Go Under the Sea with the Stars of THE LITTLE MERMAID LIVE- Watch Tonight at 8pm!

Hello, I'm Michael Sterling with Broadway World TV

Welcome. We are here at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, for a very special occasion

interviewing the stars of the all-new Little Mermaid Live. And it will be airing, of course, on November 5th, 8 p.m. on the ABC Television Network

So get your family there and cozy up and take a look at this magnificent production

We're going to be talking to the stars as they come down. The Blue Carpet here in Burbank

So stay tuned. So I'm standing here with a man that you certainly know, Graham Phillips

He has been acting since he was nine years old and he has done it all. He was on Broadway in the musical 13

Yes, when I was 15. When you were 15? Yes, I was lying to everyone

Oh. And then you got into television. Shortly after that? Yeah, right after 13 closed, I booked The Good Wife

so I did that for six, seven years, and went after college at a few films

and I'm happy to be doing something live and musical again. What do you think

Do you think this is going to be one of the highlights of your career? It's definitely going to be up there

I mean, you know, I've done a lot of live theater before, but never, you know, broadcast it to however many millions of people are tuning in

So it definitely adds some stakes onto it. But, you know, it feels to me just

like a really joyous experience. I mean, it's nice to finally go back to something that's

involving my singing. It's been a minute. And singing was like my first artistic love. And so

it's nice to be doing it again. I heard you say to one of the other reporters that because of the

conditions of the fires here in Los Angeles and the smoke that was in the air, etc., which has

finally left us, that it did affect your voice. Yeah, you know, I didn't think that, you know

all that dryness and the smoke would affect it that much. But it really did. You know, I was, we were

rehearsing pretty heavily and I just, I woke up the next day and it was, it wasn't totally lost

but it was darn close. And so I got a little nervous then for the first time about this thing

I was like, well, you know, I can not be nervous as much as I can, but that doesn't help much when you

don't have a voice. So the very, very fact that the production is being shot live, is it daunting

Going back to what you said, millions of people will be watching you and you're singing live and

what's that feel like or do you just have a place where you put that to rest while you're in the role

Well I think it easy to think about all the you know thousands of different little things that could go wrong But I also sort of thinking about how bad would it be The worst thing I can really do is rob myself of the joy of being up there

singing this beautiful music that Alan Minkin wrote, this beautiful orchestra, and suddenly I'm focused on all these negative things

It's like, you know, this is such a celebration. It's such a, you know, the team's done such a good job of making it such a joyous environment

And so it's honestly just pretty easy to focus on the positive and have a good time out there

Under the sea Under the sea Darling it's better Don't hear it's wetter

Take it from me Take it from him That's my opera version

So it's such an interesting and wonderful concept which they were put together

You know part animation part live Never been done before I was a little in the dark

About how it would work Yesterday for the first time I've actually seen it

got the opportunity to see it on screen. I've seen how the set was, and okay, it's beautiful

You know, I've seen all the puppets and things going around. I was like, okay, this is really, really cool just by being here

But then when I saw it on screen, it really just pops. I really had a woe mount, a woe moment right there

Since this is a Broadway venture and you're participating in it, do you have any thoughts about trying to actually go to Broadway

with something else, a musical of some sort? I mean, I've never really thought about it

But, you know, I never thought about being a little mermaid and doing this either

So kind of if it comes by and I feel, and it feels right, if it feels right, I'll go with it

So how much fun are you having doing this piece here? I've been having a blast doing it

To do a new character in a Disney classic is just, that's really, really, really fun

It's a really great role to tackle. That is. That is awesome

Making history, in other words. Yes, a little bit. A little bit. So out of all of the many things that you've done, what are your theater credits that you hold closest to your heart

Oh my gosh. So my first experience with theater was at the Los Angeles Opera, and I did this fun show called Mystery on the Docks where I played a mouse

And that was my first taste of theater. And you were hooked

And I was hooked. And my favorite in most world that I'm known for is playing Effie White on the West End

in Dreamgirls. Fantastic. Yeah, I can see that. I'd pay a ticket for that

Yeah, I hope so. So I think that this project being so unusual in nature

right, will probably be high on your list. Yeah absolutely Little Mermaid is an iconic movie And being able to see these songs live and seeing all the actors kind of give their interpretation of what they feel that it would be

It's just an amazing, amazing thing. You are remarkable, really. Anything that you do, I saw you do cabaret on Broadway and was so blown away that I thought you were better than Joel Gray

Forgive me, Mr. Gray. But, no, seriously. Well, thank you. I mean, I really have to tap into all that experience to bring to this

this little mermaid. In fact, I remember, you know, cabaret for one, they said, do you want to do it

Okay. And I sat, watched in the audience, I go, what am I going to do? How am I going to pull this off

Same thing with Chef Louis. I remember thinking, like, I don't, and then I, the day of, I did it at the Hollywood Bowl

Yes. And I said, my assistant, go get a big mustache, give me a beret. And then I just sort of found this oddball character

And now I've had the chance to go deeper with it and go, I mean, he's insane, this guy

think when you see it, you'll go like, whoa. You know, like maybe when you did cabaret

O'I and I have the same singing teacher and Graham. But Ali, he said

John Stamos is playing the fat, weird chef, you know, and now she sees it, she goes, ah, yeah

So do you think you got your feet with it at the Hollywood Bowl? Yeah, I think that was helpful

because I really found the character there, and now I can, you know, expand on it here

It's such an interesting concept that they have put together, and the Bull production was the inspiration

I think so. Yeah, this is, in my opinion, and Neil and Craig, the guys that do the other musicals are my best friends, and Craig passed away

But I think this is the way to do it, because everything that you love about the movie is intact, 100%

And we're just sort of adding an extra memory, a sweet cherry on top of it

Because you'll see the movie, and then the screen will come up, and we'll just burst out into the audience

And it's, my guess is that they'll keep doing these. I bet it does well

and I bet the next one they do is Beauty and the Beast and I bet I'm going to play the candle stick guy

That's a French accent. I got one accent. But I think being from the theater

I think you guys will really respect what they're doing here and think like, oh, that's a smart way to do these

John, thank you so much for talking to us. Thank you. Thank you. You look great, too

Tell us what the experience is like for you. Oh, it's been really incredible

I, again, didn't not think that I would be so blessed to be able to play not one Disney Princess, but now two

And both of them related to the water, strangely enough. But it's been a blast. Yes, I get to put on this iconic red wink

sing the beautiful classic songs, and really just have a blast. We had the pleasure of watching a little bit of her rehearsal last night You did Yeah just a little bit Yeah Do you like it Yeah loved it Oh good Oh good So and your relationship with Prince Eric

Yes, Graham is fantastic. Yes, he is. He's also a very young man

So of all the things that you've done in your career, because you haven't worked in this medium for very long. No

But when did you start working? Did you do theater? I was a part of my theater class in high school

school. I sang in my church and school choir. I did not do much in high school or anything like that. So I think I've just saved myself for this incredible career that I didn't know that I'd have, but I'm very grateful to have it. Before we go, we have a very special clip that we want to show you. I had the opportunity last night to observe the rehearsal of the show and then had the opportunity, surprisingly enough, to talk to the executive producers

Let's take a look at that clip and hear what they have to say. Well, here we are on the soundstage 2 on the Disney lot for the shooting of The Little Mermaid

These are two of the executive producers, Raj, my friend Raj. We've been friends for about five minutes now

Chris, a little longer, about 20 minutes. So what is this experience like for you

I mean, this experience has been probably one of the most fun projects that I think the entire team's ever worked on

It's been almost two years in development. and we are more than excited to bring it to life

And for you, Chris? It is definitely, it's my favorite project I've ever worked on. It's so special

We have the most unbelievably talented teams. Raj Kapoor is like one of the greatest creative directors in the world

Our director, Hamish Hamilton, is unbelievably creative. So it's a really special experience

Well, it's also a very special time because the movie anniversary is coming up in November

Yes. 30 years. 30 years. And that's why we're celebrating it. in a totally unique way

Now, the Hollywood Bowl production, was that inspirational in any sort of way

to do what you're doing with this show? Absolutely. It's actually the reason that we're doing this

It's because of the Hollywood Bowl and Richard Kraft brought the idea to ABC

and we're doing basically something very similar to what they did at the Hollywood Bowl. But yeah

it is the reason that we're doing this. Fantastic. Yeah, but definitely a lot more production

You know, it's kind of the Hollywood Bowl, but supersized. And a bigger budget

Thank you for watching, ladies and gentlemen. We'll see you soon on Broadway World TV