Mermaid in Miami
I was obsessed with Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” when I was a teenager. I know, that sound a little fishy. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist the pun.) Seriously though, I thought Ariel was adorable. I had quite the animated crush on the two-dimensional mermaid.
But as much as I loved the Disney cartoon, I also knew that it did not follow-through on the original ending. So, I began thinking of ways to revisit Hans Christian Andersen.
The result: Mermaid in Miami. On the one hand, this script is just as fun and silly as my other ones. But there are other things going on in this children’s play as well. For one, I based some of the conflict off of the crisis over Elia Gonzalez — the little boy who’s mother died trying to get them to Florida. The boy fell in love with his American relatives, but was then returned to his father in Cuba. Also in the play, an old-man-man-and-the-sea Ernest Hemmingway character. And finally, Breeze, the mermaid — she experiences a sad, but hopefully uplifting ending that is similar (but not entirely faithful) to the original story.
Sadly, the play hasn’t been performed to often. Here are the brave schools who have taken on this project. I salute each one of you!
JOHN ROLFE MIDDLE SCHOOL
RICHMOND, VA 11/21/2008
OAKLAND JR HIGH SCHOOL
LAKE ELMO, MN 10/25/2007
ST PETER SCHOOL
COVINGTON, LA 5/18/2007
DALLAS COUNTY HS
PLANTERSVILLE, AL 11/16/2006
DELTA JUNCTION SR HIGH
DELTA JUNCTION, AK 4/15/2006
EATONVILLE ELEM SCH
EATONVILLE, WA 4/20/2005
ACADEMY OF THE SACRED HEART
SAINT CHARLES, MO 3/19/2005
Learn more about Wade’s plays.
