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Men play Disney roles here for broad laughs

Disney's animated villainesses are over-the-top in every respect: unstoppably selfish, incredibly cruel, astonishingly willing to scheme to make their wicked dreams come true.

Not to mention the way they look.

Ever since such vintage evildoers as Snow White's murderous stepmother and Princess Aurora's nemesis Maleficent in "Sleeping Beauty," Disney villainesses have run to power-crazed glamour girls with serious boundary issues.

Two deliciously poisonous examples can be found at St. Louis musical theaters, with "The Little Mermaid" opening Wednesday (not the usual Monday) at the Muny and "101 Dalmatians" winding up its run at Stages.

And both of them are played by men.

Leigh Wakeford plays Cruella De Vil, a fashion freak lusting for a coat made out of puppies. Ursula the Sea Witch is played by Paul Vogt, who made his Muny debut in the 2009 production of "Hairspray." That time, he played Tracy Turnblad's shy, loving mother, Edna.

Edna Turnblad is always played by a man — Harvey Fierstein on Broadway, John Travolta in the movie, Divine in the nonmusical John Waters movie that got the "Hairspray" ball rolling.

A drag artist who was Waters' muse, Divine was the visual inspiration for Ursula in Disney's 1989 animated movie, said Paul Blake, the Muny's executive producer. Blake is directing "The Little Mermaid" here.

The Muny "Mermaid" is one of just three productions of the show that Disney has licensed. When it closed on Broadway in 2009, after a run of less than two years, it had mixed reviews, some focusing on a decision to have the actors skate to simulate the motion of swimming. (Nobody will skate at the Muny.)

This summer's productions here, in Wichita, Kan., and in Ivins, Utah, are widely seen as a chance to get the show back on its … flippers. If that succeeds, "Little Mermaid" might join Disney hit "Beauty and the Beast" as a staple of the family stage.

Blake says the show at the Muny will have a lot in common with the Broadway production — notably its fabulous costumes, many of which will be in the show here. But there will be differences, too.

"Movement is not the focus of this production," Blake said. "It's about spectacle and music, story and character. I think that's a lot."

Blake said he knew from the start that he wanted to cast Ursula with a man, even though on Broadway the character was created by Sherie Rene Scott .

"She's very talented, but Ursula is obviously Divine, with (actress) Pat Carroll's manly voice," Blake said. "Besides, it's fantasy. Kids play dress up all the time, so why not?

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