The Little Mermaid live musical is set for ABC starring Auli'i Cravalho

The Little Mermaid live musical is set for ABC starring Auli’i Cravalho

August 6th 2019, 11:41am

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

If you thought Disney would restrict their reach of new adaptations of classic animated movies to only live-action feature films, then clearly you don’t know the House of Mouse at all. After announcing that Halle Bailey will be playing Ariel in the new live-action film take on THE LITTLE MERMAID it’s been announced that MOANA’s Auli'i Cravalho will also play the character in a live musical version of the story, which will air on Disney-owned ABC as part of their “Wonderful World of Disney” series.

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The news was announced by ABC President Karey Burke while at the Television Critics Association (via IndieWire), where it was also revealed that Queen Latifah would be playing Ursula and that Shaggy would be playing Ariel’s crab companion, Sebastian. The two will join Cravalho (who is of Hawaiian, Puerto Rican, Chinese, Portuguese and Irish descent), who gets the honor of being a second Disney princess after voicing Moana in the 2016 Disney animated movie.

Set to air on November 5 (one week before the arrival of Disney+), the musical will be performed live in front of an audience and aired on ABC, all to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the animated movie’s release. According to Burke, the musical will include “seamless interweaving” of both the stage design, puppetry and costumes with footage from the animated movie.

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Disney has done this sort of thing before, performing live musical versions of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS and more for audiences at the Hollywood Bowl. We must also not forget the incredible Broadway musical adaptations of movies like THE LION KING and ALADDIN, which went on to tremendous success. As for as the live TV angle goes, this comes on the heels of other networks bringing classic musicals to live TV, like THE SOUND OF MUSIC, GREASE, RENT and JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, and it's clear Disney is trying to get in on the game in a big way. Expect THE LION KING LIVE! in about two year's time.

Check out the set design for THE LITTLE MERMAID LIVE! below, and the musical airs on ABC on November 5.