Musical Director, Jamie Payne
Spa Theatre Company Juniors resident Musical Director for The Little Mermaid takes us behind the curtain of this year’s production and shares a sneak peek at the show.
How many productions have you been involved with for Spa Theatre Company Juniors?
I joined them three productions ago when we started working on The Addams family and then went into ‘In the Heights’ which sadly got cancelled and so this is my third show after quite the hiatus thanks to Covid.
What has your inspiration been behind the musical direction for The Little Mermaid?
I think you can see lots of Alan Menkin influences throughout the show. For example in Little Shop of Horrors the trio of girls sing three-part harmonies which we see with the mermaids in this show.
What’s your favourite song in this year’s production?
In this year’s production I think my favourite song is ‘She’s in Love’ because it’s just so much fun.
If you were a character in The Little Mermaid, who would you be and why?
I would probably be King Triton because he has some amazing songs and who wouldn’t want to sit on a throne all day and have command of a kingdom!
And who is your favourite character?
Deep down it has to be Eric as a favourite character. I know I’d never be able to pull it off, but he’s the good-looking, charismatic, ‘gets the girl’ character that we all want to be.
What can the audience expect from this year's show?
Lots and lots of colour! The set is very vibrant and the sounds are very rich. There is just so much (excuse the pun) depth to the show and when you come and see it you will see that the cast have worked so hard to just try and bring everything together into one amazing package.
What's your favourite Spa Theatre Juniors production you've been involved with?
So far, my favourite was the one that we never had a chance to perform. I love Lin Manuel Miranda’s work and his show ‘In the Heights’ was a dream to rehearse. The cast were amazing and unfortunately, after all their hard work the opportunity to perform it live to an audience was stolen from them because of Covid.