‘Mast*rbation, chemical peels and rage – it keeps you young’ – Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch, The Other Palace, London. 27.03.26
I was fortunate enough to catch Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch (The Musical Parody) in its final week at The Other Palace in London at the end of March. I’m not sure what I was expecting when I signed up for this one, but it certainly wasn’t what I got.
The website gives little away:
Disney villain. Octo-woman. Plus-size icon. Unfortunate dives into the story of everyone’s favourite Disney diva, as she spills the tea on what really goes on under the sea in this tale of sex, sorcery and suckers!
I anticipated The Little Mermaid but from the villain’s perspective, perhaps with a little added sass and sympathy for Ursula. But Unfortunate gives a full backstory, a love story, and an alternative version of Ariel’s infamous tale.
Enter Sam Buttery as Ursula, who from the moment she appeared absolutely dominated the stage. She captivated the audience with her powerhouse vocals and acid wit. She set the tone nicely in the first few minutes, making it clear this production doesn’t take itself too seriously.
Her co-stars were equally impressive, and I was pleased to see each got their moment to shine. Allie Dart played both Sebastian (with an alternative take on his accent) and the Chef. For those familiar with The Little Mermaid, you’ll understand that caused potential difficulties in the kitchen scene where they appear together. The result was nothing short of hilarious.
The unsung superstar of the production has to be James Spence, whose main role was that of a deeply unlikeable Prince Eric, also excelled as King Triton’s wildly flamboyant father King Neptune. The combination of his lisp and overexaggerated sashaying around the stage had everyone in stitches.
Julie Yammanee was our Ariel, with a deliberately tragic and annoying accent. I can only admire her for her consummate professionalism in managing to keep a straight face and unwavering voice throughout numbers like ‘Where the Dicks Are’.
Blair Robertson completed the main characters as King Triton, and he certainly looked the part! He had great chemistry with his co-stars and a great voice to go with it.
It’s easy to try and discredit the stars of parody musicals as less talented or serious actors, but I strongly beg to differ. There was some serious talent on stage for this raucous production, and I hope to see the cast again in whatever they choose to do next.
As you might imagine for an underwater setting, the costumes were absolutely fabulous, and all credit to costume designer Jasmine Swan for her work here.
I spent most of the show in hysterics. Whether it was a well-timed (often fish-related) joke, the outrageous lyrics, or simply the expression or action of one of the cast, the entire production was laugh out loud funny. What was great was the whole cast were clearly having fun so much fun with their performance.
As they said in their goodbye Instagram post; I came, I saw, and got completely reeled in.
Sadly, Unfortunate has finished its limited run but keep an eye on their website or Instagram for updates.
