Is there a play that speaks to Miami right now better than "The Little Mermaid"?
Maybe the idea of an underwater city isn’t why Giancarlo Rodaz decided to stage it at the Arsht Center. But he is the first person outside Broadway to put on a play based on the Disney musical.
As the director, Giancarlo had a vision for it. The show creatively put the audience under the sea without spilling a drop of water. It’s an immersive experience of light and sound and a cast that floats into the crowd. It runs through the end of the month.
Giancarlo is a Miami native and the new artistic director at one of South Florida’s best theater companies, Miami’s Area Stage. He literally grew up in the theater — his dad founded the company. His parents met there.
Giancarlo made theater his life. And he’s got the Disney bug. Last year he coaxed the Mouse to give him the right to stage "Beauty and the Beast." It won outstanding direction from the Carbonell Awards, which is given to top South Florida stage productions.
It’s a new time for Giancarlo and Area Stage, which lost its longtime home to development in Coral Gables. But now it’s staging its big shows at the Arsht Center.
On the Aug. 23 episode of Sundial, he joined us to talk about how he is crafting the vision.
On Sundial's previous episode, Marie Vickles tells us about bringing the arts to people — and people to the arts. She is the director of education at the Perez Art Museum and she’s also the curator-in-residence at the Little Haiti Cultural Complex.
Listen to Sundial Monday through Thursday on WLRN, 91.3 FM, live at 1 p.m., rebroadcast at 8 p.m. Missed a show? Find every episode of Sundial on your favorite podcast app, such as Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Spotify.
