Summit Family Featured In Local Production Of 'Little Mermaid'

SUMMIT, NJ — A young Summit actress got her whole family involved in this year's production of "The Little Mermaid" at Front & Center Performing Arts. This even includes the family dog —a Sheepadoodle named Odin.

The show, originally set to run in January but was postponed due to rising COVID-19 omicron cases, will premier at Saint Elizabeth University in Morristown on Feb. 9 and 10 at 7 p.m. It will feature many young actors and actresses throughout Union County — including Summit, Cranford and Garwood.

11-year-old Quinn Kubeck from Summit will star in the play as Flounder — Ariel's loyal best friend in "The Little Mermaid."

“It's the first show that I get to play a leading part alongside some of my best friends and I love the setting and costumes,” Kubeck said.

Kubeck has been in five shows — as a dancer, singer and actress — throughout her six years at Front & Center, including "Cats the Musical" and "Seussical," according to her mother, Alicia Kubeck, who is the costume designer for the play.

Kubeck said when her daughter did her first musical, Kubeck volunteered to help with costumes and wigs because she had a background in theater. Over the past few years, Kubeck has done costume design for a variety of productions, such as "Cats," "Descendants" and a high school production of "Pippin."

For "The Little Mermaid," the play is set in the early 1900s, and Kubeck said the costumes reflect the time period. She said creating costumes for certain characters are more elaborate than others.

"We pull a lot of costumes that already exist here in the studio, and [costume design] could go from being super simple, like just adding ribbons to things, to constructing a new costume for Sebastian made out of velvet and making new pants and a vest," Kubeck said.

Kubeck said she also made each "under the sea" character custom headpieces that resemble jellyfish, guppies, seahorses and sea anemones.

She said costume design for this production has allowed her to "get the creative juices flowing."

The cast of about 40 actors has been rehearsing for the play since October. Kubeck's husband, Brian, also has a role in the play as "Captain," as well as the family dog Odin who plays "Max."

Odin is a Sheepadoodle, and Kubeck said he looks similar to Max from the animated movie. The director of the play, Julie Celeste-Lira, loved the idea of having an actual dog play the part. Because Kubeck is busy working on costume design, her husband has been tasked with being Odin's handler, as the dog is not a trained actor.

"We'll see how he does when he gets on stage, but rehearsals have been very good," Kubeck said, referring to Odin.

Seating at the show is assigned, and tickets can be purchased at frontncenter.booktix.com/.
Any remaining seats will be sold at the door before each show.

Here are some important COVID-19 protocols to be aware of:

• Masks are required to be worn in the building.
• Anyone who enters the theater must show proof of vaccination, or a negative COVID-19 PCR test performed by a medical provider within 1-3 days of the performance, or a negative COVID-19 rapid antigen test taken within 6 hours of the performance start time. Test results must clearly show the date and time of the test.

"The Little Mermaid" is presented by an arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI).

Saint Elizabeth University is located at 2 Convent Road in Morristown.

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