Recently, Mackenzie Brown (’26) starred in Cherokee’s 2025 fall production of “The Little Mermaid” as Ariel. In the show, Brown’s character Ariel is the youngest daughter of Merman King Triton and longs to go to the surface to be part of the human world. She often collects thingamabobs, gizmos, and other fascinating human artifacts that have made their way to her. One of her most famous songs is called “Part of Your World.”
Brown began doing shows in second grade both outside of and inside school, participating in the DeMasi shows during her time at the middle school. Some of her favorite roles throughout her musical career have been Annie in “Annie,” Sharpay in “High School Musical,” Kim McAfee in “Bye Bye Birdie,” and Judy Hanes in “White Christmas.”
“The Little Mermaid” has been a special show, and Brown says that her favorite part has been “the community that it creates” because “all of my friends are in theater and I think that just goes to show how much being in theater makes you into, like, a family.”
Brown told us that she wanted to audition for the role of Ariel because of how special the character is for her. Ariel has been one of her favorite princesses since she was a little girl, not only because of her amazing songs but because of the energy and passion she exhibits as a character. That is something that Brown has been able to bring to the stage so well, making it clear why she was chosen for the role.
Other than Ariel, Brown says that her favorite character from “The Little Mermaid” is Scuttle.
“I think Scuttle’s really fun, and he has a fun song, ‘Positoovity.’”
The entire show turned out to be spectacular, but Brown had two specific things she was most excited for people to get the chance to see. Firstly, the sets, which the crew had been working hard on for months. Second, the “Positoovity” dance.
“It’s not in the movie,” she said, “so I think a lot of people will be pleasantly surprised with that song and dance.”
On a similar note, she told us that her favorite song to sing in the show is “Beyond My Wildest Dreams” because of its energy and because, as Brown explained, “I can be myself the whole song and run around the stage. It’s really fun, I like that song a lot.”
“Beyond My Wildest Dreams” is a song sung by Ariel about the excitement she feels after finally being in the human world. During this number, Ariel does not quite have her voice, so the song is instead done as if “her thoughts are in song form.” The song is upbeat and full of excitement, so it’s no wonder why Brown loves to perform it so much.
While she loves performing with her whole heart, Brown acknowledges the ups and downs of participating in theater.
Her favorite, she said, is “the fact that it lets me show other stories. Like, show stories that are important to today’s world, but also things that immerse people into other kinds of fairy tales or fantasy lands.”
She told us that her least favorite part is the “competition aspect of it. You’re competing for these roles with some of your closest friends. So that is the negative part of it, but the positives take over all of that stuff.”
Everybody who saw “The Little Mermaid” in December can agree that it was a huge success. The tech crews, orchestra, and of course the talented performers blew their audiences away. This show was so meaningful for many audience members, especially the little kids who came dressed as princesses to see such a special story come to life. Brown was the perfect Ariel, and she made it so special for these viewers.
