Sarah Brown
Of The New Era
“The Little Mermaid” will be showing this week in Lebanon, with one of Sweet Home’s actors playing a supporting role.
Staged by the Lebanon Association for Performing Arts, the musical will run nightly at 7 p.m. through Saturday, July 27, at the Lebanon High School Auditorium. A matinee performance will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, July 27.
The Broadway musical includes all of the songs from the Disney movie, with a few extras that replace movie scenes that can’t be replicated on stage.
Cast member Colby Montigue, 19, of Sweet Home, plays Scuttle, the seagull who finds man-made objects for Ariel’s treasure trove.
Other cast members include Josie Davis, of Albany, who plays Ariel; Annie Latimer, of Lebanon, as Flounder; Mercedes Mendez, of Brownsville, as Ursula; Jacob Duda, of Albany, as Prince Eric; and Logan Burt, of Lebanon, as King Triton.
Before his graduation in 2018, Montigue acted in a number of plays for Sweet Home High School, including “Little Shop of Horrors,” in which he played Seymour. He’s currently attending Linn-Benton Community College, and plans to study vocal performance and music education.
“I’m really glad I got the role of Scuttle; it’s a lot of fun,” Montigue said. “This is my first year with LAFTA, and I have not been disappointed.”
LAFTA began 12 years ago when retired music teacher Terri Krebs agreed to help put on a fund-raiser production for a new sound system for the high school. Since then, the productions have raised enough money to financially support band, vocal and theater teachers, as well as purchase new equipment, instruments, and storage.
“The Little Mermaid” will be LAFTA’s first production of which they will utilize a new throw projector for backdrops.
“Otherwise, you have to get the canvas or the muslin and you have to draw and paint it all,” said Krebs, who is co-directing the play and directing the orchestra.
Actors and the backstage crew come from Sweet Home to Corvallis, and Monmouth to Eugene.
“None of us get paid. We’re all doing this to help the school district and to help the school,” Montigue said.
The cast of 46 actors have been rehearsing The Little Mermaid for months, and recently have been going home late into the night, he said.
“It’s a lot of work and a lot of commitment, but I love it. It’s been a lot of fun to be with the cast and be around the people that love the same thing that I do.”
Montigue believes the audience will really like the number “Positoovity,” in which he tap dances with other sea gulls.
“It’s kind of the one that bumps the energy up a little bit and lets the audience know they should stay for the rest of the show,” he said.
He also said Chef Louis’ number, “Les Poissons,” is “awesome” because it has a lot of physical comedy in it.
Tickets for “The Little Mermaid” are are $10 for general admission and $8 for seniors and students. Tickets can be purchased at lafta.webs.com or at the following ticket outlets in Lebanon: Chamber of Commerce, LinnCo Credit Union and Umpqua Bank.