Technology built into the theater aboard Disney’s cruise ship The Wish has given creative teams the ability to produce three Broadway-caliber shows on the ocean.
Roy Rita, lighting designer for the productions “Disney Seas the Adventure,” “Disney the Little Mermaid,” and “Disney’s Aladdin – A Musical Spectacular,” says the theater’s advanced LED system helped the crew maximize design possibilities. “This provides us with the highest degree of diversity [of] It looks possible, allowing for deep, lush colors as well as subtle tints,” notes Rita. “It also allows us to dial in the subtle color of light that compliments every choice of fabric, paint color, and makeup color.”
In a process that Kelly Benton, who produces the three shows, calls “light painting,” the designs draw attention to specific areas within the production. Citing “The Little Mermaid” as an example, Benton points to “under the sea” moments that feature blue and green that would make costume colors appear choppy or create a black-light-style effect where they glow distractingly. But stage technology, such as an overhead lighting palette on the floor, can highlight bright costumes, like those worn by the Ariel sisters, giving them a pop of color. You see these colours [light] “Columns stand out and bounce off the set and fashion,” says Benton.
Building on the standard color palette that illuminates production designer Robert Brill’s fixed pieces, including boulder, sandcastle, and treasure chest, the lighting design can transform objects by suggesting, for example, a sun-soaked boulder; The projections can help the audience see the same rock that appears to be under the sea. As you move the pieces around the set, the included trackers ensure that video shows move with them, no matter where they end up on stage.
Some costumes come with a little bit of magic, too. To accomplish Ariel’s onstage transition from mermaid to human, stylist Kristen Burchett Butler created a special tail with a series of snaps and hidden versions of actor Stephanie Zaharis. As Ursula’s followers cross the stage around Ariel, they effect the dramatic transition, revealing the zahari’s legs under a simple skirt.
Benton adds that the stunt tail is indistinguishable from the original costume. “No one knows the difference,” he says.
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