FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

WALT DISNEY RECORDS TO RELEASE
THE LITTLE MERMAID ORIGINAL CAST ALBUM ON FEBRUARY 26

Featuring "Part of Your World", "Kiss the Girl" and Academy Award(R)
Winning Song "Under the Sea" by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman,
With 10 New Songs by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater

"One of the most ravishing things I have seen on a Broadway stage."
-- Time Magazine

"Expect it to run from here to eternity and back again!"
"A musical that does justice to the lovely film from which it sprang"
-- The Wall Street Journal

(February XX, 2008- Burbank, CA) - Walt Disney Records will release
the original cast album for the new Broadway musical, The Little
Mermaid on February 26, 2008. Based on one of the most beloved
Disney films of all time and the classic fairy tale by Hans Christian
Andersen, The Little Mermaid, presented by Disney Theatrical
Productions, is Broadway's sparkling new musical.

Led by the award-winning director, Francesca Zambello, some of the
theatre's most innovative artists have collaborated to create The
Little Mermaid. The score features the classic songs: "Part of Your
World," "Kiss the Girl" and the Academy Award(R)-winning Best Original
Song, "Under the Sea," composed by eight-time Academy Award(R) winner
Alan Menken and his longtime collaborator, the late Howard Ashman, as
well as 10 new songs by Mr. Menken and lyricist Glenn Slater. The
book for the new musical is by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award(R)-winning
playwright Doug Wright.

After graduating from New York University, composer Alan Menken began
his career writing advertising jingles, accompanying ballet classes,
and working as a musical director. He met lyricist Howard Ashman and
began collaborating on several productions for the WPA Theater,
ultimately achieving widespread acclaim with Little Shop of Horrors.
The musical was later turned into a film, which earned the duo their
first Academy Award(R) nomination.

The success of Little Shop of Horrors led Menken and Ashman to Walt
Disney Studios and The Little Mermaid, which would go on to earn two
Oscars, for best original score and best song ("Under the Sea").
Unfortunately after completing their work on the film Beauty and The
Beast, Ashman passed away.

Menken continued his work for Walt Disney Studios composing for such
films as Aladdin, Pocahontas, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. In
2004 he turned to lyricist Glenn Slater for the animated film Home on
the Range. Slater (with composer Stephen Weiner) received The ASCAP
Foundation Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award in 2000 for promising
young musical theater composers. When it came time to adapt The Little
Mermaid to stage, Menken turned once again to Slater.

"I always felt that Glenn was a good match for Howard, that he had a
similar, wicked, slightly cruel sense of humor," said Menken. "I
would never want to even attempt to re-create the soul of Howard. But
the souls of the characters, as interpreted through Glenn, are very
compatible with those interpreted through Howard."

The recording of The Little Mermaid was done at the same place where
Menken and Ashman recorded the film soundtrack. Menken described,
"This production has been a wonderful opportunity to revisit the songs
I wrote with Howard Ashman. We did the recording at Legacy Studios,
which is where we recorded the film soundtrack, so it was like Howard
was right there with us."

In a magical kingdom beneath the sea, a beautiful young mermaid named
Ariel longs to leave her ocean home to live in the world above. But
first, she'll have to defy her father -- the king of the sea -- escape
the clutches of an evil sea witch and convince a prince that she's the
girl with the perfect voice.

The Little Mermaid stars Sierra Boggess as 'Ariel,' Sean Palmer as
'Prince Eric,' Norm Lewis as 'King Triton,' Tituss Burgess as
'Sebastian,' Eddie Korbich as 'Scuttle,' Jonathan Freeman as
'Grimsby,' Derrick Baskin as 'Jetsam,' Tyler Maynard as 'Flotsam,'
John Treacy Egan as 'Chef Louis,' Trevor Braun and Brian D'Addario
alternating as 'Flounder,' and Sherie Rene Scott as 'Ursula.'

Performances of The Little Mermaid began on Broadway at the Lunt-
Fontanne Theatre (205 West 46th Street, NYC) on Saturday, November 3
at 8pm. The production officially opened on Thursday, January 10,
2008 at 6:30pm.

The playing schedule for The Little Mermaid on Broadway is as follows:
Tuesday - Saturday evenings at 8pm, Wednesday and Saturday matinees at
2pm, and Sunday matinees at 3pm. Tickets for are $51.50 - $121.50
(includes a $1.50 facility fee), available through Ticketmaster at
(212) 307-4747, online at www.DisneyOnBroadway.com, or in-person at
the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre (205 West 46th Street).

Walt Disney Pictures presents The Little Mermaid Original Cast Album,
available February 26, 2006 at a suggested price of $18.98 wherever
music is sold. All Walt Disney Records audio products also can be
ordered by visiting DisneyRecords.com.

# # #

For more information about The Little Mermaid cast album please
contact: cinemediapromo@yahoo.com

Archived from group: rec>arts>theatre>musicals