Disney’s The Little Mermaid in Washington Heights
Luis E. Mora
I started working with young people at the Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School in October of 2022 as the director of their after school theatre program. The first day of programming I was greeted by two students who were reluctant to meet me. “I’m here to lead a theatre program” I said. “We don’t do that here” they replied.
Today I am proud to share that those two students turned into 25 committed, hard-working, and talented individuals who have completed their run of Disney’s The Little Mermaid; further proving that we do “do that here.”
But I am not going to lie, in the summer of 2024 I had a lot of reservations about this production. After all, putting on a full scale musical is a massive undertaking. We don’t have a costume shop, a place to build sets, or even enough staffing to make everything a reality. Additionally the school building is experiencing major construction that limits our time in the theater. I felt like every odd was stacked against us.
Everything changed for me in December of 2024 when we held auditions. The students were so excited to do this show and they shared so many stories about what The Little Mermaid meant to them. For some it was their first Disney movie, for others it was part of a memory with a loved one they had lost. It felt important and necessary in a way that I have not experienced as a theater professional in a long time.
So I enlisted the help of teaching artist Brett Tubbs as director, Ben Houghton as musical director, Josh Kobak as sound engineer, and made myself the technical director. I purchased a sewing machine and a saw that I learned how to use on YouTube and got to work. I built costumes at home and then walked them to the school. I purchased every rhinestone I could afford and developed an assembly line of young people and volunteers that would stone in the back of the theater during rehearsals. Every little thing made and assembled with love and in community.
16 weeks later the show opened for 4 performances. I got to see many parents and teachers learn about a new side to their kids. I got to see the community come together to support, some of them arranging large groups to go cheer on their friends. And most importantly, I got to see every participant push themselves to do something they never thought they could do.
