The Little Mermaid

About the Project

NOTE: We made the run time 2 hours to give you time to get seated before the show and to leave after, without effecting the rest of your Fringe schedule. The show runtime is less than 90 minutes xo

Burlesque & Chill’s The Little Mermaid takes audiences through the story of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid through burlesque, dance, our sea witch host, and incredible, live covers by The Teasers of pop, jazz and rock songs. This time, rather than being a story filled with repression, religiosity, shame, and self-inflicted retaliation against her metaphorical queer identity, Burlesque & Chill’s merperson finds love, acceptance, and queer joy. 

Shows:

• Saturday, June 20th – 6:30pm
• Sunday, June 21st – 12:30pm

The Little Mermaid Act I:

The sea creatures celebrate a young merperson’s birthday. Pansy St Battie, our Little Merperson, is about to finally be old enough to swim up to the surface to see the shore for their first time. The Little Merperson’s sisters shower them in flowers before they swim to the surface and see sunbathers on the beach, eating In-n-Out and playing in the sand. As The Little Merperson starts to head back, the weather turns stormy and a ship throws someone into the waves. The Little Merperson saves them and brings them back to shore, but swims away quickly as people start to notice the washed up human struggling to catch their breath. The Little Merperson instantly fell in love with the drowning stranger and wants desperately to be with the humans. They make a deal with a sea witch to gain legs in exchange for their voice. The Sea Witch, Mae Lust, explains that The Little Merperson must get a true love’s kiss in 48 hours in order to become fully human and leave the merpeople forever. If they don’t get true loves kiss, they will perish into sea foam, never to see their sisters again.

The Little Mermaid Act II:

The little merperson wobbles onto shore where they’re found by the stranger who turns out to be a prince. The Prince, Mauro Cuchi, brings the Little Merperson into the castle to stay. The Little Merperson’s sisters call to them, but they ignores them. The Little Merperson believes the Prince is falling in love with them. The last day the Little Merperson can get the kiss, the Prince is having a beach party. At the party, the Prince and Pansy chat it up while party-goers boogey down until a Hot Maiden, Xochii de la Noche, enters the party. Suddenly, the Prince is distracted from the Little Merperson who is heartbroken that they’ve been rejected. The Little Merperson’s sisters call out again. The Sea Witch gives the Little Merperson a knife to kill the Prince for misleading them. 

The Little Merperson has resigned to knowing they will soon dissipate into ocean foam. They sneak into the prince’s quarters to see the Prince one last time. The Prince is cuddling with the Hot Madien in bed, happily in love.

You’ll have to join us to see if the Little Merperson kills the Prince, or perishes.

Burlesque & Chill’s Adaptation:

Burlesque & Chill’s The Little Mermaid adaptation provides a fun, joyful evening where audiences can experience a world where our fantasies can come true and we can love whoever we want without fear of exile from our community or political retaliation.