Something was missing from the pre-Broadway version of “The Little Mermaid,” and Cory Moosman knew exactly what it was.
Puppets.
Around that time puppets were becoming stars in such shows as the uber-popular, Tony Award-winning musicals “The Lion King” and “Avenue Q.” So after watching the underwater musical at Ellie Caulkins Opera House in Denver in 2007, Moosman wondered why the production went without.
“Of all the Disney films, ‘Little Mermaid’ would lend itself to puppetry because of the under-the-sea characters,” he said.
Moosman’s critique was spot-on; when the Broadway version opened a year later, puppets were present.
Now the director will get the chance to present his own take on the musical. And, oh yes, there will be puppets — 52 of them, to be exact, crafted by WYNOT Productions, the puppet fabrication and performance company he owns with actor Sammy Gleason. Helping them is local puppeteer Katy Williams, who owns Katy Williams Design, a puppet and performance business.
“We’re in an era where puppetry is a much more used component for storytelling, with ‘Life of Pi’ and ‘War Horse’ — shows in the modern era that paved the way for audiences to say I’m used to seeing those,” Moosman said.
The Fine Arts Center Theatre Company will mount “Disney’s The Little Mermaid” Wednesday through Dec. 29. Previews are Wednesday through Friday. The show officially opens Saturday.
“Any time I direct, it’s the show I want to see and that’s where I go from,” Moosman said. “When I was younger I used to concern myself with what does everybody else want to see. Now it’s the show I want to see. Then when you start collaborating with other creatives it gets fun.”
Based on Disney’s 1989 film of the same name, which was based on Hans Christian Andersen’s famous fairy tale, the love story revolves around Ariel, a mermaid who falls for a human prince. To have a chance with him, Ariel bargains with the evil sea witch, Ursula, and trades her tail for legs. The deal comes with pitfalls, though, and she must rely on the help of her sea life friends to restore normalcy to her life and their saltwater kingdom.
Some of the show’s popular songs include “Under the Sea,” “Kiss the Girl,” “Poor Unfortunate Souls” and “ Part of Your World.”
A cast of 22 local, regional and national actors will play the human and mermaid characters, while also operating the puppets. Williams, who also stars in the show, did a puppet boot camp for performers, helping teach them the art of puppetry.
“It’s a split focus. As a performer you’re putting focus on the people you’re interacting with, and they are focusing on the puppet,” Moosman said. “But we have pocket moments here and there where, for instance, Elio Nova-Wolfe playing Sebastian the crab, there’s comic moments of the puppet looking at him and them having a moment.”
It’s about finding a balance, he says, citing shows like “The Lion King” or “Life of Pi,” where you see the performers but the puppets are the focus. However, in shows like “Avenue Q,” which Moosman has directed twice, the focus is split between the performer and the puppet.
“And we’ve sort of gone with that aesthetic,” he said. “We have some characters where it’s not referential to the human performer at all, but there are moments with other characters where we do. The story always dictates what you’re doing.”
Moosman never anticipated his career would skew toward puppetry. He spent many years performing big roles, including Max Bialystock in “The Producers,” Seymour in “Little Shop of Horrors” and Nathan Detroit in “Guys and Dolls,” all at the FAC, the latter of which was his last time on stage in 2015.
His first time directing at the FAC was “Beauty and the Beast” in 2008, and his last was “The Drowsy Chaperone” in 2014.
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But at some point he grew less interested in being on stage and being seen, and it happened as he began to explore puppetry more. He’s spent the last decade building up his puppet company and leaning into the latter portion of his performing career, doing commercial work and films as a puppeteer.
It’s a more extreme version of acting, he says, where it doesn’t matter what you look like physically — it’s all about the character. It’s also a way to get to the heart of the story and connect with audiences more quickly.
“There’s an interesting thing about audiences where they let their guard down and are more accepting of puppet characters very quickly,” Moosman said.
“As humans we have an inborn otherism — when we see others who don’t look like us or are familiar to us, we are suspect. It takes time to earn the trust. Puppet characters break that down right away. It’s not that puppets are about kids, but it plays into that childlike wonder. It’s a useful tool for storytelling.”
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