the Hyperion. Prior to, and during this time Mitch also continued to nurture his love for theatre with his outside role as Technical Director with various community theatre’s including lighting design duties for over 50 productions. Mitch’s theatre experience goes back to Junior High School where he began working in technical theatre. Mitch and his wife Lori are both natives of Orange County, California and have raised their four children in the city of Orange.
Lori is co-founder and Executive Producer of Musical Theatre Orange County. Lori has produced numerous shows for MTOC during the past 16 years. Some of her favorites include: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Seussical, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, and Disney's Tarzan. In addition, she has organized and produced talent shows and has been involved in various community theaters in a variety of capacities for the past twenty years. She has managed everything from box office, back office, costumes, scenery and anything else that needs to be done. She has also enjoyed a bit of time on "the boards" herself with favorite roles such as Aunt Tilly ("It's a Wonderful Life") and Ethel Toffelmier ("The Music Man"). With success in many entrepreneurial endeavors which include owning her own Collectibles Business, event coordinating and several years as a licensed Cosmetologist, her proudest accomplishments to date are……being a wife, mother and now "nana".