This season for its fall musical, Westford Academy Theater Arts will present Disney’s The Little Mermaid. Directed by Larry Sousa, the play is based on the story by Hans Christian Anderson and the Disney classic film.

The story follows Ariel, a mermaid princess who has a deep curiosity of the human world. When she sees a handsome prince on a passing ship, she decides to follow her dream of exploring the human world. She visits Ursula, a sea witch who tricks her into making a deal for three days with Eric in exchange for Ariel’s beautiful voice. Ariel must receive a true love’s kiss from Eric, in order to keep her legs and regain her voice. 

The show stars junior Emily Sawosik as Ariel, and unusually, a freshman, Thomas Sanders as Prince Eric.  

“I was honestly really surprised to find out that I had been cast as Eric,” Sanders on his unexpected role said.

The role of the villain, Ursula, is being split by two seniors, Megan O’Connor and Madison Gallagher, who will perform in four shows each. Senior Michael Tricca is playing Triton, Ariel’s father. Sebastian the crab is being played by another senior, Vishal Raghunath, while junior Matthew Mantenuto is cast in the role of Scuttle. The role of Flounder, Ariel’s best friend, is played by a sophomore new to the department, Sarah Bernyk.

“We’ve got the right cast, because they’re hard working students with tremendous positive energy and they can represent the beauty and the simplicity of the  children’s story that it is, but also smart enough and work hard enough to understand those significant implication,” Michael Towers, WATA’s artistic director said.

The crew of the show will be led by junior Nick Carpenter, acting as stage manager. This year, the backstage team is organizing special effects, which include elevating cast members Emily Sawosik, Thomas Sanders, and Matthew Mantenuto using a special flying rig and wires. Junior Emily Palmer is also a notable figure backstage as assistant director.

“Emily Palmer is a very lovely, reliable, smart, hardworking person,” Towers said.

Though this production of Disney’s The Little Mermaid may seem like a stark contrast from the recent show, Spring Awakening, with its mature, adult themes, The Little Mermaid brings to light many issues that are relevant especially to society today.

“This is a play, I say, about a little girl who was born with a fin and thought she should’ve been born with legs. That’s very, very relevant, it sounds very, very 2017,” Towers said.

The show is centered around identity, as the main character, Ariel goes through a journey of finding hers, even though it may not be what she was born into.

“There’s 1700 protagonists at Westford Academy,” said Towers, explaining that Ariel’s journey of self-discovery strikes a close parallel with the students of WA.

According to Sanders, the cast is planning to hold ‘meet and greets’ following to shows to take pictures in costume with the children from the audience.

The show is set to performed:

– Friday November 10 at 7:00 PM

-November 11 at 2:00 PM,

-November 16 at 7:00 PM

-November 17 at 7:00 PM

-November 18 at 7:00 PM

-November 19 at 2:00 PM 

-November 21 at 7:00 PM

Tickets can be purchased at the door or online at www.mktix.com/wata.