The Little Mermaid @RoseTheaterCo Review

I was super excited to find out that The Rose is showing Disney's The Little Mermaid.

It was one of my favorite Disney movies when I was younger. I liked all the characters. I could sing the songs over and over again. I think anyone can relate to Ariel's aspirations to be something she's not.  

The boys didn't know we were going. We left it a surprise. They figured it out as soon as we got there.

The Rose Performing Arts is located on 2001 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102. Call 402-345-4849 for tickets. You can also visit their website: rosetheater.org

This was taken with my fisheye lens:

They have really cool environmental graphics on the side of their building. Their posters are under glass as well.

About the Play: 

Dive “Under the Sea” for a swimmingly good time as one of Disney’s all-time favorites splashes to life in this Broadway musical adaptation. 

Ariel is a bold young mermaid princess fascinated with the human world, in spite of the warnings of her father, King Triton, and her finny friends. When she makes a dangerous deal with Ursula, the Sea Witch, she begins a race against the setting sun to find true love. With all your favorite songs and an ocean’s worth of colorful characters, you will definitely want The Little Mermaid to be Part of Your World!

The Start:

There wasn't a set to look at when we first got there. They had the curtains closed. We went to the last rehearsal, so chances are that the actual shows have skits from one of the summer classes at The Rose Theater. 

There was live music below the stage. They were practicing when we came in to the theater area. My boys are always looking to see if the orchestra teacher is down there - from their school. She's been in a show at The Rose before.

Once the curtains opened up there was a lot to see. They showed what it was like under the sea, on the ship, and in the castle. 

Music by Alan Menken.

Lyrics by Howard Ashman and Glen Slater.

Book by Doug Wright.

Dates: 

June 3 - June 26

• Friday, June 3 @ 7 PM
• Saturday, June 4 @ 2 PM
• Sunday, June 5 @ 2 PM.
• Friday, June 10 @ 7 PM
• Saturday, June 11 @ 2 PM
• Sunday, June 12 @ 2 PM
• Friday, June 17 @ 7 PM
• Saturday, June 18 @ 2 PM
• Sunday, June 19 @ 2 PM
• Friday, June 24 @ 7 PM
• Saturday, June 25 @ 2 PM
• Sunday, June 26 @ 2 PM

Ages: 

Best suited for ages 5 and up. 

Mica (age almost 11) liked it. He smiled throughout the show. Isaak's (age 8) is in a stage where he doesn't care for anything girly. Somehow mermaids are for girls. I kept telling Isaak that there were mermen in it. I loved it, and I'm almost 40.

*Warning there is a section of the show where a storm occurs. They use strobe lights during this part. 

Duration: 

2 hours + intermission with refreshments 

Cost: 

Members: $23 main floor • $18 balcony 

Non Members: $30 main floor • $25 balcony 

Parking: 

There are several metered parking spots, active from 9 AM to 9 PM, Monday through Saturday. The cost is $.25 per hour, or $10 per day. Metered parking is free on Sundays and holidays. 

Free parking is available in the Wells Fargo parking lot on the northwest corner of 20th and Farnam Streets on weekends and after 5:30 PM on weeknights. 

Staring: 

Arial - Torisa Walker

Prince Eric - Marcel A. Daly 

Grimsby - Kevin Olsen

Scuttle - Bill Grennan

Flounder - Grace Titus

King Triton - Joe Dignoti

Sebastian - Camellia Yvonne Watkins

Flotsam - Joseph T. O'Connor

Jetsam - Jonathan Smith

Ursula - Heather Wilhelm

and more...

Artistic and Production Credits: 

Director - Matthew Gutschick

Musical Director - Kevin Smith

Scenic Designer - Tim McMath

Choreographer - Sue Gillespie Booton

Lighting Designer - Craig Moxon

Production Stage Manager - Ashleigh-Dawn Kriegh-Fleming

Costume Designer - Sherri Geerdes

and more... 

After the shows they have a question answer time with the cast. They even mention to email them. The Rose has really cool kid's programs. I like them more than the adult ones. There are facts and games in it. There's a spot for Autographs for the end of the show.

I think any show that The Rose Theater has is great for kids. My boys just love going there!

Disclaimer: I received tickets for free of charge from The Rose Theater.

Wal-Mart?! What Are Your Thoughts?

First of all I'm not here to tell you what to think, nor am I here to judge. I just want to know your opinion. I'm going to put forth two views on one situation, and see what you think.

Wal-Mart is under the spot light once again. I read this article this morning. Reading online is like reading the newspaper to me these days.

To sum it up, if you don't want to read the article, Wal-Mart is in the hot seat because Washington wants larger retail stores to pay their workers more than minimum wage. Minimum wage is $8.25 and Wal-Mart would have to pay their workers $12.50. Wal-Mart of course doesn't like this, and threatened to shrink their blueprints in Washington, DC. Of course there is more to the article. Read it if you want to understand it more.

Wal-Mart is known to be kind of crappy to their workers. In some smaller places, they open up jobs and are sometime the only place to go to shop. What's a person to do?

Two different sides of the coin: 
I strongly believe there there are always two sides to one coin. I'm a middle child, what else can I say?

Side One For Wal-Mart: They are many people's only option of shopping. If you take away stores and production, that would make it hard for many to shop. Food is known to be less money at Wal-Mart. They are cheaper to shop at in some regards. From my limited retail experience I know that things are marked up, and other items are dropped down in cost everywhere you go. Since they are a strong retail store, they do employee a lot of people. So what they are big; should they be penalized for being large? The big guys did work up to that status. Why should they be required to pay their workers more than anywhere else?

Side Two Against Wal-Mart: If it's only the DC area that they would stop building plans, I'm pretty sure people there would be ok with shopping at other places. Wal-Mart needs to be taught a lesson. There are many stores that do great money wise, and treat their workers well. Take Costco as an example; they treat their workers really well, and their business is doing really well. Cashiers start out at $10 an hour. After 4 years the average cashier makes $44,000 plus bonuses. They are treated more like a union. Their workers seem happy, and work fast. Maybe Wal-Mart should change their ways. 

With all that said, I rarely shop at Wal-Mart. I shop at Costco way more. I have options to shop where I live. In fact I got a gift card for Wal-Mart at Christmas from my boss man, and I just recently used it up. I am highly annoyed with the fact that two of my favorite stores have been taken over by Wal-Mart grocery stores! Borders went down a long time ago. One is a Wal-Mart now. Hobby Lobby right by my work was bulldozed to the ground. A Wal-Mart went up in its place. I'm sad about that. 

Here's a documentary that talks about Wal-Mart and view points about them.

So what are your thoughts. Again I'm not here to tell you how to think, or judge you. I'm just curious on others views.