Cape Fear Regional Theatre's 'The Little Mermaid, Jr.' was Whimsical and Top Notch

The Cape Fear Regional Theater's annual youth drama camp culminated with 'The Little Mermaid, Jr.'  

For the first time ever, there were three public performances on Friday, Aug. 19 and two on Sat. Aug. 20 with a sold out house for two of the three shows.

The cast of 71 talented kids started out the second summer session of camp with the script and c.d. going over the music before they auditioned for age appropriate assigned roles.

The artistic staff responsible for directing the large cast included Camp Directors Jae Powell and Sean Powell, and Music Director Ashley Kotz. With so many talented kids, many of the major roles were triple cast. 

The abbreviated version of the show ran just under an hour. The scenery and costumes and music were on par with the traditional line up of quality musicals that CFRT is known for. 

In Friday night's cast, Ariel was played by Fayetteville Academy student Claire Galt whose ethereal voice matched the soundtrack seamlessly. That girl is going places - and I'm not talking about land. Claire is no stranger to CFRT and has been in many performances over the years, but was the perfect pick for the leading role of the beloved mermaid, and the envy of each young girl on the stage.

Prince Eric was played by Village Christian Academy's Luke Chilton who played the part of the gentleman and his  smooth voice resonated with the audience in the role, ending in a roar of applause. Luke is no stranger to the stage and has aspirations for acting and is sure to land some major roles - while he might have gotten his start in Fayetteville, he is one to keep any eye on.

The infamous villainess Ursula was played by Pine Forest's Hali Reese whose deep voice and stage presence looked like a fun role to be cast as. She really brought the strong female role to the stage. Flounder was played by the young Ella Brittain had a big voice and stage presence for her age, bringing a sweet spirit to the role of Ariel's loyal fish.

For me, a highlight of Friday night's performance was the spirit, fun and humor that 10-year-old Annalise Kelly brought to the role of Sebastian. The young actress surpassed all expectations and stayed in the Jamaican accent bringing life to the lovable Caribbean crab. Annalise was a joy to watch and she captivated the hearts of the audience. We can only hope that we'll be seeing more of her in upcoming shows. 

Ariel's doting father King Triton was played by seventh-grader Jacob Twaddell. Jacob anchored all the characters on stage and brought life into the role of King Triton. It's clear that Jacob enjoyed the role and was shining under the lights, like his magical golden trident.

This year CFRT leveraged power2give, a site similar to Kickstarter to raise needed funds for the annual summer camp program. Check out their website for upcoming dates of 'The Little Prince' and 'Sweeney Todd: The demon barber of Fleet Street'.