Teen: ‘Flippin’ your fins you don’t get too far’
By Tracy Ouellette
SLN Staff
With a careless disregard for safety, an under-the-sea teen has defied her father and traveled to the surface in search of some fun in the sun and a chance at true love in the fall musical at East Troy High School.
The drama students are presenting Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” this weekend in the high school lecture hall.
For senior Katie Aldred, who is playing the lead character, Ariel, the musical was a dream come true.
“It’s so crazy I’m playing Ariel. Jodi Benson was the reason I wanted to start singing,” Aldred said.
Benson was the singing and speaking voice of Ariel in Disney’s 1989 animated version of “The Little Mermaid,” along with its sequel, prequel and television series spinoff.
Aldred said that her favorite song in the musical is “Part of Your World.”
“It’s so cliché, but I can’t help it. I love the song,” she said.
Matthew Gilgenbach is Prince Eric in the musical and while he has a couple of solos and is part of a quartet performance, he doesn’t get to kiss the girl.
“No kissing,” he said. “We come close … very close, but no kissing.”
“You get to hug me and dance with me and lift me, but no kiss,” Aldred added with a laugh. “It’s the money shot and we don’t get to see it.”
Senior Brooke Schubert got the coveted roll of Flounder and has enjoyed every moment of portraying Ariel’s companion fish.
“All of it is so much fun and anytime we get a new costume piece it just adds to the fun,” Schubert said. “Deb (Williamson) is great and works so hard on our costumes and everything.”
For the full story, see this week’s edition of the East Troy Times/News.
