Review of Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch

So when I had the chance to go and review Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch, of course I jumped at the chance to see the musical parody that tells a story of my favourite villain.

Now first up, if you’re a Disney fan who has issues with changes to one of the Disney Renaissance classics, then this is not going to be something you enjoy, and also, it’s a 15 rating so it’s best to leave the youngsters at home.

The focus of the story is Ursula, the sea witch (Image: Pamela Raith)

But what can I say other than how much fun it was. From start to finish there were a lot of adult jokes and innuendos and of course pop culture references.

Said references range from fun quips about Etsy and Prettylittlething to Ratatouille and Matt Hancock. There’s a lot of fourth wall breaking and at times, it has a panto feel about it.

Every member of the small cast was absolutely outstanding. Shawna Hamic put in an incredible performance as Ursula. Now nothing will beat Pat Carroll voicing the iconic villain but Shawna definitely sits right alongside her for bringing the perfect energy and spirit to the role.

The cast performed extremely well (Image: Pamela Raith)

River Medway puts on a hilarious performance as Ariel, using great over-the-top acting to emphasise the princess’ thoughts after losing her voice. Another hilarious performance came from Jamie Mawson who turned Prince Eric into a comedic, panto-style character but played it with such grandeur befitting a childish prince.

Thomas Lowe was probably the highlight for me as he played Triton through the ages - bringing a very 70s Adam Ant vibe to everything, including his rock ballads and his powerful voice definitely could be a future Phantom.

It usually takes a lot to play one character on stage, but to play multiple characters (including at the same time) takes something special and Allie Dart and Julian Capolei did this perfectly. Allie particularly as she switched between Sebastian and the chef, and Julian between Grimsby and Vanessa. Both also starred as Flotsam and Jetsam, Ursula’s beloved companions.

River Medway stars as Ariel (Image: Pamela Raith)

The ensemble cast were also great, working with and without various props and puppets.

Musically, we get everything from rapping to power ballads and the really catchy “We Didn’t Make it to Disney.” However, one issue was with the mixing of the sound because at times, when you had multiple cast members singing at the same time, it was difficult to hear the lead vocals, especially with the music playing over the top. If they slightly turned down the music and adjusted the volume on the main and backing vocals to better allow for the vocals to shine through it would have been perfect.

Now throughout this review I’ve avoided talking too much about the story because I don’t want to spoil it but I love the way Unfortunate portrays Ursula becoming a giant version of herself before getting 'killed' (the movie has been out for 35 years so that isn't a spoiler).

Considering the obvious challenges of creating a huge Ursula, it’s done really well with lighting and props.

I won’t say too much more as it is a lot more fun if you go into it not fully knowing what to expect, just know to expect a lot of hilarity, cool dance scenes and props, fabulous costumes and of course, the story of a fantastic witch.

Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch is at Cardiff’s Newport Theatre until May 11.