The Little Mermaid

About the Cast

Alica Benning (Arabelle) is so excited for her first production on the Hale stage! Her most recent role was Cinderella in a community production of Into the Woods. Other roles include Belle in Beauty and the Beast; Kaa in The Jungle Book; Mayzie in Seussical the Musical; Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz; Amaryllis in The Music Man. Alica is a high school junior and plans on a professional career in acting.

David Conover (Prince Frederick) is excited for his third performance with Hale Theatre after recently appearing in A Christmas Carol and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. He has been a performing arts major at Chandler Gilbert Community College. He starred in the Mikado as Nankypoo and appeared in Charlie Brown, Seussical, and Children of Eden.

Danica Heinkel (Wilhelmina) is excited to be in her first show at Hale Centere Theatre! She has performed in pervious shows with Ahwatukee Childrens Theare at Herberger Theatre in downtown Phoenix including: White Witch in Narnia, Eulalie Mckecknie Shinn in Music Man & Teen Angel in Grease just to name a few. She has also studied at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in Hollywood, California.

Nancy Button (Sea Witch) a native Idahoan who recently relocated to Gilbert. As she and her little family begin to settle in, Nancy has been mounting her comeback to theatre. Her recent debut as a manicurist in Born Yesterday here at the Hale got the juices flowing after a break since earning a BA in Theatre from BYU-Hawaii in 2005.

About the Authors

Karey was born in Monroe, Louisiana but spent the formative years of his life in Baton Rouge. It was there, at a performing arts high school, that he was first introduced to the arts. Starting as an actor, his pursuits eventually landed him on the streets of Walt Disney World's EPCOT Center where he performed improvisational, audience participatory street theater. As the desire to write moved to the fore, he applied and was accepted to the USC School of Cinema/Television's Filmic Writing Program where he won the Robert Riskin Screenwriting Award and Jack Nicholson Screenwriting Award. Immediately out of film school, he landed a job as a staff writer for three and a half years at Walt Disney Feature Animation where he co-wrote the screenplay for The Rescuers Down Under.

Since then, he's been working non-stop as a freelance screenwriter. His early writing credits include Walt Disney Pictures' Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves and James and the Giant Peach , and New Line's The Little Vampire.

In 1997, Karey teamed again with James and The Giant Peach executive producer Jake Eberts to write Chicken Run for Aardman Animations and Dreamworks SKG. Nominated for a Golden Globe award in 2001 for Best Picture, Musical or Comedy, Chicken Run has the distinction of being the best reviewed film of 2000.

Karey also wrote the screenplay adaptation of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, for Walt Disney Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment (May 2005).

Karey has a longstanding relationship Dreamworks Animation where he has contributed as a writer or story consultant on The Road To El Dorado , Spirit: Stallion of the Cimmeron , and Madagascar. In May of 2006, Dreamworks Animation released Over the Hedge for which Karey co-wrote the screenplay and made his directorial debut, sharing the credit with Tim Johnson.

Most recently, Karey co-wrote the screenplay of E.B. White's classic Charlotte's Web (Dec 2006) for Paramount Pictures. He produced and co-wrote The Spiderwick Chronicles for Paramount/Nickelodeon, and in 2007 made his live-action directing debut on Imagine That (Paramount) which stars Eddie Murphy and Thomas Haden Church.

Karey lives and works in Pacific Palisades, CA with his wife, Nada and three children, Sami, Maia and Finn.

Performance dates and times

July 10 to November 27, 2010. Performances are Saturday Mornings at 11:00 AM.

Prices

$11 for Children and $13 for Adults Tickets may be purchased online at www.haletheatrearizona.com or by calling the Box Office at (480) 497-1181.

Box Office Hours

Monday through Wednesday: 10:00 am to 5:00 pm

Thursday through Saturday 10:00 am to 7:30 pm