The Muny Announces Starring Cast for Disney’s ‘The Little Mermaid’

ST. LOUIS — Savy Jackson, Michael Maliakel, Nicole Parker, Christopher Sieber, Ben Davis, Fergie L. Philippe, Jen Cody, Kennedy Kanagawa, Adam Fane and Rich Pisarkiewicz will star in the Muny production of Disney’s The Little Mermaid, which runs July 8-16 on the James S. McDonnell Stage in Forest Park.

The show’s creative team is led by Director John Tartaglia, with Choreographer Patrick O’Neill and Music Director Annbritt duChateau. Disney’s The Little Mermaid is proudly sponsored by Edward Jones.

“Disney’s The Little Mermaid is a moving story about the complex and beautiful bond between fathers and daughters,” said Muny Artistic Director & Executive Producer Mike Isaacson. “Audience members of all ages have let us know how much they love this wonderful musical. There’s something about the music of Alan Menken that — on our stage, with the stars in the sky — opens everybody’s hearts.”

SAVY JACKSON (Ariel) most recently made their Broadway debut in the original company of Bad Cinderella, starring in the titular role every Sunday. Other credits include the national tour of Once on This Island, Marian in Hood (Asolo Repertory Theatre) and Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (Geva Theatre). Savy is a singer/songwriter currently working on their debut EP and can also be seen in the upcoming Max feature Sweethearts.

MICHAEL MALIAKEL (Prince Eric) Michael is currently in his third year in the title role in Disney’s Aladdin on Broadway. National tour: The Phantom of the Opera. New York: Anything Can Happen: The Songs of Maury Yeston. Regional: Sunset Boulevard (The Kennedy Center), Other World (Bucks County Playhouse), Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding (Berkeley Repertory), She Loves Me (PlayMakers Rep), Bernstein’s Mass (Ravinia Festival with Chicago Symphony). TV: Bull (CBS), Broadway’s Brightest Lights with Megan Hilty and Nikki Renée Daniels (PBS), An Evening With Lerner & Loewe (PBS), FBI (CBS). Concerts: Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, National Philharmonic, Tallahassee Symphony, American Pops Orchestra, Savannah Philharmonic, Albany Symphony.

NICOLE PARKER (Ursula) made her Broadway debut in Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me. Other Broadway credits include Elphaba in Wicked and The People in the Picture with Donna Murphy. Off-Broadway, Nicole played Celine Dion in Titanique and Bea in These Paper Bullets at Atlantic Theater Company. She appeared again as Elphaba in the first national tour of Wicked. Regional: How to Succeed … (Rosemary, Reprise) and Funny Girl (Fanny, 3-D Theatricals, L.A. Ovation Award for Best Actress). Nicole was a series regular and contributing writer on Mad TV for six years. Other TV/film includes Key & Peele, Hot in Cleveland and Us. She has appeared as a guest vocalist with many symphonies including The Cincinnati Pops, National Symphony Orchestra and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. She co-hosts an improvised comedy podcast with Paul F. Tompkins called The Neighborhood Listen.

CHRISTOPHER SIEBER (Chef Louis) Recent Muny: Annie (Oliver Warbucks), Jesus Christ Superstar (King Herod). Broadway: Company, The Prom, Matilda, Pippin, La Cage aux Folles, Shrek (Tony, Drama Desk, Drama League, Outer Critics nominations), Monty Python’s Spamalot (Tony nomination and West End Production), Chicago, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Into the Woods, Disney’s Beauty and The Beast, Triumph of Love. TV: Blue Bloods, Law & Order: SVU, The Good Wife, The Good Fight, Elementary, Ed, Sex and the City, Pushing Daisies, It’s All Relative, Two of a Kind and lots of daytime TV, including Guiding Light, All My Children and Another World, where his many recurring characters never went anywhere.

BEN DAVIS (King Triton) Muny: Sweeney Todd (Sweeney), 1776 (Dickinson), Guys and Dolls (Sky), Jesus Christ Superstar (Pilate), Oklahoma! (Curly), South Pacific (Emile), Spamalot (Galahad). Broadway: 2003 Tony Honor for La Bohème (Marcello), Dear Evan Hansen (Larry, standby), Violet (Preacher), A Little Night Music, Les Misérables (Javert and Enjolras), Thoroughly Modern Millie (Trevor Graydon). Tours: The Sound of Music (Georg von Trapp), Spamalot (Galahad). UK: BBC Proms Kiss Me, Kate (Fred/Petruchio). Concerts: La Scala (Italy), Caramoor Center, Philly Pops, Boston Pops at Tanglewood, LA Phil, RTÉ (Ireland) and many others. TV/film: The Game, Law & Order: SVU, Chicago Fire, Blue Bloods, A Hand of Bridge, The Magic Flute, 30 Rock, Numb3rs.

FERGIE L. PHILIPPE (Sebastian) Past Muny shows: Legally Blonde (Emmett Forest), Jesus Christ Superstar. Broadway: Hamilton (Hercules Mulligan, James Madison), Camelot (Sir Sagramore, u/s King Arthur). Off-Broadway: The Connector (Bob Henshaw, Willis Taylor). National tour: Hamilton (Hercules Mulligan, James Madison). TV/film: The Good Fight, The Gilded Age, Law & Order: SVU, Space Cadet.

