Inspired by a couple of sketches I saw here on tumblr, I created a racebent Ariel.
a-clockwork-tangerin3 submitted:
Have a racebent! Ariel. I think she’d be quite miffed at how Disney made her up.
On the costumes:
Doing period costumes is nothing new to Eric Pineda. As a veteran costume designer, educator and avid researcher, Pineda always makes sure he gets the right look and feel for a specific era. But how does he redo something that has already been done with aplomb? Such was the challenge posed by Pineda’s most recent project, the latest and biggest Philippine staging of the popular musical “The Little Mermaid.”
Read the rest of the article (complete with original costume design concept sketches) here: http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/22327/costumes-for-manila-production-of-%E2%80%98little-mermaid%E2%80%99-given-asian-twist
All photos but the first were taken by Ikey Canoy (Scuttle) from his photo journal compiled during the production: http://www.playbill.com/multimedia/gallery/3531/PHOTO-EXCLUSIVE-Under-the-Sea-With-the-Cast-of-Manilas-The-Little-Mermaid/?pnum=1
O.J. Mariano as Sebastian and Calvin Milado as King Triton
On incorporating the Asian setting:
“We are creating a ‘Little Mermaid’ unlike any other. It will be an exciting fusion of East meets West elements. Our underwater kingdom will be completely Asian in theme and our above water world will be Western, representing two different worlds. We will also be using traditional forms of Asian and Western puppetry including Wayang shadow play, bunraku, nang kaloung and western hand puppetry,” says Garcia.
Read more at: http://gibbscadiz.multiply.com/journal/item/2093
Go’s Ariel wears a pair of giant seashell sleeves that resembles the typical Filipiniana terno’s large, puffed sleeves. On the other hand, Calvin Millado’s King Triton, the Sea King and Ariel’s father, dons a traditional Balinese royal costume. On the other hand, what the production lacks in expensive set pieces and flying harnesses, which are common currency in Broadway musicals nowadays, it makes up for with puppeteer-actors, who control wayang or shadow puppets, bunraku or traditional Japanese puppets, and nang kaloung or Cambodian puppets during certain parts of the show. By the way, merfolks are not strapped on rollerblades in this production!
Read more at: http://broadwayworld.com/article/Photo-Flash-Disneys-THE-LITTLE-MERMAID-Opens-in-Manila-20111124#ixzz1use0oFDA
Jinky Llamanzares as Ursula
Llamanzares on the production:
“So far, this is the most challenging role that I am playing in a musical,” Jinky said during the press conference held recently at Manila Ocean Park. Jinky, who gained international fame via the Cameron Mackintosh award-winning musical “Miss Saigon,” also said she is so proud to be in the cast of “The Little Mermaid” which Atlantis Productions and Metrobank are presenting and which is topbilled by Rachelle Ann Go and Erik Santos. This is the musical’s first Asian production approved by Disney.
Read more at: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/341741/jinky-calvin-featured-mermaid
