Description: When you are staying so close to Broadway you really can't pass up an opportunity to watch a Broadway show. we really wanted to watch the Lion King, however there were no tickets available for the night we were there. So we had a think and decided to go and see The Little Mermaid, which was showing at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on West 46th Street. We managed to get tickets for $40 each, which we didn't think was too bad. We just wandered up to the box office and asked, I'm sure that there are many other ways in which to get tickets, but we hadn't been too organised and booked anything prior to visiting.
The theatre itself has been standing in one form or another since 1910, but it's current look and continued use as a Broadway Theatre began in the late 1950s. It can seat over 1400 people and is currently run by the Nederlander Organization. In the past they have shown other Disney shows such as Beauty & the Beast, but like I already said when we visited in 2009 they were showing the Little Mermaid. I've just done a quick online search and found that this show will be ending at the end of August 2011, so if you want to see it you will have to be quick.
We arrived 40 minutes before our performance started and had to wait in a queue for a few minutes, but it wasn't too bad and the excitement of being on Broadway overrode any kind of boredom. Soon we were inside in the lobby, which had been painted with the names of the people who died in the titanic disaster, apparently this was the show before the one we were seeing (otherwise it did seem rather random). We found our way to our seats easily enough and we were sat on the balcony and despite being almost at the back we had a really good view of the stage, no pillars or anything like that in the way.
The show itself was amazing, the cast were brilliant actors and we got lost under the sea for a couple of hours. The sets were also very good and quite inventive, especially the ones designed to look like you were going under the sea. The story is the same as the Disney Little Mermaid film, so there is not much point in telling you all about it, but we thought that it was a fantastic adaptation that was thoroughly enjoyable to use grown ups and the little children sat in front of us alike.
The interior of the theatre was comfortable, we didn't get grumpy and uncomfortable in our seats and were able to become thoroughly absorbed into the show. There were a couple of impressive chandeliers that sets the tone of the place nicely. The temperature was controlled nicely and we didn't get too hot or too cold thorughout the show, which was good.
All in all a lovely Broadway theatre and a fantastic show, try and get in to see a show here!
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