The Little Mermaid Closes on Broadway

Disney's The Little Mermaid concludes its run at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre today. The musical, based on the Disney animated film of the same name (which in turn was based off the Hans Christian Andersen tale), opened in January 2008 and has played over 700 performances. Although The Little Mermaid was one of Disney's most acclaimed and beloved animated movies, the stage musical version did not fare as well. Having run less than two years, The Little Mermaid is one of Disney on Broadway's least successful ventures so far, begging the question of whether or not the company is beginning to reach a saturation point. Nonetheless, Mary Poppins and especially The Lion King both continue to run strong on Broadway, so Disney fans still have more than one film-turned-stage-musical to choose from.

High School Musical Reality TV Show Debuts

ABC's new reality show based on the hit Disney franchise High School Musical debuts on TV tonight, July 20. Hosted by Nick Lachey, High School Musical: Get in the Picture has contestants competing through a series of High School Musical-themed singing and dancing challenges. The winner of the reality TV series will get a guest spot in a music video to be shown at the end of High School Musical 3: Senior Year (due in theaters October 24) and will also get to record two singles for Walt Disney Records.