Rachelle Ann Go and Erik Santos topbill 'The Little Mermaid'

Manila, Philippines - Atlantis Productions, which recently staged the hit musical Next to Normal and has Aida opening soon, has found its Ariel and Prince Eric for its upcoming staging of the Broadway Musical Disney’s The Little Mermaid, which runs from Nov. 18 to Dec. 11 at the Meralco Theatre.

Singing champions Rachelle Ann Go and Erik Santos will make their professional musical theater stage debut as Ariel and Prince Eric in Disney’s The Little Mermaid. Rachelle Ann Go is one of the most awarded singers of her generation. She was the grand winner of Search for a Star in 2004 and won the silver medal that same year at the Shanghai Music Festival. Go currently appears on GMA-7’s Party Pilipinas.

Erik Santos, on the other hand, is known as The Prince of Pop in Philippine entertainment. He shot to fame when he won the first Star in a Million competition on ABS-CBN. He has become a multi-awarded recording and concert artist and a mainstay of ASAP XV.

Based on one of the most-beloved Disney films of all time and the classic Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, Disney’s The Little Mermaid is the sparkling new Disney musical that has made a big splash on Broadway. Some of Disney’s most popular songs are featured in the show — including Part of Your World, Kiss the Girl, and the Academy Award-winning Best Original Song, Under the Sea — by the renowned songwriting team of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman. The stage adaptation also features 10 new songs by Menken and Glenn Slater, plus a book by Tony-winning playwright Doug Wright. It will be directed by Bobby Garcia and Chari Arespacochaga.

Bobby Garcia and Chari Arespacochaga were in Hawaii last year to take Asian Puppetry workshops, which will help them create many of the sea creatures.

“We are thrilled, once again, to bring another beloved Disney classic to Philippine stage. Disney’s The Little Mermaid started the renaissance of Disney’s animation department and features some of the most memorable songs written for an animation classic. We are creating Little Mermaid unlike any other. It will be an exciting fusion of East meets West elements. Our underwater kingdom will be completely Asian in theme and our above water world will be Western, representing two different worlds. We will also be using traditional forms of Asian and Western puppetry including Wayang shadow play, bunraku, nang kaloung and western hand puppetry. We can’t wait to begin,” Garcia enthuses.

Erik Santos makes his theater debut as Prince Eric.

 “Rachelle Ann possesses all the qualities of Ariel. She is spunky, adventurous, kind, generous and a dreamer. She also has one of the most beautiful voices we have heard. I am sure she will thrill audiences the way she thrilled us at auditions. I have known Erik since he started his career. He is one of the most hardworking and passionate performers around. He has an incredible singing voice. I am thrilled that he is finally making his musical theater debut as the Prince in The Little Mermaid,” he adds.

Atlantis Productions’ staging of Disney’s The Little Mermaid is made possible through a special licensing agreement with Music Theatre International.

Disney’s The Little Mermaid has choreography by Cecile Martinez; set design by Lex Marcos; costume design by Erik Pineda; lighting design by Jay Aranda; puppetry design and execution by Liz and Benny Batoctoy and Sam Fuentes; and vocal coaching by ManMan Angsico.

Atlantis Productions 2011 Season includes Aida from June 24 to July 10; In the Heights from Sept. 2 to 18; a repeat run of Next to Normal from Oct. 7 to 16; and Disney’s The Little Mermaid. Tickets are now on sale.

For inquiries, call 892-7078, 840-1187 or visit www.atlantisproductionsinc.com.