On April 21 and 23, the PBHS Thespians, Pompano Beach High School’s official drama club, held showings of Disney’s “The Little Mermaid Jr.” Directed by senior Patrick Gohl and senior Izzy Savarino this show was truly an experience I will not forget!
Both on and off stage, our fellow Golden Tornados work tirelessly to bring this show to life. While communicating with students in drama, one of whom is sophomore Samantha Tremblay, I learned the crew were quite the fish out of water. However, when I went on opening night to view the show with some of my friends, I was shocked by the production level and the cast’s pure talent!
Addressing the cast, stars senior Aliyah Bilu (Ariel), senior Gaia Guerrier (Sebastian), senior Dani Hoffner (Ursula), junior Danika Estes (Eric), junior Júlia Mesquita Gomes Carneiro (Scuttle), and freshman Daisy “Delia” Gee (Flounder) defined stage presence with a mix of humor, emotion, and Broadway-level vocals. When Bilu sang “Part of Your World” in Act 1, one of my personal favorite Disney songs, I was stunned by her vocal range and felt one with the fish as her delivery transported me right in the middle of the ocean! Similarly, with Hoffner singing “Poor Unfortunate Soul,” I, for one, felt very fortunate to be witness to yet another beautiful delivery! As for comedy, Guerrier, with her take on Sebastian’s Jamaican accent (yes I caught that!), Gee, with her portrayal of a fish who is definitely not a “guppy,” Carneiro, whose character might not have been the brightest feather but definitely made an impact, and, though not a main character, Chef Louis (played by freshman Kylie Simpson), with their comically intense obsession with culinary mischief, making for some of the show’s biggest laughs, all made this wonderful musical quite the knee-slapper (ba-dum tss)!
Ariel’s sisters were another small, yet great addition to the cast! Played by senior Izzy Savarino, sophomore Hillary Queen, freshman Aindri Satyaketu, sophomore Anahi Madinya, senior Amelia Bouzid, and sophomore Rebecca Hernandez, the sisters’ rendition of “She’s in Love,” featuring Flounder, was awesome and I wasn’t expecting it! Also, all of them ate down in their fins and shells!
The show was a huge success overall and the drama club is definitely deserving of the praise they are getting! Although some of the cast is swimming to new waters and leaving PBHS, I cannot wait to see what the Thespians do next, and I hope to see the cast on Broadway in the future.
