March 6, 2023
By Dana Treier
Staff Writer
A cast of 34 LHS students and faculty transformed Lyndhurst Middle School’s auditorium into the underwater kingdom of Atlantica for the production of Disney’s “The Little Mermaid,” which took place from Feb. 15-18.
In this fantasy musical, the rebellious and curious mermaid Ariel (senior Olivia Norcia), frequently makes secret trips to the surface. During one of her trips, she saves Prince Eric (sophomore Rayan Yamout), who becomes obsessed with finding her, even though he only recalls her voice.
Desperate to see Eric again, Ariel makes a deal with the evil sea witch Ursula (senior Cecelia Valdez), which allows her three days to walk along the surface at the expense of her voice. If she does not receive a kiss from Eric, she must surrender her soul to Ursula.
Assistant director Ms. Wise said it was rewarding to see the production materialize.
“The amount of creativity that has to go into trying to recreate Disney is huge,” Wise said. “I am so proud of the maturity and willingness of these students to put forth the effort it takes to make this production successful.”
With about 1,500 tickets sold, Wise said the production was a success.
“I think the grueling time and hard work that goes into a production like this is a lesson in the fact that hard work truly pays off,” Wise said. “Until you take part in the performance aspect of Disney music, it is difficult to see all of the difficult passages that make Disney so magical.”
Norcia said she is proud of how hard her castmates worked to make the show reach its potential.
“This musical [was] held up to a higher standard since so many people love the original movie,” Norcia said.
Norcia said she can relate to the confidence Ariel gained as a result of taking on a new challenge.
“She is soft-spoken but sticks to what she believes in. She knows what she wants, and she goes after it. And when it doesn’t work out, she does everything she can to fix it,” Norcia said.
“I am so proud of the maturity and willingness of these students to put forth the effort it takes to make this production successful.”
Yamout said his appreciation and understanding of Eric and the plot became stronger throughout the course of the rehearsals.
“It felt almost like Eric was a part of me,” Yamout said. “It’s made me realize that sometimes I have to take the initiative to achieve my goals and encourage myself to reach them without any assistance.”
Yamout said he appreciates the family-like atmosphere that was created among the cast, crew and faculty advisors.
“We are all proud of each other for our progress and do not dwell on our mistakes. I will deeply miss the memories made backstage but look [forward] to making more in the future,” Yamout said.
Like Norcia and Yamout, Valdez said she grew to appreciate the character she portrayed.
“Throughout the progression of rehearsals, I felt more and more like Ursula,” Valdez said. “I have gained the ability to be very confident and assertive while understanding the bad things she has done.”
Valdez said now that her time in LHS’ musicals has come to a close, she will miss the rehearsals and her castmates.
“I’m so grateful for this opportunity to perform this wonderful role and be cast with this wonderful cast,” Valdez said. “I will never forget all of the little kids that were so excited to see the show and asked everyone for autographs and pictures. That really made all of our work worth it.”
Ariel (senior Olivia Norcia) and Flounder (freshman Rebecca Ruiz) listen to Scuttle (freshman Joseph Brennen) explain that what they found is a dinglehopper and humans use it to fix their hair.
PHOTOS BY ANGELA ELLIS & NATALIA HERNANDEZ
