Abby Disney, a junior at Wiesbaden High School and one of two performers cast as Ariel in the theater department's production of "The Little Mermaid," applies makeup backstage prior to a final dress rehearsal in front of friends and family members Feb. 18, 2016. (Dan Stoutamire/Stars and Stripes)
Abby Disney, a junior at Wiesbaden High School and one of two performers cast as Ariel in the theater department's production of "The Little Mermaid," applies makeup backstage prior to a final dress rehearsal in front of friends and family members Feb. 18, 2016. (Dan Stoutamire/Stars and Stripes)
Colby Day, a senior at Wiesbaden High School and the sound engineer for the school's production of "The Little Mermaid," adjusts levels on a sound board before the cast takes the stage Feb. 18, 2016. Nearly 100 students are involved in the production, including the orchestra and crew. (Dan Stoutamire/Stars and Stripes)
Alex English, a junior at Wiesbaden High School, warms up his vocal cords prior to a final dress rehearsal of "The Little Mermaid," Feb. 18, 2016. English plays the wisecracking crab Sebastian in the production, one of the school's first since winning a Wiesbaden-wide arts competition last year against more than 30 other high schools. (Dan Stoutamire/Stars and Stripes)
Kelly Champlain, a senior at Wiesbaden High School and the stage manager for the school's production of "The Little Mermaid," moves a piece of the set into place prior to a final dress rehearsal of the play, held in front of friends and family. Special guests from German high schools and the Leonardo Project, which supports the arts in the area, were in attendance at the rehearsal. (Dan Stoutamire/Stars and Stripes)
Nik Rivera, left, places a wig on Hannah Cornish, a junior at Wiesbaden High School who plays the antagonist Ursula in the school's production of "The Little Mermaid," Feb. 18, 2016. Rivera and Cornish were preparing for a final dress rehearsal in front of friends and family members, the culmination of eight weeks of practice and rehearsals. (Dan Stoutamire/Stars and Stripes)
Jana Clark, a sophomore at Wiesbaden High School, applies makeup before the school theater department's ''soft open'' - a final dress rehearsal in front of friends and family members - of its latest production, the Disney classic "The Little Mermaid." The drama club won first prize in the 2015 Leonardo Project - against more than 30 Wiesbaden-area high schools - for best theatrical production for its adaptation of "Aida." (Dan Stoutamire/Stars and Stripes)
Nik Rivera, left, places a wig on Sophia Antillon, a senior at Wiesbaden High School who is one of two students playing the protagonist Ariel in the school's production of "The Little Mermaid," Feb. 18, 2016. Rivera and Antillon were preparing for a final dress rehearsal in front of friends and family members, the culmination of eight weeks of practice and rehearsals. (Dan Stoutamire/Stars and Stripes)
WIESBADEN, Germany — Students from Department of Defense Education Activity schools in Wiesbaden launch their production of “The Little Mermaid,” Friday, the first in a series of weekend performances that run through the first week of March.
Nearly 100 students — mainly from Wiesbaden High School but also some from Wiesbaden Middle School and elementary schools — will put on their musical theater adaptation of the movie of the same name, which is itself based on a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen.
“We’ve been thinking we need to do a family show and holding our breath hoping the rights to ‘Little Mermaid’ would be released,” said Christopher Harbach, Wiesbaden High’s theater director. The rights were released in November, he said. “We’re the first amateur production anywhere in Europe to do this play.”
The musical will be performed in the high school multipurpose room Friday through Saturday and the weekends of Feb. 19-21 and March 3-5. Performances are at 7 p.m., except Feb. 21 and 28, when they’re at 2 p.m.
Wiesbaden High’s theater program, which began in earnest only a few years ago, has established an impressive pedigree. Last year it won the 3,000-euro top prize for theatrical production for the play “Aida” in the Leonardo Project, a Wiesbaden arts organization. More than 30 German high schools competed along with the DODES school. Some of that prize money was spent on the set and costume design for this year’s show, Harbach said.