JEN CODY (Scuttle) was last seen at The Muny as Charlotte in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella. Other Muny roles include Gypsy (Tessie Tura), Young Frankenstein (Elizabeth), The Addams Family (Grandma), Hello, Dolly! (Kevin Kline Award for Best Supporting Actress), The Pajama Game (Mae) and Peter Pan (Tiger Lily). Broadway: A Christmas Story, Shrek, The Pajama Game, Taboo, Urinetown, Seussical, Beauty and The Beast, Grease and Cats. Off-Broadway: Ghost, Cleopatra, The Wild Party, Judith of Bethulia, and Henry and Mudge (Drama League nomination). Film: Her voice appears in many cartoons, including her award-winning role as Charlotte La Bouff in Disney’s The Princess and The Frog, for which she received the Annie Award (voiceover “Oscar”), Lucky Stiff and Khumba. TV: New Amsterdam, The Good Fight, Younger, Instinct, Bull, Blue Bloods, Shrek Live, Unforgettable, American Dad, Mickey and the Roadster Racers, Phineas and Ferb, P. King Duckling, Winx Club, Robot and Monster, Law & Order.

KENNEDY KANAGAWA (Flotsam) He recently made his Broadway debut as Milky White in the critically acclaimed 2022 revival of Into the Woods, for which he received Drama Desk and Clive Barnes nominations. Off-Broadway: White Rose (Theatre Row), Dinner With Georgette (NY Theatre Workshop), Saturday Night (Second Stage), The Good Swimmer (Brooklyn Academy of Music), Lolita, My Love (York Theatre Company). Tour: Into the Woods. Regional: Waitress (Ogunquit Playhouse), Tiananmen (Phoenix Theatre Company), Eastbound (Village Theatre), Gold Mountain (Utah Shakespeare Festival), Last Ship to Proxima Centauri (Portland Stage).

ADAM FANE (Jetsam) National tour: Rock of Ages, Regional: Jim Hensen’s Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas (Chicago), Ms. Blakk for President (Steppenwolf), Campy (Goodman), Shrek, Gypsy, Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Ride the Cyclone (premiere, Chicago Shakespeare Theater), Little Shop of Horrors, Into the Woods, The Producers, Disney’s The Little Mermaid (Paramount Theatre), Jersey Boys (Norwegian), Billy Elliot (Porchlight Music Theatre), Chicago (Mason Street Warehouse), Cabaret (Theatre at the Center), Alice in Wonderland (Marriott Theatre), First Date (premiere, Royal George Theatre), Sex Tips for Straight Women from a Gay Man (Chicago premiere and Edinburgh Fringe Festival), Jersey Boys, Spamalot, Pippin and Avenue Q (Mercury Theater Chicago). Film: Canal Street, Finding Franklin, In Bloom. TV: Chicago PD (NBC).

RICH PISARKIEWICZ (Grimsby) Rich began his Muny career in 1980 in South Pacific, starring Florence Henderson. Since then, he has had the opportunity to work with many talented artists both on and off the Muny stage. 2024 marks his 44th Muny season, and Disney’s The Little Mermaid is his 87th Muny production. This past off-season, Rich was privileged to host the historic seven-part series Moments: A Muny Original Docuseries. Regionally, Rich has worked at Stages St. Louis, The Rep, Shakespeare Festival, The Black Rep, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and Variety Children’s Theatre. Rich has been a member of Actors’ Equity Association since 1979, beginning with his portrayal of Richard Henry Lee in 1776 for Summerstage at Lindenwood College.

The role of Flounder, remaining cast and creative team for Disney’s The Little Mermaid will be announced later. The Telsey Office is the official casting partner of The Muny.

The Muny artistic staff includes Artistic Director & Executive Producer Mike Isaacson, Associate Artistic Director Michael Baxter, Production Manager Tracy Utzmyers and Music Supervisor Michael Horsley.

Disney’s The Little Mermaid has a book by Doug Wright, music by Alan Menken, and lyrics by Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater. The beloved tale, previously produced at The Muny in 2011 and 2017, centers on young Ariel, who yearns to venture beyond her underwater home and go where the people are, up on land. The enchanting musical includes tunes from Disney’s 1989 animated film, such as “Under the Sea,” “Kiss the Girl” and “Poor Unfortunate Souls.”  

Performances of Disney’s The Little Mermaid begin at 8:15 p.m. nightly, July 8-16. Season tickets are on sale now at muny.org, by calling (314) 361-1900 or at the Muny Box Office in Forest Park. Single-performance tickets go on sale May 20.

Season 106 at The Muny also includes Les Misérables (June 17-23), Dreamgirls (June 27-July 3), Fiddler on the Roof (July 19-25), Waitress (July 30-Aug. 5), In the Heights (Aug. 9-15) and Anything Goes (Aug. 19-25).

To learn more about the Muny production of Disney’s The Little Mermaid and the show’s history, visit muny.org/show/the-little-mermaid.

For actor headshots, show logos, video and other assets, visit the Muny Press Room at muny.org/press.

The Muny’s mission is to enrich lives by producing exceptional musical theatre, accessible to all, while continuing its remarkable tradition in Forest Park. As the nation’s oldest, largest outdoor musical theatre, we welcome more than 350,000 theatregoers each summer for seven world-class productions. Now celebrating 106 seasons in St. Louis, The Muny remains one of the premier institutions in musical theatre. For more information, visit muny.org.